Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Well, I got some good news this morning!

Two years ago I used a DFH 90m IPA clone recipe to brew a beer that came out more like DFH Burton Baton. After two years in the bottle, it was probably more like a barleywine than a DIPA but I thought the ABV was a bit off. I decided to enter it in this year's Dominion Cup (a pretty sizeable homebrew competition in Virginia that draws entries from all over.)

The results came out today and Asylum Imperial IPA placed second in the "IIPA, Barleywines, Old Ales" category!

http://dominioncup.jrhb.org/DomCupWinners2010.php

:wo :banger :wo

Should be getting the score sheets back this week, will be interested to see the judges' notes!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

That's awesome, congrats!:tu

Brewed 10 gallons of Oktoberfest on Sunday, 5 gal regular and 5 gal with pumpkin (canned and baked) and spices (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg) for a fall/halloween/thanksgiving Pumpkin Beer.

This is my second batch of Oktoberfest this year for our Oktoberfest party at the end of October (figure this batch will be done at the end of the month, and then two months of lagering will be fine). The first one I brewed towards the end of April is awesome, and still a lot left for the party.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm just wrapping up brewing a hefeweizen.

6 lbs wheat LME
.5 lbs carapils
.5 lbs cara 20
1 oz Tettnaner 60 mins
1 oz Amarillo 15 mins
Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephaner

IBU's = 30
SRM = 7
abv = 4.7%

I'll tell you in a few weeks how it turned out! :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Bottled "CohiBrew" on Saturday, my latest DIPA recipe, and racked my Belgian Christmas Ale to the secondary yesterday. Added some Saaz hops, whole cloves & cinnamon, will get a little vanilla extract in a few weeks at bottling time. Tasted pretty darn good right out of the primary, so this one should be :al :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I've got some water warming up right now for a partial mash "big" vanilla porter I'm making. Drinking some Surly Cynic Ale and listening to the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

9 lbs gold LME
1 lb Crystal 60
1 lb Chocolate
1 lb Brown Malt
.5 lb Aromatic
.5 Oat Malt
** 1.084 OG

1 oz Tettnanger 60 mins
.5 oz columbus 15 mins

Wyeast 1028 London Ale

The "Brew Your Own" calculator says this should come in at 1.028 FG, 8.1 abv, and 42 IBU's. I'll add some madagascar vanilla beans to the secondary.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

My porter seems to be chugging away nicely tonight. The OG came in a bit high at 1.088. My temp went a little high when I did my mini-mash, so I think that caused my OG to run a little high as well. Hopefully it won't be too tannic.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

20 gallons of Kentucky Common. I may or may not brew this weekend since all of them are still bubbling.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just harvested some inspiration to get a batch of homebrew going. Chinooks on the right, magnums on the left. I think it's IPA time :banger

http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/DSC_0031.jpg

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Those look great. Nice job!!!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Nice! I can't wait to grow some.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Dude, those pics made my mouth water.... no ****!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed a Christmas (spiced) Barleywine last night. :tu Hopefully is will be drinkable by Christmas.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I got the scores yesterday and I know everyone's been anxiously waiting this followup :D The principle judge on the panel for my beer was BJCP Master qualified and a professional brewer--which makes me :xxx his comments.

He loved it, scoring 46/50!

On flavor he said: "Great hop character, suspect burst hopping (which I did :tu) nice 'juicy' hop flavor. Good malt backbone, tail is hop flavor but not overly bitter, slight smoke note." His overall impression was "Awesome IPA, great hop profile, commercial quality brew, similar to Hopslam!"

:dance:

I'd be happy to share the recipe (partial mash) if anyone wants to try it out.

Gerard

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Let's hear it. :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Yeast should be arriving tomorrow for Saturday Brewday.
My stab at a KBS Clone (Extract Style):

