Topics

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Dry Barrel Aged Barleywine

« on: June 05, 2013, 08:01:41 AM »

Our club has a 53 gallon barrel that we have filled and aged in a few times (currently holding a Flanders Red).  Our first beer was an Old Ale that although finished slightly on the dry side after some age is very pleasant.  The second beer we made and aged was an American BW.  This beer was made using the same basic recipe (OG 1.096 to 1.118) fermented separately using US-05 then racked to age in the barrel.
Once we racked to the barrel the gravity was 1.026 and tasted great.  After a day in the barrel it started to ferment again!  When we racked it to age our Flanders the beer tasted good with a nice woody flavor but has a gravity of 1.011 and is dry on the aftertaste almost astringent.  Its not that I can't enjoy a glass from time to time but did I mention I have 15 gal of this?
My question is, besides blending are their any other methods available to help back sweeten?

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Catagory Help Please

« on: March 04, 2013, 09:30:45 AM »

My club has made an old ale in which we aged in an oak barrel that was previously used to age bourbon.  We acquired the barrel from Allagash who used it once for their beer Curieux. 

My question is what category should I enter this in?  Ideally I would enter it twice but I was able to registar only 1 beer into the NHC.  It tastes fantastic IMO and as a club we wanted to enter it.

The beer is a pretty basic old ale (recipe per 5 gal. below) and has background notes of bourbon and oak.  The oak is very light but the bourbon is noticible. 

12 lb. Crisp Maris Otter
2.0 lb. Munich malt
0.5 lb. C-60
2.0 oz Chocolate malt
~2 oz Willamette hops (4.5 AA, 90 mins)
1.5 oz (43 g) Willamette hops (0 min)
English Ale Yeast (varies per batch)

3

Beer Recipes / Recipe help for WLP644

« on: October 15, 2012, 12:14:48 PM »

I picked up a vial of WLP 644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois I found in the 1/2 off bargain bin at my LHBS.  The vial is past its expairation date but I plan to make a lager size starter to grow the culture.

The WL website says this strain is traditionally used for 100% Brett fermentations and "produces a slightly tart beer with delicate characteristics of mango and pineapple."

I would like to do a 100% brett ferment but I don't have any experience with this yeast and have only made one sour beer to date so I am looking for guidance.  Ideas?

4

Beer Travel / Where should I go (Providence, RI)

« on: October 02, 2012, 11:39:11 AM »

I will be going to a conference just south of Providence, RI (specifically Warwick).  I will have one afternoon to myself before I leave in Providence.

Having moved from PDX to Maine about 2 years ago, I am still not too familiar with some of the smaller breweries on the East Coast.

So, I ask you brew brethren... What breweries/taprooms must I visit?

5

Beer Recipes / Fresh Hop Recipe

« on: August 23, 2012, 11:48:39 AM »

I am looking to harvest my first year Cascade plant.  I estimate my harvest will be about 2 pounds (wet weight).

I was thinking of keeping the grist very simple either MO, pale malt or 50:50 blend. Also, I wasn't sure if I would have enough hops so I was thinking of using up the last bit of magnum hops for a clean bitterness to try and let the fresh hops shine.

Anyone have a good fresh hop recipe they would like to share or any suggestions? 

6

Other Fermentables / Tannin's in Mead

« on: July 31, 2012, 07:21:31 AM »

I just recieved my scoresheets from NHC '12 regarding my sack, semi-sweet, Trad. Mead, I scored a 38, first round and 32in the secon.  This was my first mead and I was very happy with how it turned out.  In no way am I arguing the comments I think they are spot on but, I had comments regarding the dryness of the mead and tannins.  I did try to dry the mead out so that it would not be too sweet as other homebrewed examples I had were too sweet for my preference.

My question is where would tannins come from?  When I think tannins, grape skins come to mind but I did not add these.

Thanks, just looking to make better mead.

7

General Homebrew Discussion / BJCP Tasting Exam Grading

« on: July 03, 2012, 08:51:04 AM »

Anyone have an idea on the turn-a-round time for grading the new format tasting exam?

8

Beer Recipes / Critique this Am. Amber recipe

« on: May 22, 2012, 07:48:21 AM »

Hey all,

I was reading some old posts about mixing MO and pils malt for an American Ale and since I have half a sack of each I thought I would give it a try.

This is what I have so far for 5 gallons of American Amber Ale...

