Fellowship of the Home Brew I: The Hops are Strong with this one!

[Scturo]

I'm also interested in the BYO bogo if any else has one to split.

 

[TwistedGray]

Post review you damn hippies!! [From Germany]

 

[JDXX1971]

Post review you damn hippies!! [From Germany]

Ok,Ok!!!

@Scturo,

Hoegaarden (12oz Bottle) - Classic Belgian Wit flavored with Coriander and Orange Peel. Brewed on 5/25/017.

This was very nice, I drank it cold out of the bottle after a hot day of work. The spice was subtle and I believe I remember a nice little twang to it.

Say Hello to My Little NEIPA (Bomber) - A Hazy brew that is Hopped with Mosaic, Nelson, and Citra giving it a Tropical
apricot flavor. Brewed on 6/29/2017 so it's a little old but is still holding its still as giid as ever.

I drank this after drinking the Monkish and the Supercollider. (which I really liked by the way) At this point I was pretty buzzed and yours was the perfect finish to my first enjoyable IPA experience. The lower abv made it seem a little weak compared to the other two but the flavors were a perfect follow up.

Afpelwein (Bomber) - A clean, crisp apple Cider made with QA23 that is 9 months old, so is taking on a smooth
Chardonnay flavor. You also have the option of carbonated or Non-carbonated.

My wife drank this and really enjoyed it. She (we) have been trying to make ciders for a year and when she tasted yours she was like This is what I have been trying to make!!!

I told her it was aged and have been trying to get her to age some instead of drinking it up! Thank you for helping me with that.

I did try it too and it was good though we would have most likely preferred it carbed. Might have to hit you up for a recipe.

Maple-Bourbon Fidy (2 12oz Bottles) - A brew based on Ten Fidy with Oak Aged Bourbon and @Brizzo's Maple Syrup
added. Brewed on 7/28/2017 so it needs some time But is already tasty.

I am trying very hard not to drink these yet, I know its going to be good and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I am a fan of Barrel aged stouts, I have a small collection building I hope to save for a while. Yours are with them. For now!!

Well thats all I got. I meant to do better reviews and try to learn more with all the terminology and such. Sorry, but life has been a hectic blur since July. There is always next time. Right???

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Holy Porch Bomb @RevKev!! This is an awesome load! Thanks for the many many goodies. Coffee beans?Dig the glue high also first thing! 😉

View attachment 1506561444939.jpg

 

[RevKev]

Holy Porch Bomb @RevKev!! This is an awesome load! Thanks for the many many goodies. Coffee beans?Dig the glue high also first thing! 😉

Lol I kinda forgot to let them dry.. Also the whole labeling thing is beyond me I give up from here on out. I'll make them but putting them on **** no.

And yes coffee from www.deathwishcoffee.com my version of noise makers... Cheers! I may have something else... The stout is likely undercarbed

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Are we doing a FOTHB II? I'll have 5 brews done in 4 weeks. Maybe 8 in 6 weeks...

 

[fourfarthing]

I hope we are but I am likely out til Nov/Dec as this will be my first brew weekend in about two months. Damn summer.

 

[TBC]

Are we doing a FOTHB II? I'll have 5 brews done in 4 weeks. Maybe 8 in 6 weeks...

I'm in. This is the time of year I bang them out.

 

[imasickboy]

We are indeed. I'll write up the new thread this weekend. You guys have until then to come up with the timeline.

I'll start the next FotD this weekend, also.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

I'm in. This is the time of year I bang them out.

Makes picking easy if just 3 of us!

The brews now are yeast cakes for the RIS and Cherry Quad later. Probably do a TIPA also...but need 6 weeks for those.

 

[GaBrewZoo]

Post review you damn hippies!! [From Germany]

