Whats your white whale?

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thefigure5 said:
Here is a Rye Porter recipe I devised and made last year, with Tucson Water by the way. It has 3.3% Special B.

Maybe not white whales for me either, but I'm interested in using rye malt, and in saisons, fruited sours, and I want to make a decent IPA.
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I have a pretty well received strong rye saison I brew every so often. Its not my favorite saison I brew (that title goes to my Nelson sauvin hopped standard saison). But if you want to see the recipe, let me know.
 
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The white whale for me?

A true American light lager. (Mostly because I don't have enough refrigeration).

A bright, vibrant IPA. Not a style that I brew often enough and they mostly wind up like American Pale Ales
 
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Bilsch said:
Ayinger Hell vom holzfass
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Truth^^^

I've generally been successful in (eventually) being able to brew a given style that eventually meets my goal.

BUT.... the perfect Helles has always been my elusive butterfly. I've got all the ingredients set to go next weekend, and will be building and decanting a 2+ liter fresh starter of 1st generation Ayinger strain yeast starting Tuesday to be at krausen by Friday with 2 growth stages.

Wish me luck.
 
duffy5018 said:
The beer you always wanted to brew or to perfect but was never able to. The one that got away. The little ****er that messes with you til you can't sleep at night.

Ok, not that intense. But you get the idea.

(I'm not intending this to be a "help me fix my beer" type of thread)

For me, its a Belgian Quad (Strong Dark Ale). I've tried to brew one 5 times now and each time it's been, well, unsatisfactory. Too thin. Too bland. Too sweet. Too hot. For some reason, I can't figure that puppy out.

Just curious to hear other people's heartaches
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I actually have been quite happy with my Belgian quad. Have brewed the Westvleteren 12 clone a half dozen or more times, even trying a couple of yeast strains. Love this beer!
 
duffy5018 said:
I have a pretty well received strong rye saison I brew every so often. Its not my favorite saison I brew (that title goes to my Nelson sauvin hopped standard saison). But if you want to see the recipe, let me know.
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Yes! I'd like to see both those recipes. I am bottle conditioning a saison which has some rye and some wheat malt, with Wyeast 3724 yeast.
 
Clones for two of my favorite beers...
  1. Fuller's London Pride - followed the recipe exactly per the "Can You Brew It" podcast but the marmalade element of the bottled version never appears. Gonna try A09 Pub Ale yeast next as somewhere I read that while 002/1968 is a Fuller's strain, it is not what they use for ESB/Pride/Chiswick and A09 is.
  2. Pilsner Urquell - followed Morebeer's article for recipe, hop rates, and boil schedule, and mash temps. Close last time, but my beer was a little weak on the malty finish. What I can't find is the decoction boil times which may be the difference. Also, while I have been using WLP800, from articles I have read on genetic origin, this is an ale yeast and is not the actual H strain used by Pilsner Urquell. Wyeast 2001 is the actual H strain, but it is often difficult to find.
 
Holden Caulfield said:
Clones for two of my favorite beers...
  1. Fuller's London Pride - followed the recipe exactly per the "Can You Brew It" podcast but the marmalade element of the bottled version never appears. Gonna try A09 Pub Ale yeast next as somewhere I read that while 002/1968 is a Fuller's strain, it is not what they use for ESB/Pride/Chiswick and A09 is.
  2. Pilsner Urquell - followed Morebeer's article for recipe, hop rates, and boil schedule, and mash temps. Close last time, but my beer was a little weak on the malty finish. What I can't find is the decoction boil times which may be the difference. Also, while I have been using WLP800, from articles I have read on genetic origin, this is an ale yeast and is not the actual H strain used by Pilsner Urquell. Wyeast 2001 is the actual H strain, but it is often difficult to find.
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For the Pilsner Urquell clone, this recipe has the decoction amounts and times: pilsner urquell national award winning clone.
 
Holden Caulfield said:
Clones for two of my favorite beers...
  1. Fuller's London Pride - followed the recipe exactly per the "Can You Brew It" podcast but the marmalade element of the bottled version never appears. Gonna try A09 Pub Ale yeast next as somewhere I read that while 002/1968 is a Fuller's strain, it is not what they use for ESB/Pride/Chiswick and A09 is.
  2. Pilsner Urquell - followed Morebeer's article for recipe, hop rates, and boil schedule, and mash temps. Close last time, but my beer was a little weak on the malty finish. What I can't find is the decoction boil times which may be the difference. Also, while I have been using WLP800, from articles I have read on genetic origin, this is an ale yeast and is not the actual H strain used by Pilsner Urquell. Wyeast 2001 is the actual H strain, but it is often difficult to find.
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Yeah those are 2 tough ones. What I do know about London Pride (and just about every other beer Fuller’s makes) is they make it by Parti-gyle method. Basically, they make 3 or more different beers from one giant mash. They collect runnings of different gravities and they blend them together.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beerandbrewing.com/amp/practical-parti-gyle-brewing/
 
I thought it would be an aromatic, piny, citrusy, dank IPA, but I think I finally tackled that one with this last batch.

However, as I am particularly sensitive to the bubblegum/banana esters in lagers and warm-fermented ales, I have been trying unsuccessfully to make a lemony-peppery saison. So far, all of the ones I brewed weren't good until they became mixed fermentations (Tart Apricot Saison using my House Sour Culture, for example). I have tried so many different saison yeasts; Napoleon is next on the list. One more time....
 
Bilsch said:
Ayinger Hell vom holzfass
Click to expand...

This made me smile. A lot.

