Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

On Saturday I brewed a 10.5 gal batch of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. I decided to brew this because I had all the ingredients on hand. This was my first batch using my new plate chiller. Overall I am pleased with the performance of the plate chiller. I was able pump 10.5 gallons near boiling into 2 - 6 gallon Better Bottles at 75 degrees in about 10 minutes. I have the option to use a submersible pump in ice water which would have lowered the temp considerably but I would gone through a lot of ice and water. For my next brewday I will likely have a prechiller upstream of the plate chiller.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Plate chillers are awesome! After I first used one I decided I had to have one from there on out. Takes so much time off the end of the brewday.

So, have we always been posting in a thread with fermenter spelled incorrectly? I hadn't noticed until today. Shows up as fermeter on my screen.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

fixed!
funny i usually notice typos right away. that one was subtle for whatever reason. mst b lk th thng whr ycn rd wtht vwls.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

For some reason my brewhouse efficiency was down for this batch. I usually get around 75% with the default crush on my crankandstein mill. I actually tightened up the gap to hopefully hit 80%. I batch sparge with 2 equal sparges. Maybe I just didn't let the batch sparges rest long enough to dissolve all the sugars. Or maybe I drained off too fast with my pump.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Brewed up 10 gallons of an imperial black IPA last night. Already bubbling away this morning.

For the third batch of beer in a row I forgot to add corn sugar to the boil. In the last two it wasn't a big deal but it would have wrecked this batch. I made a small boil on the stovetop and added it to the beer after a 10 minute boil. We'll see how it comes out...

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

What's happening fellow brewers? Got brew day planned for Sun...time to celebrate my favorite beer season, Oktoberfest!

Got my label done up already! Looking forward to brewing again.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...fest_Label.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l..._Back_Labe.jpg

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

hmmm. I was talking with my brewing partner about what to brew next. Oktoberfest could be it. Killer label :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Spent last night bottling up my Falconers Flight IPA, and my split-batch English ESB. I think that makes my homebrew volume just about 50 gallons for 2012. :noon

For the first time in more than a year, I have empty fermenters in my house. Considering that I have something like 11 fermenters of different sizes, that's a lot of emptiness.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

:O

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I started a sour mash last night for what will be a semi-funky Saison. I have a session IPA (missed my OG by a lot and ended up with a low abv, high ibu beer) that I really need to get into bottles and a standard bitter that should have another week or so in the fermenter. Planning on brewing the Saison either tomorrow or Saturday, depending on how long it takes to get a nice sour profile.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

How'd you do the sour mash? I did one for a Berliner weisse by just tossing some raw pilsner malt into a brew in a bag half batch not long ago. Came out fantastic.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Excellent brew day yesterday....had three participants brewing. Oktoberfest, Blonde Ale and one I can't recall at this point. Bunch of friends came over as well....so it was a regular party. Several cigars smoked, a ton of beer drank. All in all....great day. My oktoberfest hit right on target for OG.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Oh yeah, and I think I got enough positive feedback to put one of my beers, maybe two, into the Dominion Cup. Gotta bottle them up and send them off. First time I'll send anything to a competition. Hopefully I don't get smacked down.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I'm just getting into this, we've got a Dunkelweizen in primary right now, should be ready to bottle in a week. This is only my second batch, I'm doing partial but really want to switch to all grain... expensive though.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

All grain is expensive up front but even those costs can be kept down if you can DIY some of your equipment. If you have a supplier that will discount bulk grain purchases you should wind up with less cost in the long run. That is if you can keep yourself from constantly updating your equipment and buying bulk hops you don't need etc.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Entered a couple brews in the Delaware State Fair "Battle of the Brews" competition, and my maibock took second in the European Lager category! :noon

http://firststatebrewers.com/wp-cont...-the-Brews.pdf

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Way to go Gerard! Congrats man!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Nice work Gerard!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Congrats Gerard :tu. Thinking of starting a Pumkin Porter for the fall. Got to get my supplies ready for that.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

just brewed a DBL IPA yesterday. first brew in almost a year. My OG was off by 20 points. Don't know why i didn't just add some LME to the boil too boost it up.
Live and learn.
It started bubbling two hours after pitching. which made me feel better:)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Congrats Steve:tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

just noticed this thread started in 2009 lol

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Today I am brewing an IPA with a new hop variety called "Zythos"

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I put together an amarillo and citra hopped pale yesterday. Pitched it onto a pair of S05 yeast cakes. At the rate of overpitching it should be done in about a day...

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I brewed up a Scotch Export yesterday...high hopes for it. Had a heavy malty character to it, which is my happiness.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Brewed a simple extract hefeweizen this afternoon. It's my first extract batch in a while and the shortened brew day was a welcome change.

Hoping for a quick ferment and then into the keg (and then into muh belly).

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I'm seriously thinking about building an 120v electric boil kettle so that I can brew indoors during the summer. I just can't get motivated to brew in 110 degree heat.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Funny, I've been thinking about doing the same because I'm not looking forward to brewing in freezing cold in a few months...

