12 Beers of Christmas 2017

[bobeer]

All this talk about kegging spurred me into action... Bought my first kegging kit from kegco yesterday. Should be here tomorrow. Guess I can finally try the 17+% RIS I've had in a carboy for the last six months. Gotta figure out how to bitter it just a little more since it finished out at 1.036.

Any tips for a newb? Think I can carb the quad enough for bottling? Going to buy a counter pressure bottle filler in the coming weeks...

I don't really have any major tips for you. I just watched a few YouTube videos on how to keg homebrew. It seems everyone does things a little differently. I remember there's an old video by Dawson from the old brewingTV crew that was helpful.

When it comes to bottle filling everyone has their own method for that too it seems. I dont have anything but a 1/2 inch tube shoved up my faucet. No problemo there!

Welcome to the kegging club!

 

[BroomVikin]

Alright guys, inspired by this thread I'm gonna try my hand at the Honey Ginger IPA tomorrow. After taking a quick look back at the blurb about it in Radical Brewing a couple of question come to mind. It says to add 2 lbs. of honey once in secondary. Since this isn't done during the boil and stirring to dissolve is obviously out of the question how do I get that much honey to dissolve and not just sit on the bottom of my carboy? Given a week or two will it dissolve on its own? Question 2, it says to coarse chop the candied ginger and add to secondary. Should I sanitize via the vodka soaking method or do I need to worry about it at all. Seems like I do but it also seems that given the usual 10ish days of contact time with such a high proof liquid the ginger might break down into nothing more than sludge. Ideas? Opinions?

 

[Easycreeper]

Alright guys, inspired by this thread I'm gonna try my hand at the Honey Ginger IPA tomorrow. After taking a quick look back at the blurb about it in Radical Brewing a couple of question come to mind. It says to add 2 lbs. of honey once in secondary. Since this isn't done during the boil and stirring to dissolve is obviously out of the question how do I get that much honey to dissolve and not just sit on the bottom of my carboy? Given a week or two will it dissolve on its own? Question 2, it says to coarse chop the candied ginger and add to secondary. Should I sanitize via the vodka soaking method or do I need to worry about it at all. Seems like I do but it also seems that given the usual 10ish days of contact time with such a high proof liquid the ginger might break down into nothing more than sludge. Ideas? Opinions?

In reply to your first question: The honey should dissolve on its own. I promise the yeast will find the available sugar. While it goes against common practice, make sure you have some headspace when you go to add the honey. Yeast can get violent in the presence of so much simple sugar. Speaking from personal experience...

Regarding your second inquiry, I'd make a tincture like you're describing with the vodka. Personal preference and paranoia about contamination speaking here...

Good luck!

 

[BroomVikin]

In reply to your first question: The honey should dissolve on its own. I promise the yeast will find the available sugar. While it goes against common practice, make sure you have some headspace when you go to add the honey. Yeast can get violent in the presence of so much simple sugar. Speaking from personal experience...

Regarding your second inquiry, I'd make a tincture like you're describing with the vodka. Personal preference and paranoia about contamination speaking here...

Good luck!

Both are what I figured but hearing it from another brewer is comforting. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[biochemedic]

Whenever I add extra sugar I add to primary after it first slows down. Adding the honey to a pint or two of warm water helps a lot with mixing as well as pouring into the carboy.
Yes I said primary, not secondary...rarely secondary unless there is fruit or something equally difficult to add and/or get out of primary involved. Fruitcake Old Ale last year is the first secondary I've done in a long time.

 

[JDXX1971]

Speaking of Fruitcake Old Ale, five gallons in a keg just went into the kezzer!! I will let it sit there at least a month before I bottle it up. I sure am excited about this beer and the forthcoming eleven that go with it!!

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

Kegging tips? Be prepared to sacrifice a bottle of co2 to gambrinus while you work out the kinks. I just swapped in a new reg after a decade kegging and I blew a tank...