My (first) child was born just last week (she is sleeping on my lap as I type this) and while my wife and daughter were in the hospital, a couple of friends took me out for a drink to celebrate.
We ended up at one of Ayinger's pubs in Munich and my friend insisted we order the 10l wooden barrell of Hell. They make quite a show of it and have you tap it while wearing a leather apron. I felt a bit embarrassed, with basically everyone watching and some even taking pictures, but fortunately, it was very easy.

The beer itself was good, but not great - a bit stale, maybe. With the absence of tourists and large groups, I imagine the turnaround time for those barrels is not optimal.

Anyways, since I have now become a newborn's mattress, this will have been my last beer for a while... Could've been a worse brew! :)
 
Holden Caulfield said:
Clones for two of my favorite beers...
  1. Fuller's London Pride - followed the recipe exactly per the "Can You Brew It" podcast but the marmalade element of the bottled version never appears. Gonna try A09 Pub Ale yeast next as somewhere I read that while 002/1968 is a Fuller's strain, it is not what they use for ESB/Pride/Chiswick and A09 is.
  2. Pilsner Urquell - followed Morebeer's article for recipe, hop rates, and boil schedule, and mash temps. Close last time, but my beer was a little weak on the malty finish. What I can't find is the decoction boil times which may be the difference. Also, while I have been using WLP800, from articles I have read on genetic origin, this is an ale yeast and is not the actual H strain used by Pilsner Urquell. Wyeast 2001 is the actual H strain, but it is often difficult to find.
Click to expand...
Ditto your notion of A09 being the London Pride yeast. Downed me a few pints of Pride in Olde London Towne over the years, and it was a perennial favorite. A09 will definitely give you the marmalade. I recently did a Jai Alai knockoff using A09, and the orange & marmalade were quite prominent. It's a very nice yeast.
 
Brooothru said:
Ditto your notion of A09 being the London Pride yeast. Downed me a few pints of Pride in Olde London Towne over the years, and it was a perennial favorite. A09 will definitely give you the marmalade. I recently did a Jai Alai knockoff using A09, and the orange & marmalade were quite prominent. It's a very nice yeast.
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I 2nd that!

Everything of that :D

Except the jai alai... Whatever that might be?
 
Miraculix said:
I 2nd that!

Everything of that :D

Except the jai alai... Whatever that might be?
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Yeah, the Jai Alai was for a beach house week family gathering for my son and son-in-law, both who like Jai Alai quite a lot. So I took a keg with me, only to have those two yahoo ingrates each show up with 12-packs of Jai Alai.

Side by side, mine was slightly darker and a lower ABV. They "told" me mine was better. Whether truth or contrition, I'll never know for sure. But it was a very good beer, even if it's not totally my jam.
 
I simply want to try to lager. I bought a small fridge that a carboy will fit into, but there we filled it up with crap during the pandemic.

I think I may empty it soon and then can install my controller and achieve my lager.
 
Brooothru said:
Yeah, the Jai Alai was for a beach house week family gathering for my son and son-in-law, both who like Jai Alai quite a lot. So I took a keg with me, only to have those two yahoo ingrates each show up with 12-packs of Jai Alai.

Side by side, mine was slightly darker and a lower ABV. They "told" me mine was better. Whether truth or contrition, I'll never know for sure. But it was a very good beer, even if it's not totally my jam.
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Just googled jai alai, literally didn't know what it is :D
 
Brooothru said:
Yeah, the Jai Alai was for a beach house week family gathering for my son and son-in-law, both who like Jai Alai quite a lot. So I took a keg with me, only to have those two yahoo ingrates each show up with 12-packs of Jai Alai.
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Ordered it several times before realizing it is not pronounced "Jay Ah-La". :) It is a nice IPA and similar to what I look for in that style.
 
CascadesBrewer said:
Ordered it several times before realizing it is not pronounced "Jay Ah-La". :) It is a nice IPA and similar to what I look for in that style.
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"HI, Ally."

It hard enough to say, but even harder to classify. Is it an American IPA? Maybe a DIPA at 7.5%? It's not NEIPA, nor WCIPA with a strange mix of six hops. Hoppy International Amber? Fruit beer?

It's hoppy, light amber, orange fruit undertones, higher ABV, a lot of English influence with Maris Otter and Fuller's strain yeast. Hard for me to nail down. I know Cigar City calls it an IPA, but that seems to pigeon hole it too strictly.

Whatever it is, it's one of CC's better sellers, and they brew (and collaborate) on some awfully good beers. They do a pretty nice brewery tour in Tampa as well.
 
day_trippr said:
"High Lie". The "A" is silent...

https://askinglot.com/how-do-you-pronounce-jai-alai-cigar-city
Cheers!
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It’s a very dangerous game, amigo.
1625617485604.gif
 
Brooothru said:
"HI, Ally."

It hard enough to say, but even harder to classify. Is it an American IPA? Maybe a DIPA at 7.5%? It's not NEIPA, nor WCIPA with a strange mix of six hops. Hoppy International Amber? Fruit beer?

It's hoppy, light amber, orange fruit undertones, higher ABV, a lot of English influence with Maris Otter and Fuller's strain yeast. Hard for me to nail down. I know Cigar City calls it an IPA, but that seems to pigeon hole it too strictly.

Whatever it is, it's one of CC's better sellers, and they brew (and collaborate) on some awfully good beers. They do a pretty nice brewery tour in Tampa as well.
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Why do you say it's not a West Coast IPA?
 
I've yet to brew a hefeweizen I thought nailed my preferences. I like a lot of banana but it still needs balance with clove. I either end up with too much banana or too much clove. I haven't found the right fermentation temperature profile for what I consider the perfect character but I also haven't brewed enough to give myself the opportunity.
 

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