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Thorsbrew

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 18, 2016
Messages
282
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Location
Wake County
Hey everyone. Been looking to get into homebrewing for about a year now. Midwest was having a 20% off sale for 2 days and I figured it was time. Got the essentials plus a little extra and got to brewing right away.

Got myself a kolsch, fat tire clone and a pale ale kit. Brewed the Kolsch first (havn't yet had a chance to brew the others as the same day I brewed the kolsch i had some nasty homeowner issues. Hot water heater sprung a nasty leak and ran for 3 days creating quite the mess to deal with. Also have to deal with a clogged sink before i can clean my next brew day equipment) but aside from that the kolsch turned out great.

Really quite happy about the turnout of my first homebrew! It spent 2 weeks in primary and about 10 days bottling (so far, trying every few days until it's finished) and it's got some nice banana esters. Funny too as i tasted from the hydrometer reading on bottling day and it had no noticeable flavor in common with it's current form (honestly it was fairly bad on bottling day, lucky for me it underwent quite the change after just a week sitting in bottles).

Well, slowly (for me i guess hehe) trying to build out my brew equipment. Lucked out and picked up a huge approximately 25 cubic foot kenmore chest freezer off craigslist for a mere $120 delivered. Currently it's going to serve as a ferm chamber until i get kegging equipment and another freezer for fermenting.

After that it's a 20-25 gallon HERMS setup on propane. And eventually (probably have to be in my next house with the way the electricity is here) I'd like to move to electric. I'm lucky to have (a few) LHBS shops around my area so I'm going to head to a few this weekend and have a chat with them. See if i can get a lead on cheap kegging equipment (craigslist has nothing here in that regard).

Well, there's my homebrew story in a nutshell lol. Great to be here and thanks for all the information i've accumulated from you all so far! :mug:
 
Some of the best times I have had in my life were in North Carolina!

Welcome to the forum.. Welcome to the best hobby on the planet!

Cheers
Jay
 
Hey everyone. Been looking to get into homebrewing for about a year now. Midwest was having a 20% off sale for 2 days and I figured it was time. Got the essentials plus a little extra and got to brewing right away.

Got myself a kolsch, fat tire clone and a pale ale kit. Brewed the Kolsch first :mug:

Well HEY! (and I mean HEY, not HI)

I'm just north of you a few miles. Just kegged major buttloads of a stout to get me through the summer, when all the juveniles and heretics think stout isn't meant to be consumed. My kegs form big giant middle fingers pointed directly at commercial craft brewers who believe this.

Join me, Luke. I am yorrr faaathaaa!

dark_stout.JPG
 
Well HEY! (and I mean HEY, not HI)

I'm just north of you a few miles. Just kegged major buttloads of a stout to get me through the summer, when all the juveniles and heretics think stout isn't meant to be consumed. My kegs form big giant middle fingers pointed directly at commercial craft brewers who believe this.

Sounds like a friend of mine :mug:
 
I've got a fair amount of extra stuff laying around if you come up with something you really need let me know and I'll see what I can help out with.

Also Groceryboyjr you made my day with the stout talk... I can't get enough even when its 100 degrees out.
 
I've got a fair amount of extra stuff laying around if you come up with something you really need let me know and I'll see what I can help out with.

Also Groceryboyjr you made my day with the stout talk... I can't get enough even when its 100 degrees out.

It's Good to be on the Dark Side. We have stout! :mug::cool::rockin::D
 
Well HEY! (and I mean HEY, not HI)

I'm just north of you a few miles. Just kegged major buttloads of a stout to get me through the summer, when all the juveniles and heretics think stout isn't meant to be consumed. My kegs form big giant middle fingers pointed directly at commercial craft brewers who believe this.

Join me, Luke. I am yorrr faaathaaa!

Oh sure, I love a good stout too. Favorites are probably complex belgians, tripels (tripel karmeliet is my favorite so far, going to be making a clone of that when i get all grain equipment). Germans are great too (grolsch mmm), stouts, porters even the occasional IPA. If its beer with good flavor im all for it! :tank:

Thanks for the warm welcome and offers all. Very friendly community here compared to other hobbies i've been in. Lots from NC as well.
 
Welcome to the obsession, I hope it becomes just that. I'm surprised no one commented on it but a Kolsch should not have any banana esters. Not sure about the yeast you used but I would assume a kolsch yeast or other clean yeast. Some light esters are appropriate, even a slight wine flavor. Maybe lower the fermentation temp. Have fun.

Prost!
 
Well HEY! (and I mean HEY, not HI)

I'm just north of you a few miles. Just kegged major buttloads of a stout to get me through the summer, when all the juveniles and heretics think stout isn't meant to be consumed. My kegs form big giant middle fingers pointed directly at commercial craft brewers who believe this.

Join me, Luke. I am yorrr faaathaaa!

I am thinking of doing a lemon stout. Someone put a lemon in a stout that I didn't like because it was to bitter .It turned out very nice .
 
Welcome to the obsession, I hope it becomes just that. I'm surprised no one commented on it but a Kolsch should not have any banana esters. Not sure about the yeast you used but I would assume a kolsch yeast or other clean yeast. Some light esters are appropriate, even a slight wine flavor. Maybe lower the fermentation temp. Have fun.

Prost!

That was on day 6. Drinking one now on day 11 and its waned considerably. (Although i really enjoyed the strong banana fruity flavor when it was there. Next brew i may just have to get some strong flavors like that, or coriander, lemon zest or etc. Love those flavors in belgians but id like to make them even stronger.

I didn't have my ferm chamber when i started fermenting so i had it fermenting next to my AC behind my projection screen and curtains. Temp back there was around 64, occasionally dropping to 60 and once up to 68 when AC was off a bit. But spent the majority of the time around 64.

Got myself a 25 cubic foot chest freezer for fermenting my next one (carbing bottles in it now at 71F).

PS: Yeast was US-05
 
I am thinking of doing a lemon stout. Someone put a lemon in a stout that I didn't like because it was to bitter .It turned out very nice .

Sounds interesting. I very much liked the idea of the coconut stout mentioned a couple pages back too!
 
I've got oatmeal stout on tap at the moment. Perfect in hot weather or cold.
 
That was on day 6. Drinking one now on day 11 and its waned considerably. (Although i really enjoyed the strong banana fruity flavor when it was there. Next brew i may just have to get some strong flavors like that, or coriander, lemon zest or etc. Love those flavors in belgians but id like to make them even stronger.

I didn't have my ferm chamber when i started fermenting so i had it fermenting next to my AC behind my projection screen and curtains. Temp back there was around 64, occasionally dropping to 60 and once up to 68 when AC was off a bit. But spent the majority of the time around 64.

Got myself a 25 cubic foot chest freezer for fermenting my next one (carbing bottles in it now at 71F).

PS: Yeast was US-05
Oh I thought you were talking about the finished beer. The chest freezer will prove to be an invaluable part of your system. Welcome to the world of lagers. Let us know how the kolsch is after a few weeks of lagering, if it lasts that long.

Prost
 
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