What I did for beer today

[seanjwalker1]

That said, all my German friends just cringe if anyone mentions Leavenworth WA. Fun fact, it was a dying Washington State lumber town, when the town decided to reinvent itself as a Bavarian village. There is no significant German diaspora but rather desperate marketeers that created this "Bavarian Village" in scenery that reminds someone somewhere of Bavaria.

It's kinda fun once or twice...

Yep...like Frankenmuth Michigan. Nice place to visit but it ain't Bavaria! I know cause I was stationed in Bavaria for 2 years!

 

[kmarkstevens]

Yep...like Frankenmuth Michigan. Nice place to visit but it ain't Bavaria! I know cause I was stationed in Bavaria for 2 years!

no wonder. Of course you understand that to a Bavarian beer = bread.

BMW used to be my client in China. EVERYONE in the company were always in for a beer.

 

[seanjwalker1]

no wonder. Of course you understand that to a Bavarian beer = bread.

BMW used to be my client in China. EVERYONE in the company were always in for a beer.

Yep. Thus my love of Aventinus doppelbock and anything dark heavy strong and sweet. Till I got stationed in Schweinfurt Germany I was bamboozled , run amok and led astray into believing that Strohs was premium German beer! Oh the ignorance and innocence of youth! I was 19 and a 24 year old Sgt (The Old Man of the squad) took mercy on me and took me under his wing, stripped away the fog of lies and introduced me to Aventinus, Bitburger, Bamburg Schlenkerla rauch bier and Czech lager. It was years before I could even politely accept an American beer at a friend's house. At Ft Hood Texas when I 1st got back from Germany and waiting for my car, I would walk miles to the nearest store that sold Hofbrau !!!

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Yep. Thus my love of Aventinus doppelbock and anything dark heavy strong and sweet. Till I got stationed in Schweinfurt Germany I was bamboozled , run amok and led astray into believing that Strohs was premium German beer! Oh the ignorance and innocence of youth! I was 19 and a 24 year old Sgt (The Old Man of the squad) took mercy on me and took me under his wing, stripped away the fog of lies and introduced me to Aventinus, Bitburger, Bamburg Schlenkerla rauch bier and Czech lager. It was years before I could even politely accept an American beer at a friend's house. At Ft Hood Texas when I 1st got back from Germany and waiting for my car, I would walk miles to the nearest store that sold Hofbrau !!!

Aventinus, one of my favorite biers. I brew mostly German bier styles and keep to the Reinheitsgabot as best I can. Best brewer's on earth IMO.
Prost

 

[seanjwalker1]

Aventinus, one of my favorite biers. I brew mostly German bier styles and keep to the Reinheitsgabot as best I can. Best brewer's on earth IMO.
Prost

Ohne Zweifel ! So wahr!

 

[BrewZer]

Bottled 16x22-oz, 24x12-oz and 1x500ml bottles of Galaxy SMaSHer.

 

[Imhoppy]

Made an immersion wort cooler using 50 ft. of 3/8" O.D. copper tubing. Wrapped 15 coils around a plastic fermentation bucket with an O.D. about 10.5". Installed the flare nuts and then flared both tube ends. Tie straps secure the risers for some stability. Fits perfectly in my new Spike 15 Gallon kettle with I.D. of ~15.5". Top of coils at the 6 gallon mark, although it doesn't seem that high in the photo. Coil wraps not too pretty, but hot wort won't really care. My old 25 ft. wort cooler was too small for the Spike kettle.

 

[hout17]

Made an immersion wort cooler using 50 ft. of 3/8" O.D. copper tubing. Wrapped 15 coils around a plastic fermentation bucket with an O.D. about 10.5". Installed the flare nuts and then flared both tube ends. Tie straps secure the risers for some stability. Fits perfectly in my new Spike 15 Gallon kettle with I.D. of ~15.5". Top of coils at the 6 gallon mark, although it doesn't seem that high in the photo. Coil wraps not too pretty, but hot wort won't really care. My old 25 ft. wort cooler was too small for the Spike kettle.

View attachment 741319

View attachment 741318

Looks awesome!

 

[KYBLUE]

Shot gelatin to two kegs of COTC.

