Way, way, way over the top Sam Adams Utopia clone - #2

[paulthenurse]

Hey Korg,

That's great. It's working. If it were up to me I'd add the chips now to the primary. You had such a hard time getting those yeasties to finish up the dance why would you want to take the beer off of it? I'd go ahead and take the chips out of the cognac and add them straight to your container. I would add the entire six ounces and monitor the brew for the level of percieved 'oakyness.' Remember that that oakyness will be strong at first but that it will fade in time. OTOH, no one like to drink plywood. I bet that it will be time to take them out in a month or so and that you will have had an additional drop in your gravity at that time. That is what happened to us. So then you can rack off the chips and the yeast cake at the same time. You will probably have a substantial increase in clarity from the chips. (Hello Adolphus Busch.)

Again, I'm offering my opinion on your beer based on what worked for us. YMMV. Good luck, it seems like you are headed in the right direction.

PTN

 

[eriktlupus]

sorry to be late on the updates here fellas. we racked this over to a rum seasoned barrel @7/27/10, she was down to @1.038+-. it was still sweet but not cloying sickenly like it was at 1.058. thinking about leaving it in the barrel till turkey day then bottling in small bottles.

 

[paulthenurse]

Cool. I bet you will still see a further drop in that time. Don't forget to check on the barrel from time to time and top it up as needed.

PTN

 

[lastsecondapex]

Woo, I started reading the last WWWOTTSAUC thread yesterday and have spent about 3 hours total to get to this place... How has U2 turned out so far? The first edition looked amazing. I haven't gotten to partake of the SA Utopias, but I am a big fan of the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, Worldwide Stout, and the BrewDog Tokio IS (closest alcohol % I have had to the Utopias)

On a side note...

I brewed my very first batch of beer on Saturday.

My recipe was pretty simple since I have no idea what I am doing:

3.3lb Muntons Hopped Dark LME
3 Cups of Sugar

1 SmackPack of Wyeast Scotch Ale

This was all reduced into a 2.5 gal Mr. Beer Fermenter

My intial gravity reading was 1.075

After 3 days, the primary is still in a steady bubble, but I am concerned about the sweetness of this though- The flavor and thickness of the wort was very close to Aunt Jemima's... Should I pitch some beano next week if my 10 day gravity reading is above 1.02X?

I would like to finish in the 9-10% ABV range with a flavor rivaling a Thomas Creek UTC.

Good luck guys and any advice is greatly appreciated--

 

[paulthenurse]

Well there is a lot to be said for not knowing what you are doing, you can't be frightened by thinking that you are biting off way more than you can chew.

I'm not saying that you can't make a Utopia Clone in a Mr Beer for your first batch of beer. Anything is possible. What I am saying is that if you give it a go and it comes out anything close to the original I'll crawl on my hands and knees to South Carolina and set myself on fire outside of your house.



PTN

 

[Sumo]

Paul thats terrible. However I agree, if he pulls it off I'll carry you on my back. Don't be discouraged though. You can make decent beer in a Mr. Beer. Its how I got started. My buddy now makes all his Brett and Sour beers in my old Mr Beer fermentors.

 

[lastsecondapex]

No, this isnt a Utopia clone I'm attempting (that is for another day with a real kit). I just want a 9-10% Up The Creek clone. I am just overly concerned that my yeast will wig out before it can eat up all the sugars and I will have an intolerably sweet malt beverage.

The Utopia clone is coming though, sometime.

 

[paulthenurse]

No, this isnt a Utopia clone I'm attempting (that is for another day with a real kit). I just want a 9-10% Up The Creek clone. I am just overly concerned that my yeast will wig out before it can eat up all the sugars and I will have an intolerably sweet malt beverage.

The Utopia clone is coming though, sometime.

Best of luck to ya, lad. If you pull off a Utopia Clone from any sort of a kit I'll up the ante and carry Albert on my back as I crawl to SC.

As far as what you made, you need to give us a little bit more information on what you did, the ingredients you used and the techniques you followed to get your brew into the Mr Beer. I'll be more than happy to help you out but could you start another thread and ask those questions there?

PTN

 

[Cape Brewing]

Yeah... that would "be like painting the Sistine Chapel with crayons"

 

[lastsecondapex]

Yeah, sorry guys... Didn't mean to ambush your thread, just inspired by your success. I will post a thread in the beginner forum later with my questions.

Cheers!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/muntons-hopped-dark-extract-question-197140/

 

[paulthenurse]

Not an ambush at all and I'm glad that reading our thread inspired you. I replied in your thread and hope it helped. Before you know it you'll be painting your own Sistine Chapel.

PTN

 

[Cape Brewing]

Yeah, sorry guys... Didn't mean to ambush your thread, just inspired by your success. I will post a thread in the beginner forum later with my questions.

Cheers!

No ambush at all and you should, by all means, ask all the questions you want right here. I just like giving PTN an enourmous amount of guff because he's short and chubby.

And... if you waste a lot of time reading a huge chunk of this thread, somewhere you will fine PTN using the line about "painting the Sistine Chapel with crayons"... which is freakin' EPIC.

So... just for the record... and to clarrify PTN's now-famous quote...

