Do you want to brew one of the 12 beers of Christmas?

[rhoadsrage]

That is correct. Xcorpa and myself will send everyone 6 beers and you will send us 6. then it is 3 to everyone else. I will include that in the address to avoid confusion.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Btw, I found this on my homebrew clubs website, I figure it would be relevant to what we do here.

http://www.quaff.org/SpeakerNotes/Holiday_Spice_Beers-Chuck_West.pdf

Btw, I am finishing my all grain set up tomorrow, and will be brewing 3 IPA's over the next week or so. I love the cost of all grain brewing.

 

[sfrisby]

Just an update. I'm happy to participate. I bottled the bourbon barrel quad but discovered I underestimated my bottle inventory for the regular quad. I have been busy creating empty bottles and hope to have it done in about a week.

 

[Xcorpia]

Brewing the Berry Lambicky Ale right now. I have a few bottles left of the batch I brewed in March. Thinking about the possibility of sending 1 bottle of the aged one with 2 bottles of the one I'm brewing now. Depends how it tastes before mailing them to you all.

 

[sfrisby]

Seems to fit well with the one bottle of bourbon aged quad and 2 bottles of regular quad everyone will get from me. 

 

[rhoadsrage]

I love to try the same beer that has one variable changes to really get a good comparison on how much that effects the finished product. I'm going to try like crazy to get the stout bottled this weekend, then I will get everyone the address list.

 

[Scruffy1207]

I got the ingredients

9lb marris otter
3lb vienna
.25 carapils

A bunch of EKG

and 4lbs of local raw honey. 2lbs from avocado blossoms, 2lbs from mountain sage. Going to brew this recipe ~3 times and I am going to send the best out.

 

[usfmikeb]

After 10 weeks on the cherries, I racked the Spiced Cherry Dubbel over to a tertiary to clear a week before I bottle. Definitely tasted typical belgian yeast notes, more tartness from the cherries than flavor, and none of the cinnamon or almond. Obviously a green beer, and I always notice the fruit flavors after it has a chance to carb and mature, but it tasted pretty decent. Has a beautiful color, like a dark copper.

Bottling next week with intention to ship in mid-November.

 

[usfmikeb]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that my concerns about how much I would yield after the cherries was unfounded. Still got a solid 5 gallons out of it!

 

[rhoadsrage]

This all sounds great. I got the spiced bourbon stout bottled last night. I just got over a head cold but I still can't smell. However I could smell the anise in the beer. It should be interesting. I made my wife taste it (she doesn't like beer unless it taste like soda pop) she couldn't taste an bourbon so I added 2 more oz that was soaking on med american oak. We will see. She said it tasted awful so that is a good sign there is hope for it yet.

 

[rhoadsrage]

Forgot to add. I swapped out the juniper berries for black cardamom in the stout recipe. I wanted to give it a bit of frankincense character and plus I used all the juniper berries in the bock. I hope no one is allergic to black cardamom?

The only person I know who is allergic is woody from Cheers but I thought I better ask.

 

[usfmikeb]

Definitely not allergic, I keep both green and black cardamom pods in stock at home. Haven't used it in a beer before, but have added to an orange mead recipe.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Rebrewing next week 2-3 times, best batch will be sent out. Kind of screwed up this batch. cutting it close

 

[Xcorpia]

Just racked the Berry Lambicky Ale onto the raspberries today. Yum!

 

[centralpabrewer]

I am brewing the crab apple lambicky ale to day.....can't wait to see how it turns out...

 

[Scruffy1207]

Question, is there a problem sending bottles while they're conditioning?

 

[rhoadsrage]

I wouldn't think so? If the temp gets really low it may slow down the yeast but they can pick back up when it warms. I would think packing material should slow down the temp. swings a bit. just my 2 cents, I have never tried it.

 

[usfmikeb]

I agree with Rhoadsrage...

 

[Scruffy1207]

Sweet, I'm going to try and get these mailed by thanksgiving. I really hope my beer is good, I don't want to let anyone down

 

[Xcorpia]

I'm pretty sure it will be Scruffy

 

[Scruffy1207]

I'm pretty sure it will be Scruffy

I'll be brewing it 2 more times atleast. First batch OG 1.073 with honey addition to boil. It'll get a little dry most likely due to a low mash temp. So I'll brew two more and If I don't like the how it turned out i'll have 2 other batches. BTW that WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast is no joke, Took off quick and shot beer out my blow off. it looks like a bomb went off inside my fermentor. I'll post a pic lol.

 

[Xcorpia]

LOL. Powerful stuff. I had my whole blowoff assembly pop off with a Stone Ruination clone I pitched with US-05. Lost 1.75 gal of my precious beer!

 

[Scruffy1207]

Holy cow, I didn't loose that much. There it's a decent amount of head space thank god. That isn't foam, theres probably only an inch of foam in it. All that is the aftermath.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Brewing another batch today.this should go better, this batch will be done as per instructions with the honey.

 

[rhoadsrage]

Sounds great, but don't call me honey.

 

[usfmikeb]

I didn't realize I was out of dextrose, so I haven't bottled yet. Need to get more in, and that means I need to do a full supply order, cause I'm not just going to order dextrose. Might be a couple weeks before I bottle the Spiced Cherry Dubbel. I'm sure it will be fine doing more bulk aging in my ferm chamber at 65 degrees...

 

[Scruffy1207]

I didn't realize I was out of dextrose, so I haven't bottled yet. Need to get more in, and that means I need to do a full supply order, cause I'm not just going to order dextrose. Might be a couple weeks before I bottle the Spiced Cherry Dubbel. I'm sure it will be fine doing more bulk aging in my ferm chamber at 65 degrees...

Yeah, I don't see a problem.

 

[usfmikeb]

Did my supply order last night, also picked up materials for a barleywine and a schwarzbier. Should be able to bottle the weekend of Halloween. Will look to ship the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Also, my holiday travel plans are set, I'll be in Florida from Dec 17 until Jan 3. So, when we setup all the shipping details, I'll ask that we work out arrangements to either ensure that shipping reaches me before Dec 17, or that you hold it so I don't receive until after I return. I live in a freeze zone, so any beer package left at my door will get destroyed.

Personally, I'd say that if you've already bottled, feel free to ship to me now. That way I can take a bottle with me to Florida to enjoy on Xmas!

 

[Scruffy1207]

6.83% Before Crystallized Ginger Addition. First batch doesn't taste half bad. I'm excited to get it bottled.

 

[Shuznuts]

Just read the entire thread! Amazing idea. I'm sad I couldn't get involved (but I actually only started homebrewing in June of this year). I'd love to participate next year, though. Funny how good beer brings people together.