What I did for beer today

[davidabcd]

Something boring--cut off the 72°F heat since my latest Tripel batch is done carbonating. Down she'll go into the basement at 56°.
Edit: And I'm planning out the next Tripel which is going to be another 13%+ but with slightly less hops than last time.

 

[MaltyWalty]

I started the cold crash on my Big Booty Brown Ale after discovering that my hydrometer is reading off, then took a gravity reading of the Figgy Pudding Milk Stout, then ordered ingredients to brew a pale ale this weekend. Tomorrow I will bottle my entry into a local Ironbrew competition that requires me use a random selected ingredient, so I've got a Rice Cream Ale.

 

[Punx Clever]

Brewed a Marzen...

Putting in my last effort for 2019... 11 gallons of Märzen to go on top of the yeast cake from a Baltic Porter.

Making the water... I got a RO system for x-mas. Getting 11ppm from my 450ppm well water. Cant' beat that!

Modification to the element to support whirlpool and immersion chiller. It was a 5500w ripple element:

Mash, 152 degrees, right on the daggum money:

First runnings. Gorgeous:

Last runnings, right around 1.008. Can't beat that:

Boil!

Pre-boil gravity... 13.5 gallons at 1.044 (temp corrected), works to 11 gallons at 1.054. I don't do direct OG measurements... figure one hydro sample equals one beer and I plan to save that.

Chilling... takes a bit to get down to lager temps with this crazy VA new years weather...

11 gallons in the fermenter with a third generation w-34/70 yeast cake. I'm brewing an ale next... this yeast is done!

 

[Mutant]

Taking some beer to my LHBS to welcome in New Year

 

[aharri1]

Had to put a blow off tube on my westvleteren 12 clone in less than 24 hours from pitching lol

 

[Pkrd]

Just gelatined my pale ale.

Might do a brew tomorrow night. Need a big IPA for those summer evenings.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Had to put a blow off tube on my westvleteren 12 clone in less than 24 hours from pitching lolView attachment 659700

What yeast did you use?

 

[aharri1]

Wyeast 1762 abbey ale II

What yeast did you use?

 

[GnenieGone]

We are watching! [emoji6]

Had to put a blow off tube on my westvleteren 12 clone in less than 24 hours from pitching lolView attachment 659700

 

[aharri1]

Awesome! I made a big ass starter. 2.75L

We are watching! [emoji6]

 

[ba-brewer]

Yesterday:
Dry hopped my NEIPA, bought some DME to do a couple 1 gal batches.
Today:
Was going to do the extract batches but got/stayed lazy. Watched bubbles, setup a beersmith profile and recipe instead.

Ordered some yeast, WLP515, WLP041, WLP029 and WLP090. Plan to mix WLP090, WLP007 and maybe something else to see if it works like WLP075 Hansen ale blend. Have not done a Kolsch in while so that what the WLP029 will be used for first. A Belgian pale from the WLP515 and not sure what to do with the wlp041 it was an impulse buy.

 

[aharri1]

Picked 3.5oz of hops from my plant with more almost ready. Now to the dehydrator!

 

[Novacor]

Woke up this morning and thought it might be fun to do a New Year's brew. Turns out the LHBS is closed today. Oh well, just planned out the first brew of the year instead.

 

[Gozie Boy]

Picked 3.5oz of hops from my plant with more almost ready. Now to the dehydrator!View attachment 659846View attachment 659847

A question based on my relative ignorance on hop farming. I thought that hops were typically harvested somewhere in the Aug to Oct window, so apparently my understanding is wrong if you are still picking them in January. They certainly are beauties!

 

[ba-brewer]

A question based on my relative ignorance on hop farming. I thought that hops were typically harvested somewhere in the Aug to Oct window, so apparently my understanding is wrong if you are still picking them in January. They certainly are beauties!

Think it depends where you live and what hemisphere. I recall someone in new mexico I think saying they start harvesting in the spring on thru till fall. Also think I say someone in florida harvesting in an non traditional time for north America.

 

[aharri1]

I live in central Florida! I get 2 harvest a year due to weather! So, inside information! Lol

A question based on my relative ignorance on hop farming. I thought that hops were typically harvested somewhere in the Aug to Oct window, so apparently my understanding is wrong if you are still picking them in January. They certainly are beauties!

 

[Robert65]

Read FFT and checked progress on Sunday's brew. Then got a keg and all transfer apparatus sanitizer purged and ready to go. Looks like spunding tomorrow.

 

[Gozie Boy]

Yeah, northern hem. for sure. I also saw the comment from the fellow in Fla., and was impressed that hops could be grown in such a warm/far south environment. One general guideline is that hops are grown between of 35 and 55 deg latitude, which is quite a bit north of Fla. I appreciate that there are exceptions to everything. I am right at the 35deg boundary, but am also at 3000', which puts me at a further north "effective latitude". But no way can I grow hops this time of year.

 

[epc071]

Brewed a Belgian Wit today. Haven't brewed since January 2019, felt good. 8 years ago today I brewed my first beer, a Mr. Beer pale ale.

 

[kmarkstevens]

I live in central Florida! I get 2 harvest a year due to weather! So, inside information! Lol

Those are some fine looking hops. Add me to the list that didn't know hops could be grown this late. All the stuff I read was the summer solstice is the trigger for when hops should flower and start to ripen. The rule of thumb goal is to hit the top of the wire at the end of June, and then let the plants ripen.

Obviously there are exceptions. When do you let them shoot up out of the ground?

