What's brewing??

[thecrow124]

Think using a muslin bag over the end of the racking cane would work? Don't have an autosiphon.

It should by the looks of it the racking cane is essentially the center tube of the auto siphon.

 

[Sleepy T]

Beer is hitting its prime. Planning a brew day in the next month. Tentatively, planning on brewing 2 batches (8-9 gallons of each) of

Brown Ale

and

Red Rye Ale

Don't have time to brew but every 3-4 months and getting tired of running out. Hopefully will have enough time in one day for both. Would be a long day, but worth it for a 1/2 barrel+ of homebrew.

 

[thecrow124]

I brewed 10 gallons of hefeweizen last Friday, gonna split it with a friend that brewed it with me. Gonna be a good one for the summer.

I also have the porter partial mash to get brewed before I go on vacation in July. I still have some time but I only have about 3 good days per month to brew, so not as much as I would like. It will likely just age until late fall or winter anyway. But heck it could be ready to go before it stops snowing up here this year.

 

[757Hokie83]

brewed my Coconut Curry Hefeweizen saturday, took my sample to get my OG read, and man, i am excited for this one, great smell and flavor so far!

 

[Gatorchip]

brewed my Coconut Curry Hefeweizen saturday, took my sample to get my OG read, and man, i am excited for this one, great smell and flavor so far!

That's wild. What is the recipe?

 

[thecrow124]

I brewed the Beatdown Wheaten Porter tonight but made changes on the fly. Instead of dry hopping with Centennial, I added the ounce at 15 minutes. Bumped the IBU's from 32 to 43. If I ever do a brew with grains again it won't be until I have a mash tun. I had to heat the grains twice and barely had enough water with the bag holding the grains. Ended up coming in at 1.056 when I was shooting for 1.062. Tasted the OG sample and it was pretty good, but what does that really mean? Now I have 19 twenty-two ounce Crispin Ciders to finish before bottling day.

 

[757Hokie83]

Damn. 9%. Jesus.

Pushing barleywine there.

OT, but I had about four different meads last night that would turn me into an alcoholic if I had regular access to them.

Mead is my next voyage.

i've decided on doing some mead too, found a recipe that sounds like its a winner, now that ive got my beer made, its time to gather ingredients

 

[757Hokie83]

That's wild. What is the recipe?

5 lbs Malted wheat
1 lb American Victory malt
1 lb Munich malt

Mash at 153-155 for 60 min.

1 oz German Hallertauer (75)
1 oz Czech Saaz (75)
2 lbs Wildflower honey (75)
1 tbsp Ground cayenne pepper (30)
1 tbsp Freshy crushed coriander (30)
3 inches stick cinammon (30)
0.6 oz Lime or Curry leaves (30)
1 tbsp Ground fenugreek (30)
1.5 oz Grated ginger (30)
2 cups dry unsweetened coconut (30)
2 cups dry unsweetened coconut (15)
Irish moss (15)
1.5 oz Grated ginger (flameout)

Let steep for 2-3 minutes, strain hops/spices, transfer to primary partly filled with cold water.

Wheat beer yeast or Bavarian-style wheat beer yeast.

 

[Sleepy T]

That looks like a pretty amazing recipe 757. You formulate that yourself? 75-90 minute boil or did you just First Wort Hop (and Honey) the brew??

 

[757Hokie83]

i wish i could claim credit for it, but it's from one of Papazian's books. 75minute boil, never done the first wort hopping, but sounds intriguing

 

[Gatorchip]

I brewed the Beatdown Wheaten Porter tonight but made changes on the fly. Instead of dry hopping with Centennial, I added the ounce at 15 minutes. Bumped the IBU's from 32 to 43. If I ever do a brew with grains again it won't be until I have a mash tun. I had to heat the grains twice and barely had enough water with the bag holding the grains. Ended up coming in at 1.056 when I was shooting for 1.062. Tasted the OG sample and it was pretty good, but what does that really mean? Now I have 19 twenty-two ounce Crispin Ciders to finish before bottling day.

I brewed this a couple months ago as a partial mash. It was a damn good beer.

 

[thecrow124]

I brewed this a couple months ago as a partial mash. It was a damn good beer.