Amount-- Item-- Type-- % or IBU
12.00 lb-- LME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM)-- Extract-- 73.85 %
1.25 lb-- Oats, Malted (1.0 SRM)-- Grain-- 7.69 %
1.00 lb-- Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)-- Grain-- 6.15 %
0.50 lb-- Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)-- Grain-- 3.08 %
0.25 lb-- Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)-- Grain-- 1.54 %
0.25 lb-- Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)-- Grain-- 1.54 %
1.50 oz-- Chinook [10.90 %] (90 min)-- Hops-- 48.9 IBU
0.50 oz-- Challenger [7.00 %] (30 min)-- Hops-- 7.5 IBU
0.50 oz-- Challenger [7.00 %] (15 min)-- Hops-- 4.9 IBU
0.50 tsp-- Yeast Nutrient (Primary 10.0 days)-- Misc
0.75 oz-- Oak Chips (Secondary 14.0 days)-- Misc
1.00 items-- Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)-- Misc
2.00 oz-- Ground Coffee (Boil 0.0 min)-- Misc
3.00 oz-- Bittersweet Baker's Chocolate (Boil 10.0 min)-- Misc
1.00 lb-- Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM)-- Sugar-- 6.15 %
1 Pkgs-- Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728)-- Yeast-Ale

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The patient has been stabilized...
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TH...0/P1030026.JPG

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewing my Pumpkin beer today

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Love to hear the recipe Gerard

going to be brewing a pale ale twice tomorrow. One batch with the chinook another with the magnums. Have some Mt. Hoods from a pal I will use at the end of the boil. Trying to get a feel for what the different hop types add to the brew.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just ordered 4.5 lbs of hops last week, not all for one batch (obviously?;)), but I'm definitely brewing an IPA and a IIPA. :tu I like mostly late hop additions, more of the aroma and flavor versus bitterness. I also like seeing/tasting the evolution of the beer as the hop flavor/aroma fade over the weeks.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Dark and Stormy Night Irish Stout

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Samual Smith Oatmeal Stout clone and I added chocolate

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Racking the Imperial Stout to secondary (Bourbon/Oak aging) Friday and I will be brewing an American Light Lager for the wife. :rolleyes:

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

English IPA is blowing off like crazy as we speak(type?). :tu Thames Valley yeast (which is supposedly Cigar City's 'house' strain), Millenium for bittering addition and the rest EKG for flavor and aroma additions (and will dry hope with EKG also).

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Was going to brew a Belgian Dark Strong Ale but couldn't find any Trappist yeast around here. Ended up collaborating with the GF on a recipe and brewing - Spiced Sorghum Autumn Brown Ale. Kentucky Sweet Sorghum Syrup, Cinnamon Stick, Vanilla Bean, and Nutmeg. Smells awesome.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Bottled more Oktoberfest, and my Pumpkin and Spice Steam Beer this weekend.

The 'Pumpkin Steam' as I call it is reaaaalllyyy good. Tasted it before bottling and realized it needed more spice (barely detectable). Also decided to add some lactose as it was pretty dry, the lactose increasing sweetness and creamy taste/mouthfeel which are obvious characteristics of pumpkin pie. So I added more spice and lacotse to the bottling bucket, and it tasted perfect. The spice was maybe a little strong, but it was not cold and carb'd, and the spice should settle down in a few weeks (when it's time to drink). :tu Pumpkin pie in a glass hopefully.

Brewed a standard hefe' as well, which is fermenting away on the cool side to minimize the banana (which wife does not enjoy).

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Irish Red was brewed last weekend, Extra Stout brewing today.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Ive got a 2.5G experimental batch of Graf getting ready to go to secondary in a few days. I used Sterling and S-04. Should be interesting. I love a good cider in the fall.


(For those of you not familiar with HBT....Graf is a slightly hopped/malted cider.)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Kegged my pumpkin ale last night and racked my Chocolate Oatmeal Stout to Secondary and added 1 whole split vanilla bean

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm going to brew a nut brown ale this weekend. Here's the recipe I plan to use:

• 6 lbs pale LME
• 1 lb marris otter
• .5 lb malted oats (I'm going to toast the oats in the oven to bring out their nuttiness.)
• .5 lb brown malt
• .5 lb pale chocolate malt
• .5 lb crystal 40

1 oz Willamette 60 mins
1 oz Willamette 20 mins

Wyeast 1968

The BYO calulator says this should have an OG of 1.058, color of 26.5 srm, 27.5 ibu, and 5.2% abv.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I've got Peach wine in the secondary coming in at 11.6% A few more rackings and bulk aging to go.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Im brewing a chocolate chili porter today. Made with chocolate, cayenne pepper and vanilla beans

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I made a Belgian blonde ale this afternoon. I'll rack it onto raspberries and a split vanilla bean in a week or so. I hope to have it ready for Xmas. Should have probably made it a couple weeks ago to be sure, but I think it should be ready in time.

