Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?

[BlackDog]

I brewed a sour Robust Porter on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday night I boiled a gallon of water and then let it cool to 170. Then I added 4 oz of acidulated malt and a pound of light DME. Then I set it on top of the furnace and let it sit for 18 hours. On Sunday I did a regular extract/steep with the balance of the ingredients, and added the sour wort into the rest of the wort for the boil. If tasting the finished wort is any indicator, the souring process seems to have worked. It's bubbling away in the bucket now, and I'll be interested to see how this turns out. If I had more time before the warm weather arrives I think I would have added some Brett Brux for that horse blanket-y flavor, but I read where that takes about 6 months to develop. If this sour porter works I may try it with the Brett Brux in the spring for next fall/winter.

6 lbs amber LME
1 lb light DME
.5 lbs crystal 80
.5 lbs chocolate malt
.5 lbs special roast
.5 lbs brown malt
.25 lbs black patent
.25 lbs acidulated malt

.5 oz Yakima Warrior - 60 mins
1 oz Willamette 30 - mins
.5 oz Willamette - 10 mins

Lallemand Nottingham dry yeast

OG = 1.056
SRM = 31
IBU = 28
Plan FG = 1.014
Plan ABV = 5.8%

[kaisersozei]

I'm with Justin--all my brews are outside, and I have a cut off portion of hose (with the female end intact) clamped to the intake on my chiller. Easy enough to attach a garden hose & run the water through. Once I finish building out my brew garage, I'll have a laundry sink next to my 3-tier system.

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

I'm with Justin--all my brews are outside, and I have a cut off portion of hose (with the female end intact) clamped to the intake on my chiller. Easy enough to attach a garden hose & run the water through. Once I finish building out my brew garage, I'll have a laundry sink next to my 3-tier system.

I do have the propane burner and setup to brew outside, but haven't tried it yet. The problem for me brewing outside is that when I brewed my last batch on the stove this past weekend, it was -15F outside. (and I've got the water to my outside spigots turned off for the winter).

I'll have to take a closer look at my faucet and see what I can figure out ...

[rack04]

Originally Posted by cricky101

I do have the propane burner and setup to brew outside, but haven't tried it yet. The problem for me brewing outside is that when I brewed my last batch on the stove this past weekend, it was -15F outside. (and I've got the water to my outside spigots turned off for the winter).

I'll have to take a closer look at my faucet and see what I can figure out ...

What about just buying a cheap pump and setting up a recirculation system?

[Mikes]

In the brew closet:

10 gal of sommersault clone in the fermenters.

In the Keezer:

(1) 5 gal keg of SamSmith Nut Brown
(2) 5 gal keg of Honekers ALe
(1) 5 gal keg of Red IPA

In the kegerator:
(1) 5 gal keg of Broken Arrow NBB
(1) 5 gal keg of SamSmith Nut Brown

So 30 gal of beer ready to drink/conditioning and 10 almost ready to keg ;o)

[BeerAdvocate]

Im brewing my 1st Barleywine (American style) today. I will report back in a year to let you know how it turned out!

[kaisersozei]

It hit 50 degrees here yesterday, so I ventured out for my first brew session of 2011. I put together a "light American Ale" recipe to plan on sharing with friends & people from work who aren't much into craft beers.

3# Briess Pilsen Light DME
1# Rice Extract Syrup
8 oz 10L Crystal Malt
8 oz Malto-Dextrin

¾ oz Willamette (20 min)
¼ oz Willamette (10 min)
¼ oz Cascades (10 min)
¼ oz Hallertauer (flame out + 10 min)

Nottingham dry ale yeast

OG = 1.041, IBU = 13

I'm hoping the Nottingham will give it a lager-like quality. This will no doubt be the lightest beer I have ever brewed.

Drank some good homebrew & smoked a nice cigar while doing it

[cricky101]

Picked up Northern Brewer's cream ale kit this morning and brewed it this afternoon. My girlfriend doesn't like dark or hoppy beers, and the guys at NB said this should be good. And, I'm sure I'll have one or two too

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

I put together a "light American Ale" recipe to plan on sharing with friends & people from work who aren't much into craft beers.
.
<snip>
.
OG = 1.041, IBU = 13

I'm hoping the Nottingham will give it a lager-like quality. This will no doubt be the lightest beer I have ever brewed.

Primary fermentation started in less than 12 hours and finished in two days. Damn. I've had good results previously with Nottingham, so I'm hoping it just quickly ate up the minimal sugars that were there and that it's not stuck. Won't find out until I rack it this weekend.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

Primary fermentation started in less than 12 hours and finished in two days. Damn. I've had good results previously with Nottingham, so I'm hoping it just quickly ate up the minimal sugars that were there and that it's not stuck. Won't find out until I rack it this weekend.

Just racked it SG = 1.013, so I guess we're on track. Tasted like Budweiser. I know, I know, but it is kinda what I was going for.

I think I may use this for my boss's daughter's wedding brew.

[Salvelinus]

Racked a sierra pale ale clone over to secondary on Sunday. I tasted the beer and it was very "fruity", probably esters. I hope this subsides a bit in secondary.

[St. Lou Stu]

I have a Imperial Stout that has been fermenting for 3-4 weeks now,,, Started at 1.115 and I measured it last weekend @ 1.060... still going though.
In the mean time I made this...

[potlimit]

Wow Tim, awesome... looks like it works like a charm too.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by potlimit

Wow Tim, awesome... looks like it works like a charm too.

Cool!


Now, what is it, and how do you use it?

[rack04]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

Cool!


Now, what is it, and how do you use it?

It's a stir plate for yeast starters.

http://www.brewmorebeer.com/building...e-for-brewing/

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by rack04

It's a stir plate for yeast starters.

http://www.brewmorebeer.com/building...e-for-brewing/

Interesting For years I've just done the old manual labor version!



You kids these days and your newfangled toys.

[rack04]

This weekend I'll be brewing an Irish Red Ale. Hopefully I'll be able to sample my Bavarian Hefeweizen by then. It will be bottled 2 weeks on the scheduled brew day.

[St. Lou Stu]

Originally Posted by rack04

It's a stir plate for yeast starters.

http://www.brewmorebeer.com/building...e-for-brewing/

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

Interesting For years I've just done the old manual labor version!



You kids these days and your newfangled toys.

Credit where credit is due... I was inspired by Justin's build.
I've put this off forever. Hell, I have a full electronics lab capable of building ANYTHING electronic right outside my office door.

My total cost... $0.
I'll look into the actual cost of the individual pieces and possibly build up a handful to a dozen more.
I expect that I can make these for $20-30 or less.
Stay tuned.
Time and motivation will be my limiting factors.

[CasaDooley]

Originally Posted by rack04

It's a stir plate for yeast starters.

http://www.brewmorebeer.com/building...e-for-brewing/

Heres another one I thought was cool.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ciga...r-plate-46130/

[cricky101]

Bottling my Surly Furious clone this weekend. Gonna try a hefeweizen next, but not sure when I'll get to it. Looking at the Paulaner Hefe clone from Austin Homebrew Supply.