First brew: NB Caribou Slobber

[MrClint]

It came out very drinkable! Reminds me of Newcastle, but then my beer palate is very limited:

Pretty easy kit to get my feet wet (so to speak).

 

[rburrelli]

Caribou Slobber is a knockoff of Moose Drool. Yes, a brown ale. welcome to the obsession.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

A number of NB kits are "inspired by" craft beers: Clone the World's Best Craft Beers.

It came out very drinkable! Reminds me of

Congratulations on good results on your 1st beer!

And nice label !!

 

[MrClint]

Caribou Slobber is a knockoff of Moose Drool. Yes, a brown ale. welcome to the obsession.

Haha! Where do they get these names? The beer came out better than the label placement on the bottles. LOL

 

[MrClint]

A number of NB kits are "inspired by" craft beers: Clone the World's Best Craft Beers.


Congratulations on good results on your 1st beer!

And nice label !!

Thanks! Yeah, I have a few more NB kits in the closet to check out (Sierra Madre & Cream Ale). Caribou Slobber is well worth doing again.

What rules did I break?
1. Straight LA City tap water, not filtered and no campden tabs. Dodged a bullet I think -- won't be trying that again. Filtered from now on.
2. No temp control in the music room. Not ready to futz around beyond the comfort of central AC.

EDIT: The label was from an image off of the interweb.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@MrClint : are these the 5 gal extract kits? or all grain kits?

 

[MrClint]

@MrClint : are these the 5 gal extract kits? or all grain kits?

This was a one gallon extract (with a small steeping grain bag) kit from NB. I have a bunch of one gallon carboys and widemouth jars from wine and mead making. Might make sense to brew 5g later on down the road.

 

[khannon]

mmmm(best Homer impersonation).... Moose Drool/Caribou Slobber.. Solid brown, Great starter beer, You'll be out of it soon..
5g is only a little more time than 1g.. of course 10g is not that big a step from 5g... And from what I've been told, 15g is not...

 

[MrClint]

mmmm(best Homer impersonation).... Moose Drool/Caribou Slobber.. Solid brown, Great starter beer, You'll be out of it soon..
5g is only a little more time than 1g.. of course 10g is not that big a step from 5g... And from what I've been told, 15g is not...

One gallon brews are the plan for now. I have some Hefeweizen (Craft A Brew extract kit) that I bottled yesterday, and an all grain BIAB SMaSH (New member doing first BIAB SMaSH) that I put in the fermenter yesterday as well.

 

[DBhomebrew]

mmmm(best Homer impersonation).... Moose Drool/Caribou Slobber.. Solid brown, Great starter beer, You'll be out of it soon..
5g is only a little more time than 1g.. of course 10g is not that big a step from 5g... And from what I've been told, 15g is not...

Yeah, but then you end up like this guy.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/hit-a-wall-tonight-maybe-before-now.702286/

 

[Dancy]

Congrats on your first brew! A favorite of mine, having brewed the all grain version twice. Although it doesn’t resemble Newcastle for me at all — darker and more flavorful.

 

[ike8228]

Thanks! Yeah, I have a few more NB kits in the closet to check out (Sierra Madre & Cream Ale). Caribou Slobber is well worth doing again.

What rules did I break?
1. Straight LA City tap water, not filtered and no campden tabs. Dodged a bullet I think -- won't be trying that again. Filtered from now on.
2. No temp control in the music room. Not ready to futz around beyond the comfort of central AC.

EDIT: The label was from an image off of the interweb.

Just use filter bottled water from the store. You could use distilled water and add salts to the style of beer but that is more advanced stuff. Focus on the little things like cleaning and prep, process efficiency to limit brew time and errors.

Temp control is important, but as long as you keep it in the recommended temp range for the yeast you are using (should say in the label) you’ll be ok. May get some off flavors at certain temps but that’s part of learning and equipment growth. Somewhere with a AC vent and away from hot walls helps.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

A favorite of mine, having brewed the all grain version twice. Although it doesn’t resemble Newcastle for me at all — darker and more flavorful.

The "Can You Brew It" podcast has a 'clone' recipe that they say came out really close (links available on request). IIRC, the Caribou Slobber recipe did follow that recipe very closely at one time (2015 - 2017). That being said, there are many ways to make a solid brown ale.