Okay. I'll critique imasickboys brews. Just finished his stouts. Very good, a little dry, but good. Nice mellow roastiness, has that homebrew sort of aroma and aftertaste, but I really enjoyed them. The IPA was the absolute bomb. I've had Heady and Pliny and I enjoyed these more. Absolutely fantastic. The plain Mead was good, a little hot, but good flavor. Hope you don't mind if I let the vanilla and cinnamon one age a little. I made a cyser for my daughters wedding that is 2 1/2 years old and it is just starting to mellow out on the alcohol heat. Haven't had a chance to get into the kraut yet, but it's in the fridge. I'm really happy I picked your offer. How about we hear some more reviews.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Okay. I'll critique imasickboys brews. Just finished his stouts. Very good, a little dry, but good. Nice mellow roastiness, has that homebrew sort of aroma and aftertaste, but I really enjoyed them. The IPA was the absolute bomb. I've had Heady and Pliny and I enjoyed these more. Absolutely fantastic. The plain Mead was good, a little hot, but good flavor. Hope you don't mind if I let the vanilla and cinnamon one age a little. I made a cyser for my daughters wedding that is 2 1/2 years old and it is just starting to mellow out on the alcohol heat. Haven't had a chance to get into the kraut yet, but it's in the fridge. I'm really happy I picked your offer. How about we hear some more reviews.

I think he needs a second opinion. I'll sacrifice imasickboy....a 12pk of HB should suffice! ☺

 

[TwistedGray]

Well, about one eighth the way home from Germany...in France for the evening. Great reviews folks! I need to get a few brews going for the next one.

LOVE flying European airlines...regardless of the length you get free booze. I had a Swiss beer on my first flight out of Zurich followed by a Heineken on my in-France flight. Flying KLM tomorrow so I'm sure it'll be a Heineken again, but I may just opt for wine...pretty beer'd out from Germany trip.

 

[fourfarthing]

‘Beer’d out’ - what is this thing you speak about as if it were a real thing?!

 

[imasickboy]

Here's my review of the beverages @Thorrak sent me:

"Awesomest" Chipotle Porter & "Awesomest" Base Porter: I'll combine my reviews of these two beers, because they're the same other than the pepper... So, I don't really brew for anyone else, and don't share my stuff often, and I'm not really a beer geek, or beer snob, so to speak. I'm a drinker. And quite frankly, these were beers I'd brew for myself. Period. They were downright ****ing delicious. I truly want these recipes. The base beer was perfect, as far as I'm concerned, and the pepper was perfectly executed. Loved them, loved them, loved them.

Cherry Melomel: Tasty, and pretty dry. Gorgeous in the glass. I agree with Thorrak that it could use some tweak to the sweetness. I like my meads sweet. My solution: 4 pounds per gallon, and D-47 yeast. Sadly, it requires time. A lot of time. The mead that I sent to @GaBrewZoo that he thought was a little hot is over a year and a half old. So, yeah. More time than that. Not a lot of additional help I can give here.

The IPA: This beer came with a disclaimer mentioning some problems. I noted an almost metallic kind of thing, which I once experienced in one of my own IPA's that I just threw too many non-compatible hops into. Whether this is the problem here, I can't say, but it is a possibility. I've had much worse commercial IPA's, so it was a win, as far as I'm concerned.

The small project included was a temp controller meant to be used with software that he's been working on: http://www.fermentrack.com/

I've built the controller, but have hit a rough patch trying to flash the firmware. I've not yet reached out for help, because I've not yet exhausted my own knowledge. I've been busy, and haven't had time to really try to work it out, so it's still sitting six inches from my keyboard, waiting for me.

It was a great pick!

@Thorrak I really do want the porter recipes, if you'll share.

 

[fourfarthing]

@gabrewzoo. Cucumber saison.

Great noble hop (saaz?!) nose that made me fall in love. This is a tasty saison. There is a bit of caramel/honey malt (maybe caramunich?) that shows up at colder temps that I would pass on but I really enjoyed this one.

My wife (aka my better palette) and I both thought the cucumber was muted. Like in an, ‘I think that is the cucumber bc it is fresh and different but it doesn’t strike me as cucumber’ way about halfway through.

This was the beer I picked the offer for and it lived up. Great drink, and much needed on this Friday night. Glad I have one more in the cellar. View attachment IMG_1506731559.408158.jpg

 

[GaBrewZoo]

@gabrewzoo. Cucumber saison.

Great noble hop (saaz?!) nose that made me fall in love. This is a tasty saison. There is a bit of caramel/honey malt (maybe caramunich?) that shows up at colder temps that I would pass on but I really enjoyed this one.

My wife (aka my better palette) and I both thought the cucumber was muted. Like in an, ‘I think that is the cucumber bc it is fresh and different but it doesn’t strike me as cucumber’ way about halfway through.

This was the beer I picked the offer for and it lived up. Great drink, and much needed on this Friday night. Glad I have one more in the cellar. View attachment 415844

Glad you liked it. I actually used Sorachi Ace hops for their lemony taste, thought it would go good in a saison. The grain bill was 7# pilsner, 4# wheat and 1# OB honey at flameout.