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I am in the exact same boat...I'm so tired of brewing in the extreme conditions. It would be nice to sit in my temp controlled smoking lounge, plug in a box and brew the day away. I've actually started a bit down this path, with the intent of going 10 gls. I need to get one more keg, to cut into a keggle, then it's on.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Sometimes its nice to just do 5gl Extract brews on the stove top when weather is bad and you "need" to brew

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

My cherry wheat and honey wheat placed poorly in the Dominion Cup. I had low expectations on my CW, but felt pretty confident with the HW. Apparently my HW would have done better in a different category...judges recommended the Belgian Wheat versus the Amer Wheat I put it in. Got 24s on both of them....boo. I guess next year I'll have to submit something I actually want them to try as opposed to just submitting what I had in the keg.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I have that half-barrel AB keg sitting in my brewhouse, not sure if I'm ever going down the 10 gallon path. Maybe we can work out a deal. Do you know anyone with a plasma cutter?

Don't beat yourself up over your Dominion Cup results. It was your first comp, and this year's event was huge. 520+ entries, that's almost as big as one of the regional qualifiers for Nationals. Lots of high quality entries, too, I think everyone was vying for the Best of Show award: having their recipe brewed by Hardywood for entry in the GABF Pro-Am. Pretty sweet deal.

I'm pleased with my results, had 5 entries that I thought were strong contenders and 2 "experimental" brews that the judges didn't like at all. The maibock (which won a silver in Delaware) and a rauchbier both scored in the high 30s, but didn’t place; a Cream Ale (41) and my Bell's Two-Hearted IPA clone (40) both took Honorable Mention. I'm really pumped about my rosemary honey saison--Bronze medal in the Fruit/Spice category with 41 points. :banger I got the recipe from a guy in the club, and he entered his version as a Belgian Specialty and also scored a Bronze.

When beers scoring 40 points don't even place, you know it's a tough competition.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I'm not to upset about my scores....clearly I would like to have done better, but who wouldn't? My two submissions were "fly by the seat of my pants" submissions. I had no plans to submit anything until you and Matt bullied me into it. Jerks.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Did we all stop brewing? So quiet in here! I got a kolsch fermenting currently, but I feel like it's "off" somehow. I haven't gotten one bubble from my airlock over the course of a week. Pressure has built up in the bucket, so I know something is happening...but probably not as aggressively as I'm used to. Gonna take a gravity reading tonight and see where it is as I'm supposed to rack it tomorrow.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Me and a buddy are going to try our hands at brewing some Oktoberfest in a week or so

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I'm still hoping my Oktoberfest turns out ok....so many problems happened with that brew that I'm worried. Been lagering at Gerard's place for nearly a 6 wks now. I'm hoping the long lagering process will fix any potential problems.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

this will be our second attempt at home brewing so I am hoping things turn out ok

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

My lagering cooler broke down when I put it in....so the beer was supposed to be sitting at roughly 60 degree and when I poked my head in to check on progress I found it at nearly 80. Stupid VA heat! The likelihood of off flavors seems pretty high to me at this point.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

You want me to draw a sample & take a reading?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Over the past 50 days I have brewed:

AHS Belgian White
AHS Demeter Fall Ale
AHS X2 chocolate Stout
Abita Purple Haze
AHS Texas Blonde w/ simco dryhop (10g)

Up next:

AHS Pumpkin
60 min IPA

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Today I ordered enough ingredients to brew 2 different 5gl batchs of Pumpkin Beer.
I will brew one batch next week to have in time for Halloween and the 2nd batch in October to have in time for Thanksgiving

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I can't get into pumpkin beers....they all come out too sweet for me and taste too much like a pie instead of a beer. But enjoy the brewing.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

They are really hit or miss. Usually too much Clove/Cinnamon flavor.
Thats why I like to make my own so I can control the flavor.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I'm with you on this. I'd love to sample some homebrewer interpretations where some restraint is employed. The commercial versions are just way too spiced and sweet for my liking. Somehow I keep trying each new one I see hoping to find one I like though... I call it research.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

There could certainly be worse things to conduct research on.

Got confirmation that my Oktoberfest is ruined....boo. :c:c:c

Now I'm scrambling to brew an Oktoberfest Ale for the party which makes me very grumpy. The brewing will certainly be fun, but I had this beer mapped out for a while now.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Brewing up a KBS clone from Zymurgy tomorrow night. Hopefully it'll be ready for Christmas!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

2 kegs popped yesterday so I had the wife pick up AHS Pumpkin Ale kits. Sure that at least 2 more kegs are almost gone so maybe a coffee stout and or Marzen....Who knows?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

I'm down to only about 1 gallon of Wit in my last keg.
I've got 5 gallons of my Cali Common that should be ready to crash chill tomorrow and I'll be brewing up 10 gallons of Belgian Dark Strong tomorrow AM early.

I need to replenish!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Brewed up another Oktoberfest yesterday, this time went with an ale as I don't have time to properly lager anything at this point. Now I'm mapping out my next few beers. Thinking I'll brew my winter ale at our upcoming club cluster brew session. Then the following week I have the Winston's Humidor annual chili cookoff/brew day herf to attend. Think I'm going to do a coffee stout then.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?
 

Ferg I'm thinking of going extract + grains at those two parking lot events. Definitely for Winston's, it's just gonna be too complicated & long to mash. I may change my mind for the cluster brew since Bob ought to be well equipped.