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06.06.06 Brew day, post your results, tips, gripes...

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when I made a Wee heavy with a bit higher gravity then this I let it sit in the Primary 3 weeks then the secondary like another 3 weeks. Once it was bottled it didnt get to being REAL good until after about 3 months in the bottle.
 
Hokay, so here is what happened, It was my first mini mash, that went fine.. leaf hops? I'm using a bag next time! The cook went off without a hitch, while straining to the primary I dumped the funnel (God what a mess! and loss of about a quart of wort) I checked OG and it was a bit low so I boiled 2 cups of Extra light DME and a cup of corn sugar in 6 cups and added. That brought the SG up to 1.077.
It ferments now so we shall see.
 
I'm out of town right now but I think when I get home, next week, I'm gonna brew this. I figure 1-2 weeks in primary, 3 weeks on the dry hops in secondary, and then I'll move it to a corny and stick it on the gas about 10 days before the 6th of June. Can't wait!
 
16.5 hours in the fermenter the blow off tube has a steady stream and about a half inch of bubble foam on the surface of the bucket (5.5 gal batch in 6.5 gal carboy) I am actually kinda bumming I may run low on home brew since my Scotch ale is still fermenting nicely in the secondary meaning both my secondary's will be tied up for a while it seems, next batch will have to ferment in the plastic bucket and use the glass primary as a secondary :eek:
 
So i read over the recipe (going to brw this week) It says one week in secondary w/ oak chips and to dry hop. Would i do both of these at the same time? Also would i want to leave it in the secondary for longer than 1 week. so should i end up doing a thirdary?
 
autoferret said:
So i read over the recipe (going to brw this week) It says one week in secondary w/ oak chips and to dry hop. Would i do both of these at the same time? Also would i want to leave it in the secondary for longer than 1 week. so should i end up doing a thirdary?

I think what I am going to do is rack into secondary onto oak chips for 7-10 days. Take a sample, try it, and decide if it needs more time on the oak. If it is good, rack again to a tertiary ;) (probably a keg in my case) and dry-hop it for a week, then remove the dry hops and force carb it.
 
Okay, this baby is racked. My first impressions are the color could be more red. It needs more bitterness. The bitterness statement might get proved wrong when some of the residual sugar from the honey ferments all the way out. My gravity is still at 1.020 so I'll bet I've got another 10 points or so to go.

It is pretty sweet tasting right now though. I don't detect any smoke at all, it seems very citrusy, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless that is a yeast characteristic or the orange from the orange blossom honey is doing it. The hops we used aren't really citrusy IMHO.

I'm going to let this ferment some more of the honey out before I add the oak chips. Maybe another week.

It is a pretty good beer so far but not quite what I was expecting I guess. We'll see....

Here's a pic:

06.jpg
 
looks good!!!

With the oak chips did u just get chips that you'd use in a smoker and how did u sanitize them? (sorry still learning)
 
Racked 06.06.06 last night. It is at 1.020 so far and tastes VERY citrusy.
This is the first time I've dry hopped and I've learned a few things.
I was trying to free up one of my 6 1/2 carboys so I racked it into a 5 gallon. I didn't take into account the hops and 2 Oz. of dry hops are a LOT! When I siphoned the beer into the secondary I wasn't paying attention and it filled to the top. I had to remove some of the beer and hops in order to get the air lock on. Next time I will use a 6 1/2 carboy and I will make sure there is plenty of head space.
Here is the result:
2967-DryHop06.06.06.jpg
 
Wow, two marks so far up on the "citrusy" column. Wasn't expecting that.

Thanks for the heads up regarding head space for dry hopping, Rich. I hadn't even thought about that. Did you have any similar issues, anti-Dude? Or are you waiting to dry hop later?
 
Darth Konvel said:
Wow, two marks so far up on the "citrusy" column. Wasn't expecting that.

Thanks for the heads up regarding head space for dry hopping, Rich. I hadn't even thought about that. Did you have any similar issues, anti-Dude? Or are you waiting to dry hop later?
I don't know how Rye flavors a beer and I was wondering if this is part of what I'm tasting.

I'm going to have to keep my eye on this one. I think the hops hinder the CO2 bubbles from escaping. I can see the air lock getting blow off.:eek:
 
RichBrewer said:
I don't know how Rye flavors a beer and I was wondering if this is part of what I'm tasting.

