South Carolina SC midlands area brewers

[SHAIV]

This one smells so good! Im trying out my new “ferment chamber” haha. Seems to be working great so far

 

[carpathia]

Recipe thoughts time!

Name: Unnamed Christmas Beer (Possibly some pun about lawyer's tears being highly alcoholic)

Water/Stats
--------------------------
12.50 gallons set to Brugges (2.5 q/lb)
Target OG: 1.093 @ 7.7 gallons (assuming 80% efficiency; 7.25 gallons @ 75%, 6.9 @ 70%)
Target FG: 1.012
Target ABV: 10.63%

Yeast:
--------------------------
WLP 530 (Westmalle)

Grain Bill:
--------------------------
10 Pounds Pale 2 Row
10 Pounds Belgian Pilsner
3.75 120l sugar (2/3 added during boil, remainder added at terminal temperature)

Hops: (Note: amount not scalled; to 35 ibu; I tend to calculate this during the mash)
--------------------------
1.0 oz - Northern Brewer - 90 min
1.0 oz - Styrian Goldings - 20 min
0.5 oz - Hallertauer - 20 minutes
Magnum hops as needed

Mash Schedule:
--------------------------
00 - 45 min: Dough-in @ 135, immediate ramp to 145
45 - 75 min: ramp to 165; iodophor test @ 75 min
75: mashout @ 172 for 10 min

90 minute boil


Ferment Schedule
--------------------------
Pitch @ 64, increase by 3* per day until 82/FG achieved
Gelatin Fine and cold crash @ 30 for 2 days
Bottle condition for 2 weeks to carbonate
Lager for 4+ weeks
Warm condition until Christmas Market time

Notes:
--------------------------
Mash schedule allegedly from Rochefort per Brew Like a Monk; slightly different than my usual hockhurz mash, which historically has produced a very fermentable wort (as evided by my helles and stout; previous belgian had over 85% with WLP 570)

Temperature measured via thermowell of largest fermenter; the small one will just have to suck it up.

I'll be breaking in my new speidel fermenters (after my better bottle/fermonster warped/partially melted)

My math says this will fill a 2.5 gallon keg and just shy of three cases of 12 oz bottles.

 

[TravelingLight]

Starting a new job tomorrow (same agency, different area). Feels so weird packing up my office. I haven't had a new job in years. It's bittersweet.

 

[catdaddy66]

A new challenge, my friend! Good luck, you'll crush it.

 

[SHAIV]

Starting a new job tomorrow (same agency, different area). Feels so weird packing up my office. I haven't had a new job in years. It's bittersweet.

Nice! So does that mean more or less brewing?

 

[TravelingLight]

Nice! So does that mean more or less brewing?

Haha, asking the real questions! I doubt it'll change my brewing at all. Except for the fact that I got a nice raise with this, and I will be treating myself to some new toys (pump, cam locks, etc etc). Although, I will definitely be busier Jan-June when the legislature is in session. So we shall see if my brewing habits change in the spring...

 

[carpathia]

If you want to give any of my crap a whirl before you buy, you're more than welcome to. I'll admit, I'd almost want to go with Spike's QD's over cam locks; I occasionally have problems getting the cams to seal, especially when the hoses are hot.

 

[TravelingLight]

If you want to give any of my crap a whirl before you buy, you're more than welcome to. I'll admit, I'd almost want to go with Spike's QD's over cam locks; I occasionally have problems getting the cams to seal, especially when the hoses are hot.

Thanks dude, might take you up on that. I collab'd with @Morrey this weekend on a brut IPA. Now I want a new kettle too. And fermenters. His chronicals and uni tank are #goals.

 

[carpathia]

Shot you an invite on the facebook.

 

[Oceangrace24]

I want a new kettle also. And a HLT. And a conical fermenter. And a nice brew stand to put them on. And a brew shed to house all of them. The brew shed is coming. I have the money saved and put aside. A friend is going to be helping me build it. He is putting together a materials list for me.

I brewed my first lager last night (mexican lager) and will be brewing my second tonight(Oktoberfest). This way I can ferment them with the same schedule and have them ready around the same time.