He was comparing HIS beer and HIS ability.... to the Sistine Chapel... One of the most respected peices of art on the planet and thought by some to have been aided by the hand of GOD. THAT'S what PTN was comparing his beer to.... (which... if you notice he JUST DID AGAIN in the post directly before this one)

... and in the same sentence... called another brewers ability... "crayons" in comparison to his own.

C'mon... THAT is absolutely BEAUTIFUL stuff.

I actaullyhave trouble looking PTN in the face without cracking up laughing at this whole thing.

Sorry to digress but I just wanted to explain my post... which was really just making fun of PTN.

Ask all the questions you want. That's why folks are on these forums.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Ok... sorry... but I just want to make sure we are all CRYSTAL clear on this point.

THIS is what PTN is claiming is the caliber of HIS beer and HIS brewing capabilities...

And then... what PTN was claiming this OTHER person's capabilities were:

 

[paulthenurse]

Did you make another batch of ass beer, Brian? Is that why your panties are in such a wad? That's ok, you keep on practicing and before you know it you'll be graduating up to your own set of crayons.

PTN

Ps
Oh and since you like posting pictures why don't you post that "EPIC" picture of Len drinking your ass beer. You know damn well that when Babalu gets back on his feet he'll post it up for us so you might as well take your medicine like a man and get it over with now

 

[lastsecondapex]

Ok... sorry... but I just want to make sure we are all CRYSTAL clear on this point.

THIS is what PTN is claiming is the caliber of HIS beer and HIS brewing capabilities...

And then... what PTN was claiming this OTHER person's capabilities were:

That second picture still looks better than that West Coast Pale Ale that came with the Mr. Beer kit... I can only imagine that tastes about how it looks. Luckily, I don't have to consume it- Whoever's kid drew that picture, they are stuck with it on their fridge no matter what they'd prefer.

On a side note, why does PaultheNurse hate your brews so much... Do they really suck that bad???

 

[the_bird]

Paulie has some insecurities that he hasn't quite worked out yet. Figure that twenty years of therapy would have done him SOME good, but alas. He just likes trying to knock people down so he can feel better about himself.

It's OK, Paulie. You make good beer, too. Really I mean that.

 

[paulthenurse]

Paulie has some insecurities that he hasn't quite worked out yet. Figure that twenty years of therapy would have done him SOME good, but alas. He just likes trying to knock people down so he can feel better about himself.

It's OK, Paulie. You make good beer, too. Really I mean that.

I got your insecurities dangling right here.

PTN

 

[Cape Brewing]

Wowwwwww... talk about someone having their panties in a wad. Jeeeesus. I'm not sure I ever got pissy about anything. I just thought your quote was funny. DAmn, apparently someone's a little sensitive.

And that picture of Len wasn't my beer. It was a random beer at the big SSBC competition two years ago. I put it up on the beer saying it was mine cause I thought it was funny.

I dunno lastsecond... I think Da Bird's onta somethin with his response. It does seem to be a continuous theme with widdle Paulie about how awesome his beer is and how bad everyone else's is.

 

[paulthenurse]

He was comparing HIS beer and HIS ability.... to the Sistine Chapel... One of the most respected peices of art on the planet and thought by some to have been aided by the hand of GOD. THAT'S what PTN was comparing his beer to.... (which... if you notice he JUST DID AGAIN in the post directly before this one)

Actually, I was aided by Yeager, so I think we can just toss that whole 'hand of GOD' business right out the window.

Other than that, I'd say your assessment was spot on. Thanks.

PTN

 

[paulthenurse]

Make up your mind. Am I widdle Paulie or big, fat Paulie?

 

[Cape Brewing]

cry all you want, I'm not changing the sig.

 

[paulthenurse]

cry all you want, I'm not changing the sig.

Aw hell, jppostKW beat you to that six months ago.

PTN

 

[lastsecondapex]

Make up your mind. Am I widdle Paulie or big, fat Paulie?

Or... Maybe after your time???

 

[paulthenurse]

I'm actually flattered that you foo's are getting your panties in such a wad about my statement. I'm sure DaVinci had his detractors, too. It comes with the territory. There are always jealous, untalented, little people trying to tear down the mighty oaks.


PTN

 

[lastsecondapex]

Alright, not trying to go off topic again here, but we took a hydrometer reading and my brew had only dropped from 1.070 to 1.040, in 6 days, but tasted like pure grain alcohol. Any ideas, or is it normal to taste like malted Everclear while fermenting? The yeast was still active and it did not have much of an odor, but we pitched some extra sugar to keep it working.

Thanks guys

 

[paulthenurse]

You've got tons of sugar, sugar is the last thing you need. Probably the best advice I can offer you is to go get yourself a book on basic home brewing, like Charlie Papazian's Joy of Home brewing and read it. Save yourself asking a ton of questions if you have a basic understanding of what you are doing.

PTN

 

[eriktlupus]

i pulled a sample from mine on friday. dropped another 10 pts down to 1.030 from an original of 1.158. still a mite sweet even with the extra hops i put in. but with definite caramel/vanilla notes and a high alcohol note.

 

[paulthenurse]

Very nice. Time is your friend.

PTN

 

[Cape Brewing]

... and a strong deoderant and Gold Bond powder are PTN's.

 

[paulthenurse]

Laugh all you want, it helps with the chaffing.

PTN