3.5 lbs light DME
3 lbs wheat DME
.5 lb flaked wheat
.5 lb crystal 10
.5 lb crystal 40
.25 lb caravienne
.25 lb table sugar
1.5 oz Willamette
Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier - 1 liter starter pitched at 66 degrees F.
5.5 gallon boil

OG 1.062, SRM 5, IBU = 17, planned FG = 1.014, planned ABV = 6.3%

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

American Lager is still lagering away @35F.

Tech Support IIPA should be brewed up this weekend.
The name came to me after a pesky Oracle sales call a few weeks ago.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I brewed up a DFH60 clone (parital mash) at yesterday's Brewherf, but I'm thinking this thing is going to be one all-powerful IPA. OG clocked in at 1.084 and fermentation started in about 6 hours--withOUT a starter! So we'll see what eventually happens here.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Look what goodness showed up today!!!!
It's IIPA time!!

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TM...0/P1030034.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TM...0/P1030037.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TM...0/P1030038.JPG

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I need to get an order in to them asap. Waiting on them to release the pellets. I got 6lbs last year. I'll probably do the same this year.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Can we do a sanitizer roundup? What are you guys using.

I started with a powder called one-step but I hated the powder I got it all over the place. Last night I used some Star-san and the amount of foaming drove me nuts. I know you don't need to rinse it but I hate the idea of sanitizer in my beer. Took me 4x longer to rinse growlers than it took to fill them.

Bottled a magnum filled pale ale, brewing up a porter for winter shortly.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Anybody homebrew using the 5 gallon soda kegs? I have a minifridge I've been thinking of turning into a kegerator. I think that could be fun and I understand bottling to be tedious.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Star-san is some awesome stuff.
Don't worry about the foam. I will let the left over liquid drip out using a carboy drier (or just drip dry bottles) and the foam usually stays in the carboy or whatever. I then rack right onto it and let the beer push the foam out. Never had an off taste.

That said, I do get all of the liquid out. I've heard that yeasties actually like munching on the foam.

Star-san rocks. All I use.
Besides steam heat for clean bottle sanitization.

Edit - Rinsing is actually counter-productive.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I converted a chest freezer to hold 4 corny kegs a Co2 bottle and reg and still have enough room for a case or so. I'm extremely busy so kegging was the way to go for me.

Currently in the fermentation chamber is a Belgian Quad, coffee chocolate stout and today brewed a red ale.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have two 5gallon soda kegs in this Sanyo minifridge that I converted.
What model of minifridge do you have? You have to be very careful, as some of them have the coolant lines running across the top. If you cut one of those, your fridge is ruined. There are a few tricks to find out where the coolant line runs. Let me know if you have any questions.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Star San is the only way to go. Tons of people use it with no complaints.
Dont Fear the Foam!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

This is exactly what I intend to do once I finish my garage/mancave renovation next month. Can't wait to keg! :noon

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I use One-step without too many issues. Typically I make a big 4-5 gallon batch in my fermenting bucket, where I soak all my gear and then transfer it to the secondary. When that's done, I move it to a bucket where I soak any beer/wine bottles I've accumulated to remove labels.

It's a process.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I forgot to delabel my last batch of bottles, so now my oktoberfest is sitting in a bunch of Sam Winter Lager bottles. I gotta remember to take off labels before bottling the winter ale.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewing a Chocolate Pumpkin Porter - I hope it will be ready for Turkey Day

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Its currently in storage so I'm gonna check when I get home for thanksgiving. Thanks for the pic.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thanks for the sanitizer info guys. Must not fear foam

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Man, this is a great thread! I've got a nice Kolsch and Chocolate Oatmeal Coffee Stout in the fermenter. I've got an Octoberfest, Dortmunder, German Pils, Wet Hop Pale Ale, Roggenbier and Munich Dunkel in the kegerator. Got to work on making some room for those beers in the fermenter!

Who's going to participate in "Teach a Friend How to Homebrew" day? It's November 6th. I'm thinking of doing a Black IPA or a Cream Ale. I've never done either of those before. Cheers!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Today's progress towards tomorrow's brew session.

IIPA tomorrow... I'll use a portion of this:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TM...0/P1030041.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TM...0/P1030044.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_5U7D5eivx-c/TM...0/P1030045.JPG


Woot!! Hop Goodness!!:banger