I am getting nervous, I pitched 23 hours ago and when I left for work I was only getting 1 bubble every couple minutes. Normally by this time I have good action in the air lock. The yeast apears to hav settled at the bottom as well. Not sure what exactly to do, I could try to swirl the yeast back into suspension or pitch another packet of yeast, or just wait and see if it takes off finally.

 

[Gatorchip]

I am getting nervous, I pitched 23 hours ago and when I left for work I was only getting 1 bubble every couple minutes. Normally by this time I have good action in the air lock. The yeast apears to hav settled at the bottom as well. Not sure what exactly to do, I could try to swirl the yeast back into suspension or pitch another packet of yeast, or just wait and see if it takes off finally.

At the bottom? What kind of yeast did you use and what's your temp? Any krausen? Any prep with your yeast?

 

[Gatorchip]

...If I ever do a brew with grains again it won't be until I have a mash tun. I had to heat the grains twice and barely had enough water with the bag holding the grains...

I do partial mashes with a small 3 gallon jug cooler I got from walmart. I use a colander I trimmed to lay down inside of it, then I use two paint strainer bags from home depot. Total cost of about $15. I can mash about 5 pounds max.

I drain, refill with boiling water and try to reach 170F... but I'm terrible at hitting the temp of 170F. I usually end up around 160 something. As I understand it, it's better to not just keep adding the water because as the gravity lowers you get more tannins. Here in CO water boils around 200F, so it's harder for me to hit 170 without making a runny mash.

You may want to invest in some inexpensive equipment like this before splurging into a nice mashtun.

 

[thecrow124]

At the bottom? What kind of yeast did you use and what's your temp? Any krausen? Any prep with your yeast?

I used rehydrated Danstar BRY-97. I am currently sitting at 69º. There was no krausen when I left, but it was starting to get some bubbles sitting on top. There was a little bit of action in the airlock but not very much. I am hoping when I get home that it will be going better, but itnshould have been going by now. I did use nutrient at 15 minutes in the boil, so there is no real explanation for why it didn't take off.

By at the bottom it could be some coldbreak sitting there, but it looks like my other batches have looked at the end of fermentation.

 

[thecrow124]

I do partial mashes with a small 3 gallon jug cooler I got from walmart. I use a colander I trimmed to lay down inside of it, then I use two paint strainer bags from home depot. Total cost of about $15. I can mash about 5 pounds max.

I drain, refill with boiling water and try to reach 170F... but I'm terrible at hitting the temp of 170F. I usually end up around 160 something. As I understand it, it's better to not just keep adding the water because as the gravity lowers you get more tannins. Here in CO water boils around 200F, so it's harder for me to hit 170 without making a runny mash.

You may want to invest in some inexpensive equipment like this before splurging into a nice mashtun.

Sounds like a better idea, but in reality, I like the way my extract beers turn out so I may just stay with those.

Have you tried the Cascade Mountain Imperial IPA from Northern Brewer, it is phenominal, worth every penny it costs.

 

[757Hokie83]

I used rehydrated Danstar BRY-97. I am currently sitting at 69º. There was no krausen when I left, but it was starting to get some bubbles sitting on top. There was a little bit of action in the airlock but not very much. I am hoping when I get home that it will be going better, but itnshould have been going by now. I did use nutrient at 15 minutes in the boil, so there is no real explanation for why it didn't take off.

By at the bottom it could be some coldbreak sitting there, but it looks like my other batches have looked at the end of fermentation.

i wouldnt worry just yet, i've had a couple batches where it didnt really appear to be doing anything until 48hrs or so

 

[thecrow124]

i wouldnt worry just yet, i've had a couple batches where it didnt really appear to be doing anything until 48hrs or so

When I got home this morning there was a krausen starting to form and a little more action In the airlock. I also researched it last night and this strain has a long lag time 36-48 hours. Just checked it now and it is starting to go pretty strong. Most people in write-ups said they prefer US-05 to this strain, so in the future I may go that route.

 

[thecrow124]

Hokie I have been meaning to ask for a while now, but keep forgetting, are you originally from the Hampton Roads area or are you a military transplant?

 

[757Hokie83]

originally from there, born and raised in Chesapeake