I'm going to have to keep my eye on this one. I think the hops hinder the CO2 bubbles from escaping. I can see the air lock getting blow off.:eek:

Yeah, I'm guessing the rye is giving it that "tang"......it isn't a bad thing I don't think, I just wasn't expecting it.
Rich, did you get a hint of smoke at all?

Darth, :) I haven't dry-hopped yet. I'm going to let the gravity go down a few more points and then put in the oak chips, then dry hop.....
 
Very Un-Dude said:
Rich, did you get a hint of smoke at all?

Darth, :) I haven't dry-hopped yet. I'm going to let the gravity go down a few more points and then put in the oak chips, then dry hop.....
I didn't get any smoke character at all. I was thinking that when the citrusy tang mellows, maybe the smoke character will come through but I'm not too sure right now.

The Oak Chip package says to soak them in the beer for 3 or 4 days. Is this correct? It says wine can go for months. I haven't put mine in yet.
 
It is pretty sweet tasting right now though. I don't detect any smoke at all, it seems very citrusy, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless that is a yeast characteristic or the orange from the orange blossom honey is doing it. The hops we used aren't really citrusy IMHO.

I'm going to let this ferment some more of the honey out before I add the oak chips. Maybe another week.

I keep saying it but no one listens :mad:

It's goning to take a long time after it's in bottles befor it tastes "right". My Wee Heavy had a OG of 1.081 and it took 3 months b4 I would say it was "drinkable" (very sherry tasting b4 that) and now that I'm coming up on like 5 months it's till getting better and better.

This bad boy is going to take a LONG time to be done.
If ya dont believe me swing on by and I'll pop open a couple of the Wee Heavys and you can see for yourself. (PM me for adress and cell phone # :p )

Hell, even the guy at the LHBS said it probably would be NEARING peak at like 6 months

BTW I picked up my stuff for it today. Couldnt get any flaked rye so I went with a extra pound of rye malt. I'll probably be brewing on Wednesday (15 MAR)
 
Pumbaa said:
I keep saying it but no one listens :mad:

It's goning to take a long time after it's in bottles befor it tastes "right"...

I know what you are saying, and I expect the same thing when I brew mine. Especially with the late addition of honey. It will definately take a awhile to mellow out, and hopefully I remember this Thursday to make my stater for Saturday. I dont know if mine will be ready by 06.06.06., maybe 09.09.06 LOL
 
I'm planning to brew this Saturday morning. Hopefully early, but I have Friday off. Some buddies and I are going to be drinking plenty of brew and watch the NCAA playoffs that day.:mug: :tank: So who knows how soon I'll start.;)

I'm guessing the citrusy flavor is coming form the Chinooks and, more likely, the rye. When I did an extract/steep Hop Rod Rye, I noticed a citrus taste. Of course, that used Cascades, too. But it mellowed over time. Orange blossom honey adds dryness, but it doesn't have an orange flavor, so it wouldn't be that.
 
Well I brewed mine (extract version) yesterday. So far so good, bubbling like crazy. I pretty much nailed the target gravity at 1.076

I'll see how it comes out, and keep everyone posted.

-magno
 
Well I was HOPING to brew it today, but got a fire last night about 2AM and hung out there until about 6AM so I was spent. We are supposed to get a good deal of snow here tomarrow so tomarrow is the day, and my first all grain batch. :rockin:

I got the grain in my cooler, hops and yeast in the fridge and propane sitting next to the garage door. Think I'm going to get up early, check the snow, maybe clear the driveway befor the wife drives over it then get a brewing.

:off:
Just thought I would mention this . . . as we are picking up from that fire last night the wind was blowing out of the east and all of a sudden I get a sniff. At first i wasnt sure what it was but it was VERY familuar. A couple of the guys were trying to figure it out then all of a sudden it dawned on me . . .IT'S MALT!!!!
:ban:
Miller Brewery was about 40 blocks due east of us and they had started their boil on their latest batch . . . OMFG . . . I tell ya what, after busting your arse for a solid 3-4 hours there is NOTHING better then smelling a couple hundred thousand gallons of brew being whipped up, even if it was from Miller
:off:
 
I racked mine to secondary today (needed to free up primary) it is still at 1.030 and I had a ****ton of trub... 10 min in secondary a solid inch settled out. Still really sweet, I concur with Citrus flavor.. my color is close to a red.. I'm probably going to leave it for two weeks then rack it again for another week or two..
 