 

[carpathia]

Idk how you manage to get a full brew day in a day; my process somehow sucks up an entire day from like, 6 to 7 hours from milling and first light to finishing cleaning. I'll be happy with my speidels for this coming batch, though it'll be odd not seeing the krauzen like I did with my clear PETs.

 

[TravelingLight]

Shot you an invite on the facebook.

Thanks dude! Unfortunately I won't be able to make it by this weekend. But keep me posted on the next one!

 

[TravelingLight]

Idk how you manage to get a full brew day in a day; my process somehow sucks up an entire day from like, 6 to 7 hours from milling and first light to finishing cleaning. I'll be happy with my speidels for this coming batch, though it'll be odd not seeing the krauzen like I did with my clear PETs.

I can knock out a low/no hops batch (stout, saison, porter, etc) in 3.5 hours. My hoppy beers/NEIPAs are usually 5-6 hours (multiple whirlpools/hopstands). But I'm always trying to shave time. Which is one of the reasons I want a new kettle. I want a 15 or 20G kettle, with a big mesh basket so I can essentially do BIAB in one pot. That's what we did on Morrey's system this weekend and holy hell was it a nice change from vorlauf/lauter etc. Just ratchet the basket up, press the grains, start boiling. I loved it.

 

[Morrey]

Yeah, we had an excellent brew day on our collab Brut IPA. IPA's still make for a longer day no matter how you shake it out with time for each hop addition to utilize in the WP. Considering most brewers are now implementing late addition hops for IPA's, double or triple WP's can add up to an hour to your brew day.

Some folks thumb their noses at modifying traditional multi-vessel brewing such I have done with mesh baskets to contain the grains. I think we got 88.9% mash efficiency and only lost 1 gallon of water due to absorption with a 21 lb grain bill. It sure makes for a more relaxed and stress free brew day for me.

 

[carpathia]

I'll let you know next time I'm doing it.

I have a 2 vessel gravity fed K-RIMs. I've been getting ~80% efficiency with my bag with no lauter. I have, however, managed to punch multiple holes in my Bag (stupid autosparge was still in the bag when I pulled it out to drop in a bucket and drain), but I leave minimal wort behind between emptying the bucket and upending the mashtun. I also do a very fine crush, which as of late seems to get stuck, though getting a stuck sparge unstuck when it is in a handy dandy sack is pretty damn easy.

A basket might be pretty handy. I like my step mashes, and bringing 20 pounds of grain up a step takes its sweet time and, with my efficiency being generally much higher than expected, I've had some long boils. I really do need to do a better job of backing out how much strike water I need. I've been doing 2.5 q/lb.

 

[Lifer59]

I’m in England on vacation but have sampled three of the Arkell’s cask ales. Wondering if anyone has had a chance to try a cask ale. I’m leaning toward meh. Very low carb and low hopped. Even the IPA wasn’t hoppy. Temp was probably low to mid 50s but not a problem. Drinkable but not what I’m used to drinking.

 

[carpathia]

If you can swing by Koln on your way out, most of the brew pub-type places that do Kolsch serve them out of firkins. They are supposed to be low carb to create a more "creamy" head, and generally are served as one offs or limited releases. Also, American tastes are way out of wack when it comes to hops; we took after the pine tar taste and never looked back about 15 years ago and never really looked back. The rest of the world with mature beer cultures didn't really follow suit.

 

[TravelingLight]

I’m in England on vacation but have sampled three of the Arkell’s cask ales. Wondering if anyone has had a chance to try a cask ale. I’m leaning toward meh. Very low carb and low hopped. Even the IPA wasn’t hoppy. Temp was probably low to mid 50s but not a problem. Drinkable but not what I’m used to drinking.

I've had some cask ales here, but not across the pond. I have to be in the right mood for them. Some of the best I had was at a beer dinner Matt Rodgers did a couple years back. He partnered with Conquest and Swamp Cabbage and did some neat stuff in gin barrels and some other ones. They're definitely different.

 

[Lifer59]

I tried a couple of different ones today. Sometimes after a hard day on the trail you just want a Silver Bullet.

 

[SHAIV]

A silver bullet? like a coors? Man i got a rochefort 10 from a guy on my route yesterday. He just started brewing and he got it in germany where its a lot cheaper. Ive been wanting to try it but didnt want to pay 10$ for it. Hes got all kinds of stuff from overseas since he works for the airlines. Oh yeah! Now should i let it age or just go ahead and drink it?

