I still love it!

[curlyfat]

Fermentation, that is. I came home from work and saw my latest batch going nuts, and it made me smile big. I still get giddy after all these years when I see this: (Oh, and I need to stop using star-san in my airlock)



(click for vid, I new at this)

 

[Golddiggie]

What are you brewing this time?? RabiesBrau?

 

[curlyfat]

What are you brewing this time?? RabiesBrau?

If it wasn't for my sister's post-partem present, I'd use that! Rabies-stout!

 

[Golddiggie]

Give it a name in Gaelic that means about the same thing... Or use the Gaelic word for 'foaming'...

BTW, I think that video qualifies as a "beer porno" :rockin:

 

[curlyfat]

Indeed. I was kicking myself for not making her a porter. It would have been Post-Partem-Porter.

 

[Golddiggie]

Sure you couldn't just call it a porter? Or is the stout obviously a STOUT? You could just dial it back a couple of centuries before stouts were around, for the name at least... Unless the people drinking it KNOW it's a stout, how can they say it's not a porter?

 

[curlyfat]

Good point. To a beer geek, it is definitely a stout. The malt bill is MO and roasted barley. That's it. No beer aficionado with any accreditation would call it a porter, but I doubt she'd know. Hmm...

 

[Golddiggie]

Label her bottles 'porter' and the rest 'stout'... Are any other beer geeks, or aficionado's going to be drinking it? If not, then I say F it and call it a porter... Depending on how dark it is, could be a brown porter variant...

Besides, you brewed it, not them, so F them if they don't like what you're calling it, it will still be good brew.

 

[curlyfat]

I like the way you think, sir. I'm giving her a case in bottles (she believes in one beer per day while nursing, so that's almost a month supply), and rest will be on tap in garage. I suppose I can call it whatever I want, and if for some reason I enter in a comp I'll call it stout.

 

[Golddiggie]

Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me (no ties to Charlie Sheen)...

Now, does she believe in the small (kiddie sized) 12oz/375ml bottles, the (teen-ager)16oz/500ml bottles, or the (adult sized) 24oz/750ml bottles??

Happy to say, I don't use any of the kiddie sized bottles for my brew... If you can't drink a pint on your own, then have someone to split it with. Otherwise, you're going to have to drink the pint. :rockin:

 

[curlyfat]

I keg everything, then bottle off of there when necessary. I have mostly 12oz, but since she's been abstaining so long, and this is a pretty low alcohol, I could get her 24 bombers to be nice...

She'll drink one of whatever size I get her.

 

[Golddiggie]

Nice... I'm using 750ml Belgian bottles, 500ml and 1L Grolsch style (flip top) bottles for my brews... Something very classy about having a cork in the bottle... I have been using those for my bigger brews, like the English barley wine, old ale, and plan to bottle the wee heavy in them. Out of necessity, I used 13 for my honey cream ale yesterday... Just need to give them time to carbonate before chilling...

I did get stoppers to put into the Belgian bottles so that I can enjoy one by myself now. Just wanted those so that I can open one, pour the first glass worth, then seal it up again until I'm ready for the second glass of it (same night of course)... Over 8.5% ABV there, so one is enough... Don't want to go through it TOO fast after all... I do need to plan it's re-brew... :rockin:

 

[curlyfat]

Stupid question, how do you cork belgians? I have corked wine bottles, but don't know the belgian/champagne process.

 

[Golddiggie]

Well, first you get yourself a Belgian...

Seriously, I have a floor corker (easier to use, IMO, than a bench top corker) that you put the bottle into the lower part, feed the sanitized cork through the hole, pull the lever, which compresses the cork, and pushes it into the bottle... The only slight issue with my red corker is that it's designed more for wine bottles than Belgians. IF I was to do it over again, and I didn't need to worry so much about the cost, I would get one of the champagne corkers. That way you can cork just about anything you want (even family members in dire need I hear)...

I've adjusted the corker so that I don't need to worry about going too deep, or not deep enough, with the plunger to set the cork height. You want to leave 1/2-3/4" out of the bottle. You then use cages to keep the corks in... I'll take some pictures tomorrow when there's better light... Shoot me a PM if you want me to just email them to you... Otherwise, I can post them here, or in my gallery...

 

[curlyfat]

So...it's just like corking wine, but you leave the cork sticking out and then cage it? I thought the corks were different as well?

 

[Golddiggie]

Well, you need to use beer corks to cork Belgian bottles...

 

[curlyfat]

Sorry, never really looked into it.

I don't have any belgian bottles, and probably won't buy any either. I do agree that they add a touch of class to a brew. Hell, I might buy some, I don't know.

Do they work with the wing corker? That's all I have, and don't intend to buy a new corker for random batches.

 

[Golddiggie]

No idea if they'll work with a wing corker... I've seen some info posted about using a bench-top corker, but it was more work, IMO... You would need to cork it partially, then remove the resting plate so that you could remove the bottle before resetting on the next bottle... IMO, PITA...

I'll take some pictures of the brews I've bottled in Belgian's tomorrow/later... Not enough light to do it via my BB's camera... Might just pull out the big gun for some shots.