Messages

1

Beer Travel / Re: Minneapolis?

« on: June 16, 2013, 06:10:06 am »

I'll second Steel Toe brewing for sure. Try Republic (Minneapolis) or Happy Gnome (St. Paul) for good beer bars. Northeast Minneapolis ("Nordeast") has a handful of new breweries- Indeed, Dangerous Man and 612. Haven't been there myself yet, but I've heard good things about Indeed.

Pour Decisions for sure too. Depending on what days of the week you are here you may have to settle for bottles of PD or Steel Toe. They're taprooms are open Wednesday-Saturday. Check their sites for more details. Check out Surdyks (MPLS), Ale Jail (St. Paul) or Four Firkins (St. Louis Park- western 'burb where Steel Toe is) for good bottle selections.

Hi, jlo, good to see you on here!

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Scoresheet comment... Inappropriate?

« on: April 26, 2013, 09:56:01 pm »

I'd say that last comment was unnecessary, albeit likely true. I have certainly thought it, but I wouldn't write it.

3

Ingredients / Re: Fresh Ginger or Dry Ginger??

« on: March 09, 2013, 06:54:33 pm »

i definitely prefer a plump root as opposed to a dried, shriveled root...
so does my wife.

sorry, had to

our group made a Belgian Wit today at our local co-op Learn to Homebrew class. we used fresh grated orange peel and fresh grated ginger root (both ingredients available at the store). it was nice and plump. i am the one who makes good notes. if i like this beer, and the ginger contribution, i will look at this recipe today as a starting point for ginger experimenting. i've never used it before. i generally prefer fresh over dried in just about any ingredient.

4

Homebrew Clubs / Re: Homebrew Club Running a Nano-Brewery

« on: March 02, 2013, 10:24:42 am »

Pretty sure getting licensed is the definition of no longer being a homebrewer.

5

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Absolute NEWB with a question

« on: February 24, 2013, 08:05:35 pm »

OK, i will be the first to ask, although certainly not the first who has thought it, but what will this beer made from lake water taste like? have you brewed with this water before? take good notes. i'm not trying to curb your enthusiasm for brewing, just asking...

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: prefered fining agent

« on: February 20, 2013, 04:11:35 pm »

time.
i do use supermoss as a s.o.p., but just letting beer sit - bottle or keg- is a great clarifier.

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: BJCP Guideline question

« on: January 28, 2013, 06:46:03 pm »

judges don't know what yeast you used. it may certainly come out with a yeast-derived character that isn't typical for an IPA, but that isn't necessarily bad.

if it tastes like a good IPA and has a red hue, then i'd go for it as an IPA or maybe American amber. if you're hopping it like an IPA it likely would not do well as an Irish red.

we (and judges) aren't drinking numbers...

8

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 1/11 Edition

« on: January 13, 2013, 07:49:12 am »

Made a Munich Dunkel yesterday. First time playing with my new bk/mash tun so I did a step mash. It was a chilly but fun day!

9

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: barleywine ferment issue or not?

« on: January 09, 2013, 12:11:47 pm »

I used 3 minutes of O2 at pitch. I thought about adding more at 24 or 48 hours, but did not. I would think that 10-12 days in, I should not be adding O2.

10

Yeast and Fermentation / barleywine ferment issue or not?

« on: January 09, 2013, 08:06:24 am »

I am currently doing a barleywine experiment. Our group split 17 gallons amongst each other from a big brew. I have 3 carboys going with 3 different yeasts.
Stats: OG 1.095, brewed 12/29/12. Fermenting at 62F.
Carboy #1: 2 gallons pitched with 1 pack Nottingham. Current SG 1.024 after 9 days. Krausen has fallen.
Carboy #2: 4.75 gal. pitched with slurry of 1056. SG 1.036 after 9 days. Still has krausen.
Carboy #3: 4.75 gal pitched with slurry of San Diego Super strain. SG 1.042. Krausen has fallen. This is the one I am concerned with...

Krausen is not something I generally keep a close eye on. I do most primaries in a bucket. These are all in glass.

I roused the yeast (swirled the carboys) every couple days. After taking gravity at 9 days and seeing that they had all settled at 62F (actual temp had balanced with ambient- they had been running 64-66 while active just as planned).

I am raising the ambient (with my low-tech but effective method of wrapping with sleeping bags and putting a space heater in the store room where they are) in hopes of keeping them active until complete.

Should I be concerned with the one with the San Diego strain? I have not used that yeast myself, but the guy in our group who brought the big jug of slurry swears by it. In his experience it ferments quicker than 1056 with slightly better attenuation. And he has had success brewing bigger OG beers than this with it. I pitched 1 cup of slurry initially. After 24 hours, when the other 2 carboys were already active and this one wasn't, I pitched another 1.5cups of slurry. I would describe that slurry as thin in comparison to the slurry of my 1056 that I pitched in the other batch.

Thoughts?

11

The Pub / Re: song title game

« on: January 05, 2013, 08:56:41 am »

Know Your Rights - The Clash

12

The Pub / Re: Your favorite Christmas beers?

« on: December 26, 2012, 12:43:22 pm »

why would you want to cellar a fresh hopped IPA? that makes no sense to me. Celebration is one of my favorite beers- to be drunk each season during that season. would you drink a 10+ year old version of your own fresh hopped IPA?

13

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Christmas Presents

« on: December 25, 2012, 04:26:47 pm »

barley crusher, 10 gallon 2-port kettle and a Blichmann floor burner... I treated myself well this season. Wife says I can only buy ingredients next year. OK, deal...

14

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What was the best homebrew beer you ever made?

« on: December 16, 2012, 01:02:35 pm »

But for a good story, the best beer I ever made was the barleywine I made for my wedding. I had just started brewing. Looking at my notes it was batch #6!! It was way too young, hot and boozy, at the wedding, but I instructed all the groomsmen (each got a 4 pack) that they had to age them and only drink one per year. I kept a 6-pack and my wife and I drank one on or near our anniversary. We missed a year or two. They last one was drank on our 10th anniversary! It was delicious- darker, sherry-like. Awesome.

What was cool also was that I brewed it on one of my groomsmens' birthday (November) and bottled it on another one's birthday (February). The wedding was in September.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What was the best homebrew beer you ever made?

« on: December 16, 2012, 12:45:41 pm »

the last one...

kind of like
Q: "what's your favorite beer?"
A: "the one in my hand"