 

[TravelingLight]

A silver bullet? like a coors? Man i got a rochefort 10 from a guy on my route yesterday. He just started brewing and he got it in germany where its a lot cheaper. Ive been wanting to try it but didnt want to pay 10$ for it. Hes got all kinds of stuff from overseas since he works for the airlines. Oh yeah! Now should i let it age or just go ahead and drink it?

I've always preferred to drink it immediately if I only get one of something. If I get two, I'll drink one fresh and sit on one. Just personal preference I suppose.

 

[SHAIV]

I've always preferred to drink it immediately if I only get one of something. If I get two, I'll drink one fresh and sit on one. Just personal preference I suppose.

I probably will be drinking it soon. If i really like it ill go buy one. I know a place that has them and if they are the same age as the ipas they sell, itll already have aged some! Lol! stupid people selling ipas a year old. OMG!

Anyway this is what i found on the beer...

And similar to the brewery of St Bernardus, the water that's used for brewing Rochefort 10 is drawn from the grounds of the abbey. A long time ago there were attempts to mine minerals from the surrounding area and while digging a little stream became exposed, which was called the Tridaine. This little spring provides the water used in brewing Rochefort 10 and is said to contribute significantly to the taste of the beer. Like most quad Trappists, it's possible to store Rochefort 10 for a significant amount of time whereby the tastes only become more complex.

Rochefort 10 has an alcohol content of 11.3%ABV and is characterised by the blue bottle cap and blue "10" logo on the label. It pours a smooth dark brown colour and has a white / beige head that's not too big. Rochefort 10 has a sweet and deep aroma and there are noticeable flavours of dark fruits, molasses, apple and gentle hop spices. The alcohol is well hidden, despite its high alcoholic content. Nevertheless it has a nice warming effect on the body. Having a Rochefort 10 is the perfect ending to an active day spent outside in the cold.

 

[carpathia]

A silver bullet? like a coors? Man i got a rochefort 10 from a guy on my route yesterday. He just started brewing and he got it in germany where its a lot cheaper. Ive been wanting to try it but didnt want to pay 10$ for it. Hes got all kinds of stuff from overseas since he works for the airlines. Oh yeah! Now should i let it age or just go ahead and drink it?

That was a bomber for 10... right? I don't think I've paid more than $4 or $5 a bottle ever for rochefort.

Edits: I'm not remembering seeing much evidence from Brew Like a Monk that bottle conditioned quads do much better after 6 to 9 months, with that being the estimated maximum survival time of the yeast. However, that isn't the only chemical change that would happen over longer times, so do whatever for aging. It's already plenty good.

Brew Like a Monk also does a long segment on Rochefort's abbey. Can't recommend that book enough, even if you don't make much in the way of Belgians.

 

[SHAIV]

Yeah Idk i havent looked at it in a while. It may have been 7$ i guess you pay more if its aged... lol anyway ive had westvleteren 12 and tried to brew a clone of that but it didnt turn out anything like it. I think all the color comes from the candy syrup or something and i substituted that for something similar that was at betmar

 

[carpathia]

Gotta love the stupid early shift!

Westie says their grain bill is Belgian Pale, Belgian Pilsner, and an unspecified dark malt for stability (I'd guess black prinz or midnight wheat). You are correct: all the color, and a good chunk of the dark fruit flavor, comes from syrups; the Belgians don't tend to use crystal candy sugar.

I was at Betmar yesterday; they had two crystal sugars, one that was basically clear rock candy (i.e. no color addition), and Brun foncé at 22 SRM as their "dark." While that will impart some flavor, the real dark Belgian syrup for a quad (like Simplicity) start at, like, 180 SRM. I'm throwing in a bag of 240 SRM sugar into mine with a bunch of 180.

I think the Brun foncé would be good for a brown ale or in conjunction with a darker one (like the D-45) for a dubbel.

