Help me choose my next brew

[Jloewe]

Just looking to brainstorm with like minded individuals. Finished a saison in the fermenter this weekend and looking for my next brew in probably Early to mid August. I bottle so we’re looking at mid September When it’s drinkable at the earliest.

I have a great love of thick dark strong ales. But a low beer stock I’m still getting up. So I don’t want to wait for imperials but you wouldn’t have to twist my arm to get me to change my mind.

NEIPA is out. Bottle conditioning with a bucket fermenter it ain’t happening.

All grain all in one system.

Have never re-pitched yeast but want to, so something that’s easy to repitch would be great.

Kind of thinking ESB since I find September and awkward beer time. Kind of want the dark stuff but it’s still hot in New England at that time.

But other than that go nuts I’m just looking for inspiration!

 

[Protos]

I have a great love of thick dark strong ales.

Then brew a Belgian Dark Strong Ale!
You're having now the ideal ambient temperatures to use warm-loving yeast strains, which most of the Belgian are. It's too hot for all other styles now (except for Nordic Farmhouse Ales, which you don't mention among your plans or favourites), but exactly what strong Belgians love, 70F/21C to 80F/26C.
If you need to have it sooner, make a Belgian Dubbel with the same yeast. It's dark and strongish at ca. 7%ABV and heat-lowing too. I'm not sure it would reach the peak of its flavour in a month but I'm sure in September it will be already a drinkable and pleasant beer.

I'd suggest not to experiment with repitching in summer. Leave that to a cooler season when there's less airborne bacteria and mold spores in the air.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Try a Scottish Ale, Old Jock, Dark Island, Skull Splitter. Or a Wee Heavy.

 

[MaxStout]

If you're brewing early-mid Aug and want to drink it mid-Sep, that gives you 1-1.5 months to ferment and bottle-condition. That might be a tall order for some of the big styles, as those do well with some aging. You could make a nice stout, like dry Irish or an oatmeal stout, or perhaps a porter. Those have big flavor and might be better candidates for a faster turn-around.

 

[Jag75]

Red Rye or a porter

 

[lumpher]

I'm also thinking a Dry Irish Stout. Those have full flavor, but are not heavy (and my personal favorite... irrelevant, but I just threw that in ). It'll start cooling off up there about the time it's ready, but will still be warm so something lighter but a lot of flavor would fit the bill. They do get better with a little aging, but are very drinkable at 4 weeks; better at 6. You can also use the yeast cake from it to make an Imperial Stout.

 

[BongoYodeler]

How about a Munich Dunkel?

 

[BrewerofBeers]

How about make any beer and add every type yeast you have! Like a Frankenstein beer

 

[Rish]

Maybe brew your favorite big beer and during the boil put together one or two of the cheap kits being talked about over in the extract thread. You can then age the big one while you drink the others.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

Here's another idea I'm waiting for someone to try: using beer as brewing water.

 

[AlexKay]

American stout. Roasty but quite hoppy. I like Northern Brewer and often pair it with Crystal, but you can go nuts here if you want. I’ve done Cascade, Calypso, El Dorado … it’s all good. It’s drinkable soon and is a very forgiving style.

Any neutral or neutral-ish yeast will work. I actually like Lallemand Koln (for this and almost anything else) if you can ferment at ~60 F, or Nottingham up to about 68.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Here's another idea I'm waiting for someone to try: using beer as brewing water.

IIRC, recently some brand(s) of American Light Lager were cheaper than bottled water.

Brew a six-pack using the beer as brewing liquor and report back.

---

(Slightly) more seriously, ...

... if one steps away from the water chemistry spreadsheets ...

... there may be an interesting thought experiment:

• Given a very low IBU beer as the source brewing liquor, ...
• ... what are the adjustments that need to be made to the brewing liquor to do a proper mash? pH? buffering? unknown mineral content?

Once the mash is done well, the next goal would be to produce something enjoyable.