Hello from Ottawa, CAN

[adempsey10]

Started brewing on Thanksgiving (Canadian thanksgiving) back in October.

I started with wine about two years ago when my grandpa gave me some of his extra equipment but I could never do it quite as well as him. I've always wanted to brew and my wife says I need a hobby during off season (I'm a bike racer) because she says I get too grumpy in the fall when I can't ride my bike as much anymore.

I started with a 10 gallon kettle using the BIAB method to keep things cheap. I learned about it from a brewery in Quebec that sponsored our cycling team. They took us on a tour and explained how it all worked. After producing two 5 gallon batches (the first was a dud. It was a tannin explosion). The second was known as 'Centennial Blonde Ale' that someone from this forum created. I wish I could remember who. The only difference I made was dry hopping with Amarillo. It was delicious.

Since then I realized that I don't/can't drink 5 gallon batches fast enough and I almost never enjoy drinking the same beer over and over so I went out got a smaller kettle and 5 1 gallon fermenters. Now I brew twice a week using only my own recipes. I design them based on the recommendations from 'Designing Great Beers' and the BJCP style guide. I've only brewed two recipes that weren't my own. Mostly because I like to experiment and I don't mind screwing up.

My wife and I often brew together. We called our little home brewery KOM Brewing. Stands for King of the Mountain. A term in bike racing. Once we settle on some recipes we like, we're going to name our beers after famous climbs in the Tour de France.

So far I have brewed:
5g - 'American MOB' - an awful IPA that had tannin bitterness (very first brew)

5g - Centennial Blonde Ale - turned out delicious

0.5g - IPA - my recipe. water volume was off so I ended up with a very low grav beer. Tasted okay but not right for the style

0.25g - IPA - same recipe as above from the same mash but separated and steeped with Espresso beans. Espresso flavour came through nicely but same problem as above recipe

1g - Irish Red - Turned out to be more of an Amber Ale than a red but was good.

1g - IPA - modified recipe from previous IPA to better suit style and be more characteristically IPA. Fermented it at too high temp and it turned into Peach Beer.

1g - Irish Red - This time I hit it the money. Came out red and pre-bottling flavour was good. Waiting for it to carb up.

1g - Black IPA - Essentially the same recipe as above but a small amount of dark malt to add colour

1g - IPA - more refinements to IPA recipe but water volumes were off so I ended up with much less than 1g.

1g- Rauchbier - Smoked Beech malt was the foundation of this one. Smelled delicious. In the fermenter now

1g - American style wheat - Carbing up. tasted good before bottling

1g - IPA - First successful IPA with full 1g volume. Very excited about this one. In fermenter.

Still working out a way to produce lager temps so I can make my wife a Kolsch style beer. So far I love brewing.

 

[Redlantern]

Get your Belgian Golden Strong in the fermenter now - Paris-Roubaix and Ronde von Vlaanderen will be here in April...

For lager temps, it is about that time where you can build a ply-wood box (insulated) in the garage with an oil-filled radiator in it and an ink-bird controller. Very easy to keep a small area in the 10°C range that way in the winter anyway. Cheap too. Inside, a chest freezer with Ink-bird controller is an easy way to go.

 

[adempsey10]

Unfortunately I do not have a garage. I live in a duplex. Our unit includes the basement but it doesn't get very cold down there. We have to keep our roommate who resides down there from turning into an icicle. My training room stays about 17-19C in the winter but it fluctuates. 17-18 normally but up to 19 sometimes 20 when I'm in there generating heat on the bike. I've thought about building a contraption that would allow air from the window in through a pipe, vented into a box with a temp controlled vent but that seems impractical so far.

 

[Redlantern]

If you build a simple Styrofoam box that has a covered top and one side open, then place it on a piece of plywood with casters on it and push the open side up against the basement wall (provided it is unfinished concrete) It should do a great job (once January rolls around) of using the cold cement wall as a cooler. I have a closet in my basement that settles in at about 12° during the winter because of the cold concrete.

 

[jojacques]

Hello from a fellow brewer in Gatineau!