---

My 1st kit was Caribou Slobber. So every year, at my "1st brew" anniversary, I brew a "Moose Drool" clone. I've found many ways to make a solid brown ale. Cloning Moose Drool 'perfectly' is likely an exercise in water adjustments.

 

[MrClint]

Congrats on your fist brew! A favorite of mine, having brewed the all grain version twice. Although it doesn’t resemble Newcastle for me at all — darker and more flavorful.

Thanks! You can toss out any comparisons from me, my beer palate is not that keen.

 

[MrClint]

Just use filter bottled water from the store. You could use distilled water and add salts to the style of beer but that is more advanced stuff. Focus on the little things like cleaning and prep, process efficiency to limit brew time and errors.

Temp control is important, but as long as you keep it in the recommended temp range for the yeast you are using (should say in the label) you’ll be ok. May get some off flavors at certain temps but that’s part of learning and equipment growth. Somewhere with a AC vent and away from hot walls helps.

I appreciate the comment and advice. Certainly good to know optimizations to aspire toward.

I'm going to stick with the filtered tap water that I make coffee, tea & mead with and drink straight. If it's good for those things, it should be good for beer. I'm not going to futz around with water even if it is limiting and less perfect. At least at this point in time

Temp control from A/C and heating in my little studio closet is going to have do for now. As a gardener I'm used to planting in season, so brewing according to season might be how I roll. Another TBD.

Thanks again!

 

[MrClint]

The "Can You Brew It" podcast has a 'clone' recipe that they say came out really close (links available on request). IIRC, the Caribou Slobber recipe did follow that recipe very closely at one time (2015 - 2017). That being said, there are many ways to make a solid brown ale.

---

My 1st kit was Caribou Slobber. So every year, at my "1st brew" anniversary, I brew a "Moose Drool" clone. I've found many ways to make a solid brown ale. Cloning Moose Drool 'perfectly' is likely an exercise in water adjustments.

I will probably brew from this kit again at some point.

For all grain brews I'm going to stick with the small batch BIAB SMaSH track that I'm on right now: New member doing first BIAB SMaSH
I like the simplicity and straight forward approach of this method.

 

[ike8228]

I appreciate the comment and advice. Certainly good to know optimizations to aspire toward.

I'm going to stick with the filtered tap water that I make coffee, tea & mead with and drink straight. If it's good for those things, it should be good for beer. I'm not going to futz around with water even if it is limiting and less perfect. At least at this point in time

Temp control from A/C and heating in my little studio closet is going to have do for now. As a gardener I'm used to planting in season, so brewing according to season might be how I roll. Another TBD.

Thanks again!

Rule of thumb, if it takes and smells ok, you can brew with it.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Rule of thumb, if it takes and smells ok, you can brew with it.

Assuming one is treating the water for chlorine & chloramine, tap water can be a good starting point that results in good beer.

One of the things that "rules of thumb" lack is this: if the beer doesn't come out good, what's the next step?

When initially brewing with "extract", using water with a low mineral water makes it more likely that the first batch comes out good.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I will probably brew from this kit again at some point.

You got an enjoyable beer from the kit. Brewing it again makes sense.

For all grain brews I'm going to stick with the small batch BIAB SMaSH track that I'm on right now: New member doing first BIAB SMaSH
I like the simplicity and straight forward approach of this method.

The video in the topic you mentioned was really good.

Temp control from A/C and heating in my little studio closet is going to have do for now. As a gardener I'm used to planting in season, so brewing according to season might be how I roll. Another TBD.

With small batches, there are techniques that will give you additional temperature control (vs running A/C at a specific temperature). For temperature control for small batches, check the most recent two or three years of "1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!" here at HomeBrewTalk. If you don't find ideas, ask a question in that topic.

When brewing at "ambien" temperatures, yeast selection can also a factor - some yeast strains are slower at getting to FG (and some are rather aggressive) - slower strains produce less heat (per unit of time) and are easier to work with when fermenting at "ambient" temperatures.

 

[pvtpublic]

Haha! Where do they get these names?

Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, MT. My dad had a big role in financing the bottling operation in the 90s while he was with with the USDA.

Also, welcome to the hobby that consumes you as much as you consume it.

 

[MrClint]

Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, MT. My dad had a big role in financing the bottling operation in the 90s while he was with with the USDA.

Also, welcome to the hobby that consumes you as much as you consume it.

Cool beans! Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[MrClint]

In celebration of my first successful home brew, I recorded a little blues jam: