Home Brewing

[Root]

Thanks Todd. I can't believe how fast I've gone through 4.5 gallons of it. Everyone loved it. The rest is for me (and my date Friday night).

Looks like a a good problem you've got there. What yeast are you using?

 

[presence]

Thanks presence!

I really only had one successful batch of my apple brew experiments. I'm drinking it as apple wine. It's 12.1% abv and still has a lot of residual sweetness to it. OG was over 1.1.

I can't believe how fast I've gone through 4.5 gallons of it.

sugared to 1.060 w/ 1118 yeast I'm getting a dry hard ciderwein @ about 7.8%, very nice sippin'

35 @ 750ml consumed XD since halloween

75 corked bottles 1116 and 1118
100 brewing

the safale, knottingham, lager are all taking much longer to bubble;

I also have a cote blance champagne batch and 10 gallons wild bubbling

gonna try some 1122 as well...

get the experimentation out of my system.

 

[Root]

sugared to 1.060 w/ 1118 yeast I'm getting a dry hard ciderwein @ about 7.8%, very nice sippin'

35 @ 750ml consumed XD since halloween

75 corked bottles 1116 and 1118
100 brewing

the safale, knottingham, lager are all taking much longer to bubble;

I also have a cote blance champagne batch and 10 gallons wild bubbling

gonna try some 1122 as well...

get the experimentation out of my system.

A lot of my apple expirments didn't come out. I've got 2.5 gallons of a semi-sweet apfelwein thats's just delicious however. I saved the recipe off so I can do it again. 1.1 OG with cuvée yeast. 12.1%

 

[Todd]

So I have made my last of the Belgian Dubbel for at least 6 months and have nearly 5 cases to enjoy. They have turned out great. Had the wife blind taste one of mine against the Ommegang Abbey ale and she preferred mine.

Now I'm on to trying to make a clone out of one of the best IPAs. Bells Two Hearted Ale. I have a decent recipe and even if it's not close it will probably be an excellent beer.

Here's the thing about this beer. The sneaky secret is that they have their own proprietary yeast strain, so you cannot completely replicate their beers "character" witout getting their strain. The good news is they don't filter their beer so it is still in their bottles. So what do you do? You culture the yeast yourself. This akin to making a starter.

So you take 2 oz of DME (Dried malt extract) and boil it in 2 cups of water for 10 minuts. Cool it to 75 degrees and pour it in a glass container like a wine bottle or a brewers flask. Shake the liquid well to oxygenate it. Yeast like lots of oxygen

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Then you pour yourself a bottle or two (more is better for more yeast) of Bells Two Hearted into a glass carefully so that you save the last little bit in the bottom of the bottle....about 2oz. Pour the 2oz of beer into the cooled liquid DME and shake to mix the yeast into the solution. Now cover the top/lid with sanitized aluminum foil or a loose cap and leave in a warm area for 24 hours. Pick the bottle up and give it a swirl every time you see it over the next day or so to keep the yeast in susenpension so they will mulitply.

The below picture is wrong. I put an airlock on it when I should have used the foil so that oxygen could get in. I have learned from that since this pic.

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Here is what it looked like after 24 hours.The little white line on the bottom is yeast.

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and after 2 days the yeast really start to flocculate and eat the sugar.

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After a few days if you don't have enough yeast for your brew day, then keep repeating this process. Just boil more DME, cool, and add it to the container or a larger one and more yeast will get busy. I do not have enough yeast in this pic, so I'm going to do it two more times before Saturday.

The night before I brew I will put it in the refrigerator to settle all the yeast out of the solution. Then I will decant most of the darker beer liquid off the top of the yeast...leave a little to swirl the yeast into and then pour it in my beer batch.

Hopefully in several weeks I will have created something like this.

 

[Todd]

Thanks Todd. I can't believe how fast I've gone through 4.5 gallons of it. Everyone loved it. The rest is for me (and my date Friday night).

Looks like a a good problem you've got there. What yeast are you using?

WLP530. Abbey ale. It's my favorite Belgian yeast. great character and really dries out the beer.
I plan on making a Tripel with it over the Summer.

 

[Todd]

This is the basic recipe I'm going off of for this IPA. It's Extract. There is an All grain version of it, but I'm not there yet. You would simple add pale malt grains in place of the DME.

Bells Two Hearted Ale clone

Original Gravity: 1.055; Final Gravity: 1.014; Boiling Time (Minutes): 60; IBUS: Around 50; Yeast: WLP051/ WLP-001/Safale US-05 or Bells THA dregs; Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): at least 4 weeks at 65 F


7lb DME (light or extra light)
1/2 lb. - Caramel/Crystal Malt (15L) (Steeped)
1/2 lb. - CaraPils (Steeped)

Hop Schedule (47 IBU) (5 oz total)
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (60 min)
1.50 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (15 min)
1.50 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (5 min)
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (1 min)
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)


* To make an authentic clone of Bells THA you must harvest yeast from a bottle. This beer is not filtered and uses a proprietary yeast strain. I also have a packet of Safale -05 on hand just in case the yeast from the Bells I harvested are weak. Might change the flavor some, but it will still make a great beer.

Steep Caramel and carapils in 2.5 gallons water for 30 minutes. Fill up the brewpot to 4 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Follow the hop schedule above. When boil is complete, cool to 75 degrees and top off to 5 Gallons. Pitch your yeast, add the airlock and Ferment for at least 3 weeks or until you reach a final gravity of 1.014. (could be lower) transfer to a secondary fermenter and dry hop 1oz of hops for 7 days.

 

[keh10]

Hey Todd, good job and great thinking with the Bell yeast! Let's hope they aren't owned by Monsanto or you'll be in big trouble

I have just finished a big project I have been working on. I have renovated/upgraded my brew table and I'm so excited I can't help but share. Here's a list of what I did.

View attachment 2152


1) I fabricated a new stand to incorporate gravity to compliment our pump for a 3 tier system.

2) I sanded the rust and flakey galvanization off and repainted the entire table with BBQ paint.

3) Remounted the pump for smoother operation and added the clever sections of garden hose to keep the lines from kinking.

4) Replaced a burner that had a broken orifice.

5) Cleaned EVERYTHING!



We are brewing a Grapefruit Saison, Black Ale, Double Oatmeal Stout, and a Pale Ale. We'll brew two 15 gallon batches this weekend and the other two next weekend. Happy brewing everyone!

 

[Todd]

Hey Todd, good job and great thinking with the Bell yeast! Let's hope they aren't owned by Monsanto or you'll be in big trouble

I have just finished a big project I have been working on. I have renovated/upgraded my brew table and I'm so excited I can't help but share. Here's a list of what I did.

View attachment 2152


1) I fabricated a new stand to incorporate gravity to compliment our pump for a 3 tier system.

2) I sanded the rust and flakey galvanization off and repainted the entire table with BBQ paint.

3) Remounted the pump for smoother operation and added the clever sections of garden hose to keep the lines from kinking.

4) Replaced a burner that had a broken orifice.

5) Cleaned EVERYTHING!



We are brewing a Grapefruit Saison, Black Ale, Double Oatmeal Stout, and a Pale Ale. We'll brew two 15 gallon batches this weekend and the other two next weekend. Happy brewing everyone!

I wish I could get my hands on some of those refurbished Kegs. I would love to have a set up like that.

 

[keh10]

I wish I could get my hands on some of those refurbished Kegs. I would love to have a set up like that.

My only advice is to keep your eyes on craigslist/garage sales/flea markets. I used to know a guy who would sell used kegs for $35 a piece. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a few more kegs myself. You never know when they may come in handy.

 

[Peter4Paul2016]

I got a beer "kit" for christmas years ago and never used it! Thanks for this. Definitely something I would like to learn and get into.

 

[Todd]

I got a beer "kit" for christmas years ago and never used it! Thanks for this. Definitely something I would like to learn and get into.

I'm not sure what was included in your kit, but If it's a year old I would recommend checking all the ingredients for freshness. If yeast was included, then throw it out and get a fresh packet. Also, make sure your hops are still fresh and that your DME hasn't picked up moisture and turned into a big rock. If you kept the kit in a cool dry place then most of the ingredients may be ok. But definitely get fresh yeast. Fresh ingredients mean the world to brewing something that tastes great and something that may turn you off to the hobby.

This was what happened to my first kit when I didn't jump on brewing it for about 6 months. The Beer sucked.

 

[specsaregood]

As I was cleaning out the garage; I found a case of homebrew I had forgotten that was down there. yay me! And I was considering giving away all my homebrew equipment (just haven't found the time for it since the kid start walking) but I'm not ready for that, I'll try to fit it in the attic.

However, I do have about 10lbs of various specialty grains that are all sealed and been in a dark cool environment for almost 2 years. I'm not going to use them anytime soon but if any of you want them -- and would use them, I'll mail em out to you. no charge. first come first served.

 

[oyarde]

I drank a shitload of hard cider last weekend while grilling out flat iron steak and pork rib tips in my heavy flannel and Carhart . Man that was good .

 

[osan]

I wish I could get my hands on some of those refurbished Kegs. I would love to have a set up like that.

Just go get a keg, drink the beer and keep it.

Salvage yards sometimes have them, too. There was one in PHX down on Van Buren that had literally thousands of them in a huge heap. I kept meaning to get a couple to build gas forges but never got around to it. But yeah, you should be able to find them.

 

[Todd]

So I tasted my first ever made IPA recently and it is very close to Bell's Two Hearted. Mine is a bit more clean and bitter with the hops coming through more so than Bell's. But it is fantastic.

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[RJB]

I'm kegging a very malty Scottish Ale today that's done fermenting. I've been drinking homemade mead and an occasional store bought beer since January. I am so stoked!!!!

Here's a good beer song.

 

[RJB]

I'm kegging a very malty Scottish Ale today that's done fermenting. I've been drinking homemade mead and an occasional store bought beer since January. I am so stoked!!!!

Oh it's good! I used east kent goldings hops and then to the fermenter added an ounce of yarrow to further the bitterness, and added a chuck of mashed fresh ginger root for extra kick. I'll lay off posting tonight.

On a side note. This nice thing about kegging is the wife can't give you a hard time based on the number of empty bottles

BTW I told her and she thought it was funny.

 

[Todd]

This is a better picture of my IPA. It's softened a bit since April.

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This was my Saison.

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I don't mind it but I give it a C. WAY too much ginger flavor noticeable and the color came out too dark for my liking. It's got a nice Belgian yeast aroma and spicy, but the ginger taste isn't subtle. Is there such thing as a "ginger beer"? Because that's what I think I made. I'll remember to filter out the orange peel and ginger root after I boil next time.

 

[Root]

Todd, the IPA looks great. How long did you condition the saison ginger beer?

I recently had a ginger beer and it was delicious.
http://lefthandbrewing.com/beers/good-juju/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/418/1876/

My last beer was an American Hefeweizen and came out way better than I expected. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it, and won't until July 2nd. Tomorrow, I'm brewing up my first Tripel. I'm excited

 

[presence]

OMG!

Just cracked open my first bottle of "natural yeast" This is just apples from the land... NOTHING added besides the residue of potassium metabisulfite used to sanitize bottles. Bubbled on its own yeast and turned about 20% by volume to trub before bottling. It was harvested in November.

Not very strong... maybe 4-5%, fruity, better tasting than the original apple juice. Chuggable, refreshing. Almost reminds me of sangria or a spiked punch with a hint of orange.

20 @ 750ml bottles on hand

stoked!