6# Maris Otter (Crisp)
6# Pilsner Malt (Best Malz)
0.75# C-40
0.5# C-120
0.5# Victory
0.12# Pale Chocolate

I was planning on using Magnum for bittering to about 20-25 IBUs, then using Columbus, Cascade and Willamette for my flavour and aroma hops.  Over all I was thinking about 30-35 IBUs total.

What say you?

9

Other Fermentables / Cider Questions

« on: April 24, 2012, 09:09:49 AM »

I have access to over 10 gallons of apple cider from last years harvest and was thinking of trying my hand at making dry and New England ciders.

I understand the cider is UV pasturized.  My question is, will this be okay to make cider?

Thanks!

10

Ingredients / english 2-row substitute

« on: February 06, 2012, 06:00:11 PM »

At my wifes request I am planning a dry stout using the following gist

Final Volume = 12 gal
14# English Pale Malt
4# Flaked Barley
2# Black Roasted Barley

I have half a sack of American Pale 2-row that I would like to use.

My question is what grains should/can I blend with the Amer. 2-row to get that richer English malt flavor? Or should I just pony up and buy English base malt and save my grain for the next one?

11

Other Fermentables / mead in competition

« on: January 14, 2012, 04:58:37 PM »

What temp are meads served at during competition? I have a mead that is pretty good and want some feedback on but has some particulates in it at cellar temp (50 deg) but is crystal clear once chilled.

12

Other Fermentables / Need Advise - First Time Bottling Mead

« on: December 03, 2011, 11:50:52 AM »

I brewed 2.75 gallons of mead using 5 pounds of orange blossom honey and 2 pounds of wildflower honey.  The mead is dried out enough for my liking (OG 1.078, FG 1.014) and has been sitting in my beer fridge clearing for about 3 weeks.

I am planning to bottle the mead in wine bottles with corks.  

Two questions:
1. Should I still use clarifying agents? I haven't yet but have a dose of super kleer.
2. If I use the super kleer, do I still have to use potassium metabisulfite to kill the yeast so I don't get bottle bombs?

Thanks!

13

Kegging and Bottling / Gas Leak

« on: November 06, 2011, 10:55:06 AM »

I have been poking around the forum looking for previous posts about tracking down gas leaks and have found lots of useful information (I love this forum) but I am still having some problems. 

Here is a little history...  I purchased a new dual body regulator (with rubber gasket) from B3 and wasn't having any problems until a couple weeks ago when I went to pull a beer it was excessively foamy which made me check the pressure on the regulator.  The high pressure was around 200 psi on a brand new tank and should be around 600-700 psi as I keep my tank outside of the fridge.  I turned the gas off and took the regulator off to check the rubber gasket and it looked rather worn.  I weighed the tank and it weighed about 4 kg and the tank its self weighs 3.5 kg.  So I refilled my CO2 tank and asked my LHBS if they had any replacement gaskets for regulators.  They only had crush washers so I tried that and after another 2 weeks the tank was empty again. 

So long story short I have been trouble shooting my leak today.  So I have been trying to find the leak starting at the tank working out.  I read on another post to use keg leak detector but my LHBS doesn't carry it and I am tired of filling my tank this often.  I have been using starsan to locate my leak and noticed bubbles coming from the little hole on regulator bonnet on the high pressure side of the dual body.

Also not sure if this will help but I turned the tank on, didn't hooked up to any kegs and opened both ball lock valves and the low pressures read 21 and 14 psi of the tank and high pressure gauges, respectively.  I left the pressure on for a hour and didn't see a change in pressure.  This is probably due to the tank being full and able to supply gas.  I then closed the ball locks with gas still on and the gauges read 22 and 14 psi.  I then turned the gas off and left the ball locks closed and the pressures read 20 and 14 psi after two hours. 

I understand this is something I need to come to grips with but I haven't had to track down a leak before so if there is more information you need to help me just ask. 

14

Ingredients / Ordering hops

« on: September 17, 2011, 07:33:00 AM »

This may be a simple question but I have never had hops shipped x-country before.  If the hops are vacuum sealed should I worry about  keeping them cool during transit?

Thanks

15

Beer Recipes / First Time Saison

« on: May 31, 2011, 05:03:37 PM »

As the weather is starting to get hot here in the far northeast I am looking at attempting my first saison.  I was hoping to pick up some advice and possibly a recipe for an easy but tasty saison.  I am an all-grain brewer.  Yesterday I bought WLP American Farmhouse and WLP Saison yeasts. 

Thanks!