Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thats looks and sounds pretty damn good for a bottle of beer that old. Impressive!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

That sounds wonderful. I am glad you found it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Awesome, I'd have drank it up as well.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

No updates from Dave... did the beer do him in?!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

??? Pics and report a couple posts up. Sounds awesome.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

We saw the pour and a taste test not an empty glass...

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Still kicking, wow that was quite a treat not sure which had more of a kick the home brew or the tripple maduro. Poronico that Bruiser's brew did look mighty tasty, kinda considering getting back into homebrewing. Thanks for the input!!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Glad to see you still among the living and not one of those ever nomming zombies! That beer sounds pretty epic and at 25 years.. wow what a treat! The bruiser did turn out quite awesome, the rest of the batch is spoken for but PM me your addy and I'll see what I can do about poppin a few fresh bottles your way ;)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

going to enter The Peach State Homebrew contest and Suwannee, Ga Beerfest. Belgian Dubble and a Porter.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'd like to have been able to make a swap but the reason brew has set so long is recall setting aside 3-4 bottles where special 'home grown' hops were donated to what remain of a particular batch, hey it was the late 70's; anyhow, later mixed 1 or 2 with the rest of the unlabled bottles; hopefully will be able to determine when corked. Appreciate the offer, if not inconvenient, just a taste, will PM.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Entering a contest is taking homebrewing to a totally different level. Would be interested on how the Belgian Dubble and Porter come out. :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Another batch of Dry Irish Stout going into secondary in a bit, the yeast will be washed and stored, and I am brewing a 2 Hearted clone from Northern brewer. THAT, boys, is a good Sunday.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Bottled Ruination clone yesterday.
Need to transfer my belgian stout to secondary tonight.
Trying to decide what/when to start next

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

anyone ever do a 20 minute boil?
i've read in some places that you can just double the bittering hops, and it works pretty well....
interested in trying since brewing often has to happen after the kids go to bed.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have never tried them but both Midwest & Austin sell 20min boil kits

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

the ones at midwest use hopped LME....
i'd be looking to use standard LME or DME...

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

In the fermenters:
10g Pilsner Urquell
10g Simco IPA (whole leaf hops this time)

Keggged and conditioning:
10g Honkers Ale
10g EZ street wheat

Finally got around to getting the second Johnson temp control for the fermenting fridge. So decided to put it to good use. 1st time we have ever done a Pilsner/used a lager yeast strain. After reading a bit it would seem that we should have made a starter to pitch more in the pilsner...Oh well the WL yeast vials seemed to be fine as I got bubbles within 24 hrs. Temp is holding at 55deg.

Gotta ask a question to yall who have done lager's...Can I just rack straight into the kegs after fermentation stops in the primary and lager at 32-33 for 3-4 weeks in the keezer? I really dont see any need to go into a secondary/carboy as we don't currently do this for any of our other beers.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Happened on a store selling Simcoe pellets while we were out of town so I grabbed half a pound of them. Planning out a Pliny clone and another high test hoppy IPA to use my bounty.

Today I'll rack my stout onto a vanilla bean/bourbon slurry and let that sit for 5-7 days, then add a little more bourbon and bottle.

My wife happened upon a round 10 gal cooler, so I'm planning on making the jump to AG as soon as I can get the hardware together.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm doing some planning to try and get a bunch of brewing done while the ambient temperatures are still cool. I just got four more kegs to fill (for a total of eight) and ordered a bunch of hops this morning. Amounts range from a few ounces to a pound.

Simcoe, Cascade, Willamette, Fuggle, Kent Goldings, Saaz, Tettnang, Perle

I already have full pounds of Centennial, Amarillo, Falconer's Flight and Columbus in the freezer.

Now to find the time to brew!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just transfered the Porter to the secondary.:)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed a Baltic Porter this past Saturday...starting to ferment nicely now! Trying to go for something along the lines of the Master 18 I had while in Prauge, Czech Republic this past summer. Won't be ready for a while but I will be awaiting to see if it comes out even close...

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...eNicaragua.jpg

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Is hefeweizen a batch that should be avoided by a first-timer? It's going to be the first full week of March before I can get to brewing anything and really want to have some on hand for spring/summer.

The west coast pale ale from my Mr. Beer kit was very meh. Don't know what happened, but it was very sweet. Followed the recipe exactly, or so I thought anyway. This next batch will be with my real kit though.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Forgop,
In my opinion a hefenwiezen is a great choice for a first batch.
I have never used a "mr beer" kit but have not heard the most complimentary things about them and am glad you are switching a better set up. :tu
A sweet batch would indicate that it was not completely fermented, if at all. Poor yeast, tempurature issues could be some causes.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

My complete newb guess was that the keg lid had a pretty poor seal and caused the fermentation issues or lack thereof. It had 2 weeks in the keg and 3+ weeks in the bottle. However, when I had the lid on as I put it on the shelf for the 2 weeks to ferment, it would release air if you squeezed the sides of the keg. Obviously, a perfect seal and that doesn't happen. I just hoped for the best and that's what I ended up with.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

So I have a dunkelweizen and an english brown ale fermmenting now. Both are bout the 5%some abv range.
My next batch is somewhat more adventurous...
It's a stout's stout

