So who's brewing this weekend?

[leedspointbrew]

Brewing an Irish Red Ale, a clone of Angry Hank’s Street Fight, the Unofficial Official Beer of Billings MT. It’s available in almost any bar, restaurant, pizza joint etc., even if it’s not on the menu. HB CCC Blonde behind the BK.
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Would you be willing to post another recipe? Sounds like a great beer.

 

[grampamark]

Would you be willing to post another recipe? Sounds like a great beer.

This is the basic recipe which is very close to the original.

 

[fluketamer]

another kolsch going up this weekend . seems like its been forever since i made a lager. the kolsch is just so good.

 

[Jmspears]

Going to try! I need to get my Oktoberfest ale done asap. Starting to get a little late.

 

[Corwin1968]

I've brewed six all-grain batches, none of which were satisfying. Some were drinkable but had flaws, and some were not drinkable, at least to me.

I bought a chest freezer last weekend, have an inkbird and fermwrap and am sitting here waiting for UPS to deliver my new fermenter. The wife is going out of town tomorrow, so I stopped at the store and got a six-pack and a four-pack of two of my favorite beers and tomorrow is brew day. It's going to be an American Pale Ale, slightly modified from Sierra Nevada's recipe.

 

[crazyjake19]

Couple smaller batches this weekend. A 2.5-gallon batch of NEIPA, and a 1.5-gallon kettle sour. Probably brewing both simultaneously on two different setups.

 

[Willy]

First brew on my new Brewzilla Gen 4 for me today! Doing an American Amber using locally grown and locally floor malted two-row, some crystal 40 and crystal 80, a bit of Carafa I, and Warrior, Cascade, and Centennial hops. Looking forward to getting the first go on the Brewzilla under my belt.

Good luck !!! Had my first Gen 4 brew in early 2024 - now 20+ batches later. I love it but wish I got the 65 L instead of the 35L... That said, doing bigger batches on the 35L with the extender.

 

[Willy]

First brew on my new Brewzilla Gen 4 for me today! Doing an American Amber using locally grown and locally floor malted two-row, some crystal 40 and crystal 80, a bit of Carafa I, and Warrior, Cascade, and Centennial hops. Looking forward to getting the first go on the Brewzilla under my belt.

Also.... Don't panic. You will make some mistakes and figure stuff out as you go.

 

[Zanatrik]

Brewed my very first repeat recipe, a breakfast stout. Tried to adjust a few details in hope of the second run being slightly better, including slightly longer mash and a bit more chocolate.

 

[seatazzz]

Working on recipe for a cream ale to brew tomorrow. Been at this for about 9 years now, and every year I try to do a brew on this weekend. I have a moose drool clone on tap, house NEIPA carbing, and a kolsch ready to keg; so a cream ale sounded good. For previous attempts at this style I've just dumped the cornmeal into the mash (Bob's Red Mill Coarse ground works well) but tomorrow I'm going whole hog and actually doing a separate cereal mash, just for the heck of it. Cleaned the garage out the other day so all the room in the world to brew, going to take my time with this one since for once I don't have to work this Sunday.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sunday or Monday Scottish ale needs to get brewed and go into a fermenter.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I've brewed six all-grain batches, none of which were satisfying. Some were drinkable but had flaws, and some were not drinkable, at least to me.

Good luck on the SNPA brew. I have always thought that Pale Ales were once of the easier brews to pull off. There is enough flavors to cover up minor flaws, they are pretty flexible as far as water, and the moderate level of hops is a lot easier to deal with than a bit IPA or Hazy.

 

[Dland]

Just mashed in, call it what you like, I'll call it batch # 210; expected yield 10+ gallons

10# Pilsner malt (Viking "nul lox")
5# Marris otter, (crisp # 19)
2# Oat malt (Canadian malting)
1.5 # Rye malt (briess)
1.5# Flaked corn (briess)
+ 1/3# rice hulls

First wort hops, 1.2 Oz N Brewer
30 min boil, 1.2 Oz Tettanger.

+ 2 Whirlflock.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

Also.... Don't panic. You will make some mistakes and figure stuff out as you go.

Thanks for that! It was definitely a bit chaotic for the first brew since I didn't have a process down yet. Good to know that wasn't just me! I took notes as I went and made a list of things to get to make things less hectic, like longer hoses for chilling so I don't have to wheel the Brewzilla over closer to the sink (I was used to brewing 2.5 gallon batches on the counter right next to the sink), a fan to better direct the steam out the window, etc.