 

[BrewMan13]

Couple days ago I kicked my doppelbock, and tasted wild ale 2. WA2 was an abject failure, so I dumped it, then cleaned 2 kegs and 1 tap line. Tapped my imperial stout on the newly empty line, and bottled a few right away for planned submission to NHC. Yesterday I filled a growler of said IRS to condition on bacon for a week for a small club competition. Still haven't brewed in the new house yet, but got the water checked.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Bottling day. So far, did 5 gallons of orange tripel, and almost done with 5 1/2 gallons of RIS. Still to go, 5 gallons of Scotch ale. Gotta go sterilize more bombers!

 

[JAReeves]

Couple days ago I kicked my doppelbock, and tasted wild ale 2. WA2 was an abject failure, so I dumped it, then cleaned 2 kegs and 1 tap line. Tapped my imperial stout on the newly empty line, and bottled a few right away for planned submission to NHC. Yesterday I filled a growler of said IRS to condition on bacon for a week for a small club competition. Still haven't brewed in the new house yet, but got the water checked.

Just wondering how long you waited before you declared your wild ale a failure? I have had some not work (wild yeasts from Burbank, CA), but I’ve also had great successes, (Torrance,CA). I have them at least a year, though before I dump them. Most of the time they don’t taste at all good until after the 6 month mark, sometimes after the year mark.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Busy morning. Did a final gravity check on the Scotch ale before bottling, went from 1.110 to 1.010, or a wee bit more than 13% ABV.. Might have to call it Royal Scot Ale!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Ordered an inexpensive 5 gallon kettle for small brews because the enamel chipped on the canning pot I was using.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

View attachment 659958

Busy morning. Did a final gravity check on the Scotch ale before bottling, went from 1.110 to 1.010, or a wee bit more than 13% ABV.. Might have to call it Royal Scot Ale!

Have one too many and you’ll be Scotchy MacScotch faced

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Bottle primed Stein Brew, wort was produced by many co-brewers! (Technically I helped)

View attachment 659995

It doesn’t taste like ashy rocks.

 

[BrewMan13]

Just wondering how long you waited before you declared your wild ale a failure? I have had some not work (wild yeasts from Burbank, CA), but I’ve also had great successes, (Torrance,CA). I have them at least a year, though before I dump them. Most of the time they don’t taste at all good until after the 6 month mark, sometimes after the year mark.

Almost 14 months. Was in the carboy for close to a year, then kegged for a couple months. I tested it a total of 3 times spaced far apart and it was only getting worse. I've had success in the past with the wild culture I used and have other batches in the pipeline, so not too broken up about it.

 

[Robert65]

Doing draught line cleaning now. Liking my new pump.

Still haven't spunded the beer I thought would go yesterday. Misled by gauging the batch progress with a refractometer and correction formula. Used hydrometer for the FFT. Got a surprise when I used it on the fermenting beer. Refractometer relegated to hot side.

 

[Immocles]

Fired up my Christmas present and brewed cream of 3 crops ale. Also used an immersion chiller for the first time and I can’t believe how quickly it worked omg.
Getting the new process and brew space figured out will take some time though.

 

[TheEagleRising]

Shipped my Secret Santa FOTD

 

[aharri1]

Usually late oct and late march.

Those are some fine looking hops. Add me to the list that didn't know hops could be grown this late. All the stuff I read was the summer solstice is the trigger for when hops should flower and start to ripen. The rule of thumb goal is to hit the top of the wire at the end of June, and then let the plants ripen.

Obviously there are exceptions. When do you let them shoot up out of the ground?

 

[Robert65]

Usually late oct and late march.

Same hills send up shoots twice in one year? Or do you have have separate plants on staggered life cycles? Sorry, this is blowing my 41°N mind.

 

[aharri1]

Same hills send up shoots twice in one year? Or do you have have separate plants on staggered life cycles? Sorry, this is blowing my 41°N mind.

Yes. I cut them back once harvested, and then they come back.

 

[Robert65]

Yes. I cut them back once harvested, and then they come back.

So cool!

 

[ba-brewer]

Brewed a 2gal batch of bitters using DME to use for validating slants. Did it while roasting coffee and got distracted looking at my recipe so I got an ordinary bitters instead of the best bitters strength I was hoping for. Was playing around with doing a late DME addition to use less hops and left out some DME.

This is more of a what I got in the mail, but got a box that was big enough to just hold 15lb of Barke pilsner malt in it. Got a second box the same size from white labs that only had 4 vials of yeast and an ice pack in it. Did inventory stuff.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Crushed the grains for a brew day tomorrow.
Edit, Saturday cancel, Sunday brew.

 

[seatazzz]

Sitting at work this morning doing my usual thing, and the husband (off work the last two days) sends a text asking if I use Citra hops much. I respond back, no, because they're expensive as poopy most of the time, and hard to get. We're both on the YVH email list but I don't check my personal email that much; he does, and as a result I got in on the flash sale they had today, and snagged two pounds of 2019 Citra pellets at $16/pound; SCORE!!! When I first checked this morning (probably about 30 minutes into the sale) they had 863 one pound packages; they were GONE in less than two hours. Was kinda fun to refresh the page and watch the count go down.

Now sitting here after a long day enjoying a glass of the porter I brewed three weeks ago; could do with a bit of aging, but tastes pretty darn good right now. And planning a brewday for Sunday; there's a Mosaic Smash IPA taking up the ferment fridge at the moment, but with the temperatures hovering in the high 40's to low 50's, I'm going to take a chance on doing a cold-fermented lager just out in the garage.

 

[Mutant]

Entered six beers to El Dorado County Fair yesterday. Getting ready to enter CA State Fair and AHA Regional/Nationals are coming up.

 

[JAReeves]

After working with my youngest, building a bookshelf for his room, a celebratory stout.