1.124 OG
1.031 FG
12.4% ABV
8 Lbs DME
3 Lbs Roasted Barley
3 Lbs Black Patent Malt
2 Lbs Chocolate Malt
Willamette 60 (2oz)
Falconer's Flight 30 (1.5oz)
Warrior 0 (1oz)
4 Lbs Brown Sugar
3 packs of Wyeast 1388

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I will be aging my stout's stout of course, my guess would be 1+ years at minimum.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I found from my 1st Mr. Beer batch that they tend to be sweet unless you use more/ better yeast or allow them to sit longer in the bottle before you put them in the fridge. As for the seal its supposed to do that. It has small slots around the cap to release pressure from the CO2 because it doesnt have a normal airlock. By squeezing out the CO2 theres a good chance it back filled with outside air which is not the best thing.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed up the start of a sour cherry kriek yesterday. Should be ready in about a year. Using dregs off 3 bottles of Cantillon I pitched into a liter starter.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Anyone have experience with White Labs #80 Cream Ale Blend? Specifically regarding whether it holds up to lagering.

I've read somewhere that this is a blend of Kolsch & American lager strains (?) Specs say optimal temp is 65-70, and my cream ale batch has been right around 65 for 2 weeks. I was thinking about keeping it in the primary and dropping temp to 48-50 for a few weeks to give it more lager-like character.

Thoughts or alternative suggestions?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I can't wait to try this, I had a Master 18 and it was delicious!!!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

A fermenter should never be completely air-tight or it's just a bomb waiting to go off. That's why we use airlocks, which allow the Co2 to escape, but don't allow oxygen to get in. The sweetness was most likely a yeast that had been on the shelf a long time and didn't properly attenuate.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

tasted belgian stout in secondary last night.
not as sickly sweet as it was when i put it in secondary, starting to taste good.

stuck on whether or not to use bourbon or rum soaked oak chips, or just let it be as is.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just started a Pale Ale...have high hopes. Gave it a German flare...using mostly German grain and noble hops. If it ends up tasting anything like it smelled in the kettle, I'll be a happy man.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

What time do your kids go to bed? Are you AG or extract? I can't imagine having the time in my night to brew after my kids go down.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

extract. they go to bed at 6:30 :D
when i can find time to prepare and get ingredients i think i'm going to try this for my next batch.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

yes, yeast problems.

2 weeks is a general time frame. It can take longer. I have let some go up to 4 weeks before the sweetness was gone and it was time to bottle.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just made the jump to AG...I've been very happy with my results so far. I wish my kids went to bed at 6:30, I'm lucky if they're down at 8:30. :D

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have to get you a jar of my house yeast (the Bell's strain) for use in your next beer, whatever it is. I keep forgetting.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

tasting my Ruination clone - it's been like 11 days in the bottle.
Pretty good, I think.
Knowing that it's mine I think I'm hypercritical.
Have to get a bottle of Ruination for comparison.
By memory though, I think it might be pretty close!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Nice!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm going to brew up a Delerium Tremens clone shortly...I love that beer. I gotta get you a bottle of my Abbey Ale. Its been well received, but I'd like to get a more critical opinion on it.

Are you a member of the James River Homebrewers Club?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Dude, I was just going to IM you about this. Some years back I was, but they met down at Legends and it was tough to get there. They've now moved to Mekong, second Wednesday of every month, and this is right down the street from my office. So I was thinking about hitting the March meeting.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm going to make it to the March meeting as well. Think I'll be dragging Matt with me. I wanted to go to this past meeting, but had too many things going on to fit it in. Early Mar is more open for me. I checked out their website...seems like they do some cool things.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just picked up the grains for something close to Rogue's Dead Guy Ale. I've got a bomber of Rogue Shakespeare Stout I'm going to try to harvest the yeast from to use.

Haven't tried it before, so hopefully it'll work.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I know we trade cigars all the time but is possible or even advisable to swap a couple hb's for hb's??? Just thinking out loud.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I would think that could present a real challenge. I didn't think you could mail alcohol.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

If you're not successful, you can pick up Rogue's yeast retail: they use a proprietary strain called Pacman, Wyeast sells it now (1764.)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I heard you're not allowed to buy Cuban cigars, either. :D

I've done plenty of homebrew shipping & receiving using USPS, FedEx ground & UPS. Competitions will not accept homebrew shipped via USPS because, as Ferg points out, it is technically illegal. But packed properly, you can ship beer safely using any of those methods. Not that I'm advocating anyone break the law.

As far as trading, I think the ToE frown upon those kinds of discussions in forum, due to drinking age restrictions, different state regs, etc. In forum.... again, not that I'm advocating anyone break the law.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have been thinking about starting a Homebrew pass with cigars and homebrew.
I would start the box with the cigars and put one bottle of my homebrew in, the next person would take my hombrew and some cigars, and put back one bottle of their homebrew and some cigars, and so on......

*I ship beer all the time and have never had an issue

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I would totally be down with this! I am down to scratch on my beer selection and need to start brewing again shortly after the move... I do have a case of Cascade HopStar that I made which turned out to be very well received for those who enjoy cascade hops. Shipping Beer is easy enough, but this will require quite a large box to accommodate a box of sticks and a few bottles of beer.