Made a small test batch of candi syrup in preparation for an upcoming batch of Caramel Amber Ale. Tasty stuff, brewed a pot of coffee just to sample more of it.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Ok, not beer but something for SWMBO

 

[seanjwalker1]

Nothing . Was supposed to gather the ingredients for an Irish Red at the LHBS but noooooooo! I gotta go to a surprise birthday party for my 13 year old nephew. Now the LHBS won't be open till Tuesday . And on top of that nephews house is 40 miles away and I'm going to miss the last qtr of my beloved Wolverines...double whammy...heavy sigh

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Kegged my "Dancing Rabbit" all-Citra APA.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Nothing . Was supposed to gather the ingredients for an Irish Red at the LHBS but noooooooo! I gotta go to a surprise birthday party for my 13 year old nephew. Now the LHBS won't be open till Tuesday . And on top of that nephews house is 40 miles away and I'm going to miss the last qtr of my beloved Wolverines...double whammy...heavy sigh

13 year olds don't want uncles at parties

 

[seatazzz]

Made the trek to Puyallup to get my scoresheets from the Washington State Fair. In an amazing plot twist, the one beer I thought would do the worst got the BEST score of all four entries with a high of 42!!! Managed to scrape three 1sts and one 2nd; in ANOTHER plot twist the 2nd place ribbon was the one I thought would do the best, with the worst score of 33. Shows how much I know about beer! Still super happy about having four more ribbons to add to the wall.

 

[seanjwalker1]

13 year olds don't want uncles at parties

I know right!! What I said to my wife! But this is just for close family. His BD party with his friends is tomorrow...so I'm doomed!!

 

[seanjwalker1]

Made the trek to Puyallup to get my scoresheets from the Washington State Fair. In an amazing plot twist, the one beer I thought would do the worst got the BEST score of all four entries with a high of 42!!! Managed to scrape three 1sts and one 2nd; in ANOTHER plot twist the 2nd place ribbon was the one I thought would do the best, with the worst score of 33. Shows how much I know about beer! Still super happy about having four more ribbons to add to the wall.

View attachment 741350

Congrats Lady Tazz !!!! That's fabulous !!!

 

[seanjwalker1]

But all is not lost! I brought some Sam Adams Oktoberfest and Blue Moon and brother in law has a chest full of DOS XX Amber, Heineken and Pilsner Urquell...all is forgiven nephew!!!

 

[Sunfire96]

Brewed an Oktoberfest. The Lutra kveik is happily chugging along as we speak

 

[Falstaff]

Research, mostly. Trying to make a gruit/herbal beer. Not as much info as I thought I'd find, especially considering the herbals. Trying to figure out the dosage on mugwort and dried elderberry.

 

[T Murph]

It's a very touristy little town in Eastern Washington, everything with a Bavarian theme. Even the chain stores have to adhere to the theme (you haven't seen anything funnier than a Bavarian Starbucks or McDonalds). Lots of quaint little kitschy shops, great beer, wine shops, restaurants. All the while walking around you hear the oom-pah-pah of bavarian music. And they have a HUGE Oktoberfest celebration that we're hoping to go to this year now that we have a reliable AWD vehicle.

I really wish I had learned about this town back when I was traveling around that state searching for local beers and wines to offer the traveling public on trains. Be assured I found some great ones. And that was back in the 90s. Bet the choices have quadrupled since then.

 

[Beermeister32]

Made the trek to Puyallup to get my scoresheets from the Washington State Fair. In an amazing plot twist, the one beer I thought would do the worst got the BEST score of all four entries with a high of 42!!! Managed to scrape three 1sts and one 2nd; in ANOTHER plot twist the 2nd place ribbon was the one I thought would do the best, with the worst score of 33. Shows how much I know about beer! Still super happy about having four more ribbons to add to the wall.

Doo Dah...... Congrats!

 

[seanjwalker1]

Research, mostly. Trying to make a gruit/herbal beer. Not as much info as I thought I'd find, especially considering the herbals. Trying to figure out the dosage on mugwort and dried elderberry.

Interesting...like something out of pre Rheinheitsgebot medieval Viking Europe ..Muggle Wart, Death Bane, witches breath and all kind of things that taste... bitter...and kill you

 

[JAReeves]

Made the trek to Puyallup to get my scoresheets from the Washington State Fair. In an amazing plot twist, the one beer I thought would do the worst got the BEST score of all four entries with a high of 42!!! Managed to scrape three 1sts and one 2nd; in ANOTHER plot twist the 2nd place ribbon was the one I thought would do the best, with the worst score of 33. Shows how much I know about beer! Still super happy about having four more ribbons to add to the wall.