Mash temp control was fantastic. I'm glad I did a ton of reading and YouTube watching about the settings, because that worked great. Efficiency was my biggest disappointment -- I was hoping for 70%, came in at 60%, but now I have that data point and can do better next time or adjust recipes accordingly. I also ordered a brew bag to give that a shot since that's what I'm used to doing with a kettle and got way better efficiency.

First brew day with the initial cleaning of the system, resolving a leak in one of the hoses underneath, having to do a 90-minute boil since my volume was high, and a bunch of other "first-time figuring it out" stuff clocked in at 8 hours. Hoping to get it down to half of that next time.

 

[crazyjake19]

Brewed an NEIPA this morning. Forgot to hold temp for the hop stand while I was cleaning and kegging other brews, so it free fell over 30 minutes. In the fermenter and signs of activity after just 3 hours.

Brewed a kettle sour last night, acidified to 4.5pH, and pitched some GoodBelly. I'll be checking the pH on that later today.

Harvested some yeast from the dunkelweizen I kegged, and I'll probably repitch that in a hefeweizen next weekend. Didn't get the color I wanted on my last hefe, might decoct this one.

 

[Willy]

Thanks for that! It was definitely a bit chaotic for the first brew since I didn't have a process down yet. Good to know that wasn't just me! I took notes as I went and made a list of things to get to make things less hectic, like longer hoses for chilling so I don't have to wheel the Brewzilla over closer to the sink (I was used to brewing 2.5 gallon batches on the counter right next to the sink), a fan to better direct the steam out the window, etc.

Mash temp control was fantastic. I'm glad I did a ton of reading and YouTube watching about the settings, because that worked great. Efficiency was my biggest disappointment -- I was hoping for 70%, came in at 60%, but now I have that data point and can do better next time or adjust recipes accordingly. I also ordered a brew bag to give that a shot since that's what I'm used to doing with a kettle and got way better efficiency.

First brew day with the initial cleaning of the system, resolving a leak in one of the hoses underneath, having to do a 90-minute boil since my volume was high, and a bunch of other "first-time figuring it out" stuff clocked in at 8 hours. Hoping to get it down to half of that next time.

Did you sparg?

I had a - new to me - brew day. I put 20+ lbs of mash into the 35L Brewzilla. Ummm. That is out of range. Yup. Thanks to a herculian shot of adrenaline I got the mash bin lifted (weighed a lot - 100lbs?):...the batch moved along. I was working for a larger batch size of 9 gallons for the new fermenter (spike cf-10). Got it all worked out - OG - 1.055... which is as close as I need to perfect. (Off by a few, no worries)

So .. every time you beer. Don't panic. It's beer and a miracle it is. Don't sweat it ... The magic happens despite your efforts.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

Did you sparg?

Nope, I didn't sparge. Prior to getting the Brewzilla I was doing 2.5 gallon BIAB no sparge in a 5.5 gallon kettle on an induction cooktop and was getting about 80% efficiency so I figured I'd continue on with no sparge in the Brewzilla. I realized I'd get lower efficiency so I planned for 70%, and now that I know that on my mill with a 0.04" crush size I get 60% efficiency, worst case I can just adjust the grain bill for next time. I might crush a bit smaller but from what I've read you don't want to go much lower that 0.035" for the Brewzilla malt pipe. I've also ordered a bag for the Brewzilla -- I'm curious if with a bag in the malt pipe (figure that'll make it easier to lift and drain vs. putting the bag in the kettle) and a 0.025" crush (which is what I used for my BIAB batches) I can get the efficiency up and not have to sparge, and hopefully not get too much grain in the kettle.

I had a - new to me - brew day. I put 20+ lbs of mash into the 35L Brewzilla. Ummm. That is out of range. Yup.

Wow yeah that's pushing it. Awesome you got it wrangled!

So .. every time you beer. Don't panic. It's beer and a miracle it is. Don't sweat it ... The magic happens despite your efforts.

Cheers to that! I appreciate you sharing your experiences!