Got mine boiling as we speak . . . and GD it's a long arse boil to get to 5.5 gallons. Started the boil at about 2:00 Central and just finally added the first round of hops at about 6:30 Central

used 13.5 quarts for the mash and just under 7 gallons for the sparge. This is my first all grain batch did I figure that out right cuz GD this has been boiling for like 3 hours now
 
Pumbaa said:
Got mine boiling as we speak . . . and GD it's a long arse boil to get to 5.5 gallons. Started the boil at about 2:00 Central and just finally added the first round of hops at about 6:30 Central

used 13.5 quarts for the mash and just under 7 gallons for the sparge. This is my first all grain batch did I figure that out right cuz GD this has been boiling for like 3 hours now

What was your boil volume to start with? Sounds like an awful long time to be boiling....your gravity is going to be through the roof (unless you were low on your efficiency), or your wort is going to be darker than the recipe states. Not that either of those are bad things.....jus' sayin'.
 
Pumbaa said:
10 gallons . . . 13qts for the mash and + 27 quarts for the sparge

I have no clue what my effciency was, like I said my first AG batch

Cheese and rice, dude!!!!!!!!!!!

You only need about 7-8 gallons of wort to start with....stop sparging no matter what after you get to that volume. One of the main reasons for that is after you get to a certain point of sparging, you can release unwanted tannins from the grains. Usually this happens when the wort gets to around 1.005-1.010 out of the lauter tun.

Don't worry though, you'll probably still have a good beer. :) You deserve it after boiling down 4.5 gallons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't even tell you the mistakes I made after my first AG. It only gets easier from here on out!!!!!!
 
>.< Charlie led me astray?

I was following his chart on page 297 . . . well extrapolated to 13.5 pounds

**added in Edit**
BTW ended up with a OG of 1.064 . . . /shrug I have no clue how that is for a first AG but I'm disapointed

I had a hard time getting my mash temp right, first it was a bit higher then I wanted so I aded some cold and it got worse from there . . . mash temp finally settled out at 150.

Just got it into the carboy, took me a while to cool it down because it decided to freeze tonight and I didnt want my driveway to be a sheet of ice so I didnt use the counterflow wort chiller.

My new keg/kettle also has a very small leek at the valve when I took a closer look at it and compared it to the ones I have seen online it seems I need a 2nd O-ring . . . seems to make sense.

All considered even though it took me about 11 hours and I had to run out and get some tubing I thought I had in the middle it seemed to go pretty well. I got a few kinks I need to work out and think I am going to go out and get a 2nd turkey fryer. The one I have has a bit smaller platform then I would like and the kettle wobbled a bit more the nI would like once I got down to about 5gallonsish

It tasted real good (drank the sample) and I love the bite it has in the back of my throat, must be them Chinooks (used a full ounce cuz the ones I had were a bit lower AA then the recipie called for)
 
Don't feel bad Pumbaa- I just pitched yeast on mine and my OG was a full 11 points low- only hit 1.065. That puts my eff in the 50's. :mad: I don't know WTF happened- maybe God is punishing me for brewing beer in honor of such a devilish day. I get my Crankandstein mill soon- maybe that'll help.

BTW I've never dry hopped before nor used oak chips. Anything special I need to know?
 
ablrbrau said:
Don't feel bad Pumbaa- I just pitched yeast on mine and my OG was a full 11 points low- only hit 1.065. That puts my eff in the 50's. :mad: I don't know WTF happened- maybe God is punishing me for brewing beer in honor of such a devilish day. I get my Crankandstein mill soon- maybe that'll help.

BTW I've never dry hopped before nor used oak chips. Anything special I need to know?
I had the exact same problem. My OG was also 1.065. Worst efficiency I've ever had.

If you are using whole hops for dry hopping be sure to use a big enough fermenter. I used a 5 gallon carboy and the hops are right up to the neck and they clog the air lock.

I'm not sure about the oak chips. Mine say they should be added for 3 or 4 days before bottling. Doesn't sound long enough to me.
 
hey all... brewed mine today. extract version. however i am very upset at my OG. its only 1.060. what could've happened for it to be so LOW! i followed the recipe very strictly. just dont know what happened. any suggestions? also, what does a low OG do to a beer? does it make it sweeter? lighter? less alcohol content?... which means more leftover sugar? what are ways to fix this? already added the yeast, and dont have a LHBS to get more. oh well... i'll see how it ends up. i had fun tho!
 
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