View attachment 741350

Congratulations!

 

[Bramling Cross]

After nearly three months lost to work going off the rails, it has been a busy weekend in my hooptie brewery.

Yesterday, I killed off last Spring's bag of pils malt by brewing an adjunct CAP. Today, I brewed a best bitter and pitched Verdant IPA yeast for the first time.

I also killed a white whale that I've been chasing for nearly thirty years. Well, close.

For nearly thirty years I've been trying to replicate the (I now understand to be) badly age, oxygen, and travel damaged Franziskaner Hefeweizen that I treated myself to while in college in early 90's PDX. Back then, Franziskaner was a big, stupid riot of banana and bubble gum with nary a hint of clove in sight. Beer wasn't supposed to taste like that, but Franziskaner didn't give a #(%*@. As a gigging punker at the time, I liked that. Really liked that. FU beer!!!!!!!

Over the past thirty years, I've tried every yeast strain, every pitching rate, every fermentation and mash profile. I've tried it all and it all failed to deliver that beautifully damaged beer. However, Omega's Bonaza yeast has finally delivered the goods--well, close to it. It doesn't have the bubblegum thing going on, but next year I'll ferment it much warmer.

The key thing is this: After thirty years, I finally got a dart on the dartboard. Whoooohoooo!!!!!!

 

[bracconiere]

and pitched Verdant IPA yeast for the first time.

well i don't really know what i originally wanted to say, but if you're trying to make bad beer on purpose, as long as you add yeast to it, it still counts!

 

[Bramling Cross]

well i don't really know what i originally wanted to say, but if you're trying to make bad beer on purpose, as long as you add yeast to it, it still counts!

Thanks for saying that, that's the thing that has been driving me crazy about the past twenty years of this white whale fishing expedition: I'm intentionally trying to make a bad beer! Happily, Omega came to the rescue with Bonaza and all's well that ends well!

 

[seatazzz]

After dithering for a few days, finally did up another batch of hard seltzer; this time with enough yeast nutrient to choke a horse and (because somebody on the interwebs said to) 5g of potassium bicarbonate, which BTW smells like ammonia when it hits sugar water. This batch will sit in my spare room for at least two weeks until I test it, or longer if I forget about it. Also, just for shitz & giggles, had the husband do a blind taste test of the American Strong batches I have on tap right now, to help me decide which one goes to competition this weekend. And now I know why I married this man 16 years ago; he chose the right one, that got me a blue ribbon at WA State Fair and commented that the newer one would do well with some aging. I see bottling in my future.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Seatazzz, I enjoy reading your posts and respect what you have to say, so you're the first brewer (out of the countless seltzer posts I've read) that I can ask this question to: Why ferment seltzer? Doesn't it make more sense to just mix a keg-sized glass of vodka/everclear and soda and call it good? I'll admit I've never had a hard seltzer, so perhaps there's something I'm missing?

I appreciate your time.

 

[JAReeves]

Seatazzz, I enjoy reading your posts and respect what you have to say, so you're the first brewer (out of the countless seltzer posts I've read) that I can ask this question to: Why ferment seltzer? Doesn't it make more sense to just mix a keg-sized glass of vodka/everclear and soda and call it good? I'll admit I've never had a hard seltzer, so perhaps there's something I'm missing?

I appreciate your time.

I have a friend who I am probably going to do a 5G keg of seltzer for her wedding; she’s a low-carb nut. Anyhoo, all of the local fermented microbrew seltzer taste like…well, you sit on it, and so I thought everclear, H2O, fruit juice, and CO2 would be good.

Is it the challenge of making a good one?

 

[Bramling Cross]

[QUOTE="JAReeves, post: 9157690, member: 257263"
Is it the challenge of making a good one?
[/QUOTE]

I suppose. I can't help but think about it as a mixed drink--how else do you get the alcohol up to where it needs to be? And for that matter, how do you get the alcohol tasting the way it needs to taste without distillation?

If you can pull it off, you're a better brewer than me and you deserve a reward. Let's call it the Annie Johnson Award. She's the lady that demolished the 2013 NHC beer contest with a light lager. That's punk AF.

If you're not raising a glass to Annie F'ing Johnson, you're not a real homebrewer.