 

[biochemedic]

Kegging tips? Be prepared to sacrifice a bottle of co2 to gambrinus while you work out the kinks. I just swapped in a new reg after a decade kegging and I blew a tank...

Yep, but it can happen anytime though...lost a 20 pounder to a leaky pressure relief valve not too long ago!

 

[JDXX1971]

Yep, but it can happen anytime though...lost a 20 pounder to a leaky pressure relief valve not too long ago!

Yep had that one happen. I have one keg that has a destroyed PR ring, I fiddled with it until I guess I loosened it. There went that tank, just a little twist to tighten it and 20$ lesson learned.

 

[Auger]

Yep, but it can happen anytime though...lost a 20 pounder to a leaky pressure relief valve not too long ago!

I have an empty 20lb tank sitting in my keezer right now due to that exact issue. Luckily there's only one keg in there right now, and it's soda. So whatever.

 

[passedpawn]

Anybody want to guess what the first ingredient in my christmas beer was?

 

[biochemedic]

Is that some sort of crystalized/caramelized sugar?

 

[Easycreeper]

An update on the quad. Down to a FG of 1.025. In secondary now and will be kegged or bottled in a few weeks. Having a hard time deciding on whether to condition naturally or not.

And kegging is great! Why did I wait a whole year to start?? It's great being able to transfer a beer and taste a final product in less than 48 hours. Now I need more kegs... And a bigger kegerator. And more friends to drink all of this beer.

 

[HopHeavy]

And more friends to drink all of this beer.

Bummer! I passed by on 475 driving from Jacksonville to Atlanta last Saturday... If I had known you were in such straits, I would have passed by and lent a hand!

 

[Easycreeper]

Decided to bottle this morning. Got (44) 12 ounce bottles and one 24 ounce can/bottle. Primed at about 3.0 volumes of CO2, so hopefully the bottles will hold up. Got a little insurance with the Styrofoam coolers, so we'll see how it goes...

Gotta admit: kegging has spoiled me already. Purging the keg, transferring the wort, and a day's wait results in carbonated beer. Bottling has so many extra steps and the wait for carbonation is forever comparatively. Maybe the EC-1118 will speed up the process ever so slightly.

If this tastes like I want, guess it'll be time to make my first label next.

 

[HopHeavy]

I primed 12 oz bottles beyond 3 volumes once...

Just once.

 

[Easycreeper]

I primed 12 oz bottles beyond 3 volumes once...

Just once.

I sense I should have fear for what I've done... I was nervous enough using 5.7oz of table sugar already and now you chime in with hints of disaster looming.

The most sugar I've used before this batch was 4.2oz with a witbier and it was pretty well carbed.

Hopefully careful handling and lots of love and attention will see this batch through. ipe:

 

[HopHeavy]

I sense I should have fear for what I've done... I was nervous enough using 5.7oz of table sugar already and now you chime in with hints of disaster looming.

The most sugar I've used before this batch was 4.2oz with a witbier and it was pretty well carbed.

Hopefully careful handling and lots of love and attention will see this batch through. ipe:

Meant to be funny, not foreboding. When I did it, I went around 3.5 on a hefe last summer. I lost 6 or 8 bottles while it was conditioning. The hefe was tasty. I still had 100 or so that I safely enjoyed, although I will admit I opened them with oven mits. I couldn't offer any to friends like I normally would. It was terrible. I had to drink it all myself.

 

[Teromous]

Anybody want to guess what the first ingredient in my christmas beer was?

Piloncillo/Turbinado? I found it's easier to break it down if you soak it in warm water or wort for a bit and press at it with a wooden spoon.

 

[passedpawn]

Piloncillo/Turbinado? I found it's easier to break it down if you soak it in warm water or wort for a bit and press at it with a wooden spoon.

Yep. No need for any of that, it was completely dissolved by end of boil. I wasn't sure it would be, but it was.