Edit: I really like Belgians and their brew processes, and read Brew Like a Monk faster than most of my actual leisure reading, and retained it like I was cramming for the test

 

[TravelingLight]

Brewing my imperial stout for the winter this weekend. A big, thick and viscous, velvety mouthfeel stout is something I've had trouble with in the past. Although, I've never really attempted one this big. Friend in the club let me borrow his 5L flask to do a massive WLP002 starter (egg drop soup). And I'm borrowing Kevin's keggle mash tun to do a full volume no sparge mash. Confident I can knock this batch out in 3 hours if I have everything setup prior. Planning to ferment at 68* the whole time with a nice long ferment. Then bulk age in a corny keg for a few months to round out some of the edges. Very excited for this massive beer.

 

[carpathia]

Brewing my imperial stout for the winter this weekend. A big, thick and viscous, velvety mouthfeel stout is something I've had trouble with in the past. Although, I've never really attempted one this big. Friend in the club let me borrow his 5L flask to do a massive WLP002 starter (egg drop soup). And I'm borrowing Kevin's keggle mash tun to do a full volume no sparge mash. Confident I can knock this batch out in 3 hours if I have everything setup prior. Planning to ferment at 68* the whole time with a nice long ferment. Then bulk age in a corny keg for a few months to round out some of the edges. Very excited for this massive beer.

Hey, am I going to be the only one posting detailed half-page long recipes in here? How big are we calling big?

I've got 20 pounds of Dutch Pale and Belgian Pilsner (I think that's what I picked up...) sitting in the bucket with 3 pounds of D-160 and 1 pound of D-240 candi sugar sitting in the garage waiting to get mashed first thing tomorrow!

 

[Oceangrace24]

Y'all should be going with us on the PSB Beerventure bus to Greenville this weekend.

 

[carpathia]

Y'all should be going with us on the PSB Beerventure bus to Greenville this weekend.

My tiny toddler that was running around the last meeting would not like going around while mommy and daddy drink beer all day, nor would the wife like me popping smoke for a day to go drink all day either. I'm also in the midst of the low carb diet, so my beer consumption is near rock bottom for at least a bit more. We'll probably make it to one of them one of these days though!

 

[TravelingLight]

Hey, am I going to be the only one posting detailed half-page long recipes in here? How big are we calling big?

I've got 20 pounds of Dutch Pale and Belgian Pilsner (I think that's what I picked up...) sitting in the bucket with 3 pounds of D-160 and 1 pound of D-240 candi sugar sitting in the garage waiting to get mashed first thing tomorrow!

Ha! Good point. Fair warning, this is a convoluted grain bill. But I'm kind of a convoluted brewer, so what the hell? Also, I got this recipe from a fellow club member who (IMO) brews fantastic stouts, and I've tried this one and it's exactly what I'm looking for. Allegedly this recipe was originally created by some guys who are Hunapuh fanatics and brewed this over and over again until they got close enough to the base stout (Marshall Zukov, IIRC). And Huna is one of my all time favorites anyway.

27% 2-Row
23% Maris Otter (*Note: Original recipe is all MO for the base, but since I recently got a 50# sack of two row, I'm working it in to save some money)
10% Munich Light (8L)
10% Flaked Oats
10% Pale Chocolate
10% Roasted Barley
5% C60
3% Special B
2% Black Patent
Bitter @FWH to ~80 IBUs
WLP002 (4.5L starter)
Mash @ 152*
OG: 1.130

I'm doing a full volume no sparge mash on this beer per the recipe owner's advice. He said he always has to do a full volume no sparge on this beer because the second runnings come out super low ph with all the roasted/dark grains and really throws off the ph big time. Oddly enough, this is the first time Bru'n Water has me adding pickling lime. He said the first runnings off the mash are like motor oil, sounds awesome to me!

I'm going to aerate the absolute piss out of this beer before pitching the big ass starter. I'll probably ferment it in my spigoted Fermonster since it'll give me plenty of head space and an easy way to sample during fermentation. He said he does a long ass fermentation, so not sure how long that'll go. Regardless, I'll bulk age it in the keg at room temp for a few months and probably won't put it in the keezer until December. And me being me, I'll probably end up racking half the batch onto coffee as well because I just love coffee stouts. Any thoughts? Criticism?

Y'all should be going with us on the PSB Beerventure bus to Greenville this weekend.

I considered it, but I've got too much crap to do around here, and house shopping as well which sucks. But also, I'm kind of weird about scheduled brewery visits. I guess I just like more control? Anyway, y'all have fun.