Topics

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Goose Island Sofie

« on: June 07, 2013, 08:14:37 pm »

Found a couple bottles after work @ a local liquor store in Indy .  I haven't had it in close to a year. I forgot how much I like this beer . Very nice !  At the same place I found the Bourbon County a few months back, ie., a place I definitely couldn't have before.  Weird, but cool. Just not very trusting of brewing conglomerates and their track record.

2

General Homebrew Discussion / SN/DFH IPA Glasses

« on: May 10, 2013, 03:24:06 pm »

Ok, so I like cool beer glasses. Got a couple of the Sierra Nevada/DogfishHead IPA glasses in the mail today. Both breweries evidently went into partnership with some glassmaker guy to make it, and then each sells it as their own (I opted for the Sierra version, since I have a love/hate relationship with DFH). They're tulip shaped, which we know concentrates hop aromas/beer aromas. Loosely in the vein of the Sam Adams glasses, only bigger (19 oz) and more attractive. A much thinner, much cooler looking glass.

 For function, they damn sure work.  My new IPA, which I tapped a couple days ago, was dry hopped heavily anyway, and the aroma is the most pronounced I've ever smelled in an IPA.  It's a good beer, but I'm sure any fresh IPA would rock in this glass. Might buy a couple more.

3

All Grain Brewing / Mosaic/Martin IPA

« on: May 08, 2013, 04:34:55 pm »

 Tapped my new IPA today.  I've brewed alot of IPAs and it has to be a top 3.  A very simple grist : 88% 2 row, 6% Biscuit, and 6% Crystal 20 -  mostly a vehicle to sub in Mosaic for Simcoe in my last combo of  Amarillo/Centennial/Simcoe.  Damn that's a good hop !  Simcoe minus the cat piss, plus a little of the "blueberry" character.  A complex hop, and a great hop combo. I'd tried it in craft beers, but not at home.
 Now for the other part of what makes this IPA so good - Martin.  Previously, I had brewed IPAs with ~ 200 ppm Sulfate to ~ 50 ppm Chloride, and liked the results.  This time, per Martin's recent posting, I bumped the sulfate up to 300 ppm.  Big difference, better beer IMO.  I love West Coast IPAs, and the more aggressive gypsum does it.  There is still a firm malt base, just not malt forward. And not one bit of overmineralized Alka Seltzer bite. Hence, keeping Chloride under 100 (50 in this case) is obviously important. Loving this beer.

4

All Grain Brewing / New Albion Ale

« on: April 19, 2013, 05:07:28 pm »

Bought some New Albion on the way home.   The significance of it makes me think of the time when SNPA made its way to Indiana. I was in my early/mid 20s, and it changed me forever, in terms of what beer was or could be.  Not long after, my Dad bought me a couple homebrew kits as a birthday present, complete with the yeast packets taped to the lids of the two cans. And the obsession was on !
As for the beer - it's a simple recipe.  2 row, Cascade, mildly fruity ale yeast. But it's good beer. I'm a lifelong beer geek, but not so much so that I can't appreciate beer that's not a RIS or IIPA ( and I love those). I wasn't drinking in 1976 when this beer originally came out but,remembering what SNPA tasted like for the 1st time in 1991 or 2, I can imagine what this beer did to get the ball rolling. Cheers Jack!

5

All Grain Brewing / Mosaic

« on: April 15, 2013, 05:37:38 am »

Brewed a 1.062 AIPA yesterday using Amarillo/Centennial/Mosaic as late hops. Plan to dry hop that combo heavily as well. This was my first time using Mosaic, but I've tried a couple brews that use it. Loved the aromas from the kettle. Think I'll be using this combo again.

6

All Grain Brewing / Water Chemistry

« on: March 01, 2013, 10:05:58 am »

 I have a water chemistry question. Since switching to Bru'nWater, my beer quality has taken the next jump - a great tool, Martin.  I use RO water, then build up, by the way. I'm curious how you guys approach hoppy styles, specifically APA and AIPA. What I do is to build up the gypsum to a little over 100 ppm for APA, over 200 for AIPA. Do you guys also use calcium carbonate to reach the desired ratio?  I 've had excellent results just building the gypsum up to the right level. Appreciate any feedback.

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Refactometer

« on: February 12, 2013, 07:26:01 am »

Have a question regarding refractometers :

       I use mine along with a hydrometer for OG measurements.  I know that the alcohol present at FG makes it inaccurate, so I use the hydrometer for that. But I'm aware there are corrections that can be used for FG measurements.  Are the corrections reliable enough to make it worthwhile? It seems that abv% would have a direct relationship on a correction.  Thanks!

8

General Homebrew Discussion / IPA Hop Combo

« on: February 07, 2013, 11:28:17 am »

Always looking for new IPA hop combos.  Anybody finish an IPA with a 1:1:1 ratio of Amarillo,Citra and Chinook?
 I like the complexity of 3 hop blends, and the piney,resiny Chinook as a counterpoint to the citrus/orange of the other 2 seems like a possible good combo.

9

All Grain Brewing / Batch Sparging pH

« on: January 29, 2013, 05:06:14 pm »

Hi All,

    I'm a long time brewer, noob to the forum. I recently made the switch from fly to batch sparging, where, so far, I've had good luck and love the time savings. My question is , do I need to worry about adjusting sparge water pH in batch sparging ?  I adjust mash pH via Bru'n Water. My understanding was that sparge pH worries are greatly reduced in this method. Thanks !