 

[Willy]

Nope, I didn't sparge. Prior to getting the Brewzilla I was doing 2.5 gallon BIAB no sparge in a 5.5 gallon kettle on an induction cooktop and was getting about 80% efficiency so I figured I'd continue on with no sparge in the Brewzilla. I realized I'd get lower efficiency so I planned for 70%, and now that I know that on my mill with a 0.04" crush size I get 60% efficiency, worst case I can just adjust the grain bill for next time. I might crush a bit smaller but from what I've read you don't want to go much lower that 0.035" for the Brewzilla malt pipe. I've also ordered a bag for the Brewzilla -- I'm curious if with a bag in the malt pipe (figure that'll make it easier to lift and drain vs. putting the bag in the kettle) and a 0.025" crush (which is what I used for my BIAB batches) I can get the efficiency up and not have to sparge, and hopefully not get too much grain in the kettle.



Wow yeah that's pushing it. Awesome you got it wrangled!



Cheers to that! I appreciate you sharing your experiences!

I started sparging on my Brewzilla several months ago and it bumped up my efficiency to about 80%. Depending on how I feel... And batch size, I either sparg directly into the elevated/pulled out mash bin... Or if I am using a bag too, I pull out the bag and put it in a big sized boiling pot and pour 170° F water in the pot. Let it sit a few minutes and dump the wort in the pot. Repeat a few times. In short... There's a bunch of good beer to ooze out if you take a little extra time.

I was way under target of 8 gallon mash water for 23 lbs. (Brewzilla 35L is only 9.25 gallons). I used about 5.5 g to mash and did a 3 step mash to increase efficiency. Then used the bag in boiling pot sparg technique to get more good beer. My target OG was 1.60 and my actual was 1.55 which I consider a win since I was operating the equipment way out of spec.

 

[matt_m]

Just about done brewing a batch of Raging Red Irish Ale and put some baby backs on the smoker for later.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Scottish export nearly time for the second hop addition.

 

[Corwin1968]

I'm a little late with my follow-up, but I brewed three gallons of American Pale Ale, loosely based on Sierra Nevada's recipe. Seven pounds of 2-row, 12 ounces of Crystal 60, two ounces of Cascade hops spread over three additions and Safale 05 for the yeast. This is my first temperature controlled batch and I can't wait to see if there is any improvement. I'm optimistic but won't know until I start drinking it, several weeks from now.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I'm a little late with my follow-up, but I brewed three gallons of American Pale Ale, loosely based on Sierra Nevada's recipe. Seven pounds of 2-row, 12 ounces of Crystal 60, two ounces of Cascade hops spread over three additions and Safale 05 for the yeast. This is my first temperature controlled batch and I can't wait to see if there is any improvement. I'm optimistic but won't know until I start drinking it, several weeks from now.

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That is sure a shiny looking fermentation chamber! Good luck. Moving to using a fermentation chamber (a 5 cu.ft. chest freezer) was a game changer for me in consistency and convenience. I can actually go away for a week and not have to keep the heater or ac running just because a beer is fermenting!!

 

[catalanotte]

Double batch weekend. Wife’s favorite amber and the fall harvest wet hop IPA.

 

[catalanotte]

Going to try! I need to get my Oktoberfest ale done asap. Starting to get a little late.

So I am not the only one…. Will be tapping my Oktoberfest in time for Christmas

 

[jdauria]

39th wedding anniversary this coming weekend, so if I want to make it to 40 years, I will not be brewing this weekend. Will be kegging my Hefeweizen and Festbier though, and then next week, when I am in the clear, going to brew up a Cal Common.

 

[Jmspears]

So I am not the only one…. Will be tapping my Oktoberfest in time for Christmas

Got mine brewed on Monday thanks to the holiday. I did have a stuck sparge, which was unpleasant. Took forever, but I hit my numbers and got it in the fermenter.

 

[HM-2]

Brut IPA on Friday, weather permitting.

 

[Willy]

Thursday is a brew day - replenishing the Mostly American Brown Ale called Outlaw Josie Wells, the fifth batch this year! Tap #5, still most popular in 2024 but Pilsner Steve Urkell is close behind. Just a 5 gallon batch.

 

[leedspointbrew]

So I am not the only one…. Will be tapping my Oktoberfest in time for Christmas

Bottled my first Oktoberfest a few weeks back - judging from reactions to it, I may have to brew another batch that will be ready for Thanksgiving.

 

[jdauria]

So I am not the only one…. Will be tapping my Oktoberfest in time for Christmas

LOL! Brewed mine like a month ago, it's lagering. My goal is to serve it for a "end of Oktoberfest" party the first weekend in October. For that, it means I need to get drinking to kill a keg to make room in the kegerator.