I only used about one half of a cucumber for the five gallon batch, so the cucumber flavor is very subtle, I should have gone with a whole one.

 

[TwistedGray]

‘Beer’d out’ - what is this thing you speak about as if it were a real thing?!

as if

 

[GaBrewZoo]

Hey @Brizzo I sent you a couple PMs about the BYO bogo offer. PM me your info so I can send it off.

 

[imasickboy]

Next round is up: FotH II

 

[fourfarthing]

@GaBrewZoo. Wheat Rye Ale. I have nothing to say, other than that I would like the recipe so I can have some on hand next year late summer/early fall harvest season. Great f’ing beer.

 

[fourfarthing]

Last new one as I am saving the cider for something special. @gabrewzoo ‘s Berliner Weisse is spot on. I have had 4 beers of his with three brewing techniques and have barely been able to provide useful feedback as they were all so well done.

View attachment IMG_2949.jpg

 

[JDXX1971]

Last new one as I am saving the cider for something special. @gabrewzoo ‘s Berliner Weisse is spot on. I have had 4 beers of his with three brewing techniques and have barely been able to provide useful feedback as they were all so well done.

View attachment 416328

I love seeing that bottle. I have my first brew in the fridge in one of those bottles. I dont know if it is even any good any more, it is a Maris Otter/Willamette smash. Just makes me smile seeing it in the back of the fridge.

 

[Thorrak]

Saison. 90% pils 10% flaked grain of choice. An ounce sorachi ace/saaz/favorite noble hop at 60 and FO. Any/favorite saison yeast. Simple and tasty, done in a week and easy to make 1.070. If you're feeling saucy add some good quality honey to boost SG. The simple sugars will help you get a low end hydro reading too.

So I ended up making this with Sorachi Ace & the grain bill you recommended (6 lbs pilsner, 11 oz flaked rice, 2.5 gallon batch) and it turned out delicious. Ended up fermenting with Danstar Belle Saison 3. Got lazy and forgot to add the honey.

The only uh, issue I had -- The OG (the measurement of which was the whole reason for making this batch) was 1.071. The FG, however, ended at 0.997.

Yeeeahhhhh.

Ended up testing it with two different pieces of equipment - both read 1.00 or lower. No off flavors that I can tell. No idea how this happened as I've never had anything like this in the past.

 

[jerbrew]

So I ended up making this with Sorachi Ace & the grain bill you recommended (6 lbs pilsner, 11 oz flaked rice, 2.5 gallon batch) and it turned out delicious. Ended up fermenting with Danstar Belle Saison 3. Got lazy and forgot to add the honey.

The only uh, issue I had -- The OG (the measurement of which was the whole reason for making this batch) was 1.071. The FG, however, ended at 0.997.

Yeeeahhhhh.

Ended up testing it with two different pieces of equipment - both read 1.00 or lower. No off flavors that I can tell. No idea how this happened as I've never had anything like this in the past.

That's a boozy brew there. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[RevKev]

Going to start digging in!! Only leak was a little of the vinegar, I wanna say maybe it was the apple cider? If that's what it was very interested to try them all thanks for the package my friend!!

View attachment 1507956248979.jpg

 

[jerbrew]

Going to start digging in!! Only leak was a little of the vinegar, I wanna say maybe it was the apple cider? If that's what it was very interested to try them all thanks for the package my friend!!

Didn’t label those, sorry. Those are malt vinegar I make from starters. I use my malt vinegar in my hot sauces. Hope you enjoy. There’s a bottle of cider and I think I forgot to label the Porter.

 

[RevKev]

Didn’t label those, sorry. Those are malt vinegar I make from starters. I use my malt vinegar in my hot sauces. Hope you enjoy. There’s a bottle of cider and I think I forgot to label the Porter.

Labels smables, nobody needs em! Cracking the first of the brews she gushed a lil

View attachment 1508978846465.jpg

 

[TwistedGray]

Cracking the first of the brews she gushed a lil

Gush em if you got em I say.

 

[jerbrew]

Labels smables, nobody needs em! Cracking the first of the brews she gushed a lil

youzers. Hope that's not a sign of infection. Enjoy. either way a little tartness in a porter is pleasantly "traditional" yes?