 

[passedpawn]

Woops. Two minutes too late. I'll take the Spiced Cherry Dbl then.

I made a 10g batch of this and only added cherries to one of them. Kegged a couple of weeks ago.

I haven't tried the cherry version, but the std dubbel is VERY drinkable. Yowza. I'll be bottling the cherry version for you guys this weekend I think.

 

[passedpawn]

I made a 10g batch of this and only added cherries to one of them. Kegged a couple of weeks ago.

I haven't tried the cherry version, but the std dubbel is VERY drinkable. Yowza. I'll be bottling the cherry version for you guys this weekend I think.

Finally got around to bottling the cherry version that I was going to send to you guys. Well, I got the beergun out anyway. It's a little tart I think. It's just OK. Maybe I added too many cherries. I'm not going to bottle this (yet).

I'm going to blend it with the non-cherry version and see if I can improve it. If it still doesn't satisfy, I'm going to re-brew.

 

[HopHeavy]

Finally got around to bottling the cherry version that I was going to send to you guys. Well, I got the beergun out anyway. It's a little tart I think. It's just OK. Maybe I added too many cherries. I'm not going to bottle this (yet).

I'm going to blend it with the non-cherry version and see if I can improve it. If it still doesn't satisfy, I'm going to re-brew.

You are far smarter than I. I am getting ready to brew Spiced Stout version 2 without having tasted version 1, which is bulk ageing at the moment. You make me think I ought to hold off on spicing # 2 until I have an idea of how close to the mark # 1 has gotten.

 

[passedpawn]

The beer might have been able to carry the cherries if it was higher ABV. I followed the recipe, which was the entire concept for this thread. However, if I re-brew, I'm going high ABV.

My beer was OG ~ 1.060 (before cherries, which really don't add much). I'll double that on the next.

 

[Auger]

I like where this is headed.

 

[JDXX1971]

The beer might have been able to carry the cherries if it was higher ABV. I followed the recipe,

which was the entire concept for this thread

. However, if I re-brew, I'm going high ABV.

My beer was OG ~ 1.060 (before cherries, which really don't add much). I'll double that on the next.

Yeah, I deviated a bit from the recipe But our Fruitcake Old Ale is pushing 9%.

 

[Easycreeper]

I like where this is headed.

You're not the only one!

 

[passedpawn]

So, as I said before, the non-cherry dubbel was excellent, but the cherry version was tart. I blended between kegs a while back, and I finally got around to sampling: not great. It's alright, I'll end up drinking it, for sure my neighbor will fill his growler, but I'm not shipping. So I'll be re-brewing. The next one will be much higher ABV.

I think the intent here was to brew specific recipes (from Mosher, can't remember). But this one isn't a winner IMO. I think I know what you guys like, this isn't it. No worries, you'll get bottles from me

 

[Easycreeper]

So, as I said before, the non-cherry dubbel was excellent, but the cherry version was tart. I blended between kegs a while back, and I finally got around to sampling: not great. It's alright, I'll end up drinking it, for sure my neighbor will fill his growler, but I'm not shipping. So I'll be re-brewing. The next one will be much higher ABV.

I think the intent here was to brew specific recipes (from Mosher, can't remember). But this one isn't a winner IMO. I think I know what you guys like, this isn't it. No worries, you'll get bottles from me

I'm with you on this. Going to give the quad a few more weeks to condition, but from what I've tasted so far, it's too sweet. Should've counted on that with the beer being lightly bittered with a high FG.

If it doesn't turn around in a hurry, I'm rebrewing as well. Going to keep enough bottles of the first batch to satisfy my shipping quota in the event the second brewing goes awry...

Half tempted to ship out a bottle of the current batch for some feedback and guidance from a more experienced brewer. @passedpawn, you interested?

 

[passedpawn]

Sure. I'll PM you an address if you want me to try your beer. Happy to give you a review