Topics

46

Commercial Beer Reviews / Geary's IPA

« on: September 10, 2012, 07:35:40 AM »

A friend drove through Maine on the way to drop off his daughter at University in Halifax and brought back some of this beer to try.
I have to say, I really liked this beer a lot.  I wish he'd brought back more than 6.  The beer is clearly an English influenced IPA although it does have a touch more bitterness and perhaps a bit of citrus character but the backbone is definitely English.  Not overly hoppy, very well balanced and drinkable.  At 6%, this is a beer that would get me into a lot of trouble because it drinks like a much lower alcohol session beer. 
Copper coloured and clear.  The Geary's website states "English Malts" but I don't really perceive anything that I would say was clearly English in the malt profile but I admit, I'm not the best at picking up more subtle characteristics like that.  It's the more subdued hopping that clearly makes this an English style IPA as opposed to the more upfront bitterness you'd expect in an AIPA. 

Excellent beer and one that I will definitely get again (I hope).

47

Equipment and Software / Best Big Burner

« on: September 09, 2012, 03:53:57 PM »

I will be getting my new brewing garage in a couple weeks and I'm thinking about what equipment I'm going to need.
I am upping my brew size to 15 gal batches and I'm looking for the best, highest efficiency propane burner to handle a pot big enough for 15 gal batches. I don't think my turkey fryer is the best solution.

I will post shots when I get the property and the process but for now I am starting to compile equipment.
It will be a batch sparge system with a hot water heater for sparge water. The property is on a well so no chlorine to worry about.

I'm going to order 6 15 gal plastic fermenters and give them a try.

48

General Homebrew Discussion / Tried my first India Black Ale

« on: September 07, 2012, 05:37:33 PM »

I tried my first one of these (won't get into the naming thing) and it had quite a bit of roast character in it.  Very creamy brown head, clearly looked like a good amount of black patent in the mash.
I didn't think that they were supposed to have much in terms of roast, more just colour with hops like a normal IPA but much darker.  I can't say I really liked it that much so I thought I'd ask if sounds.  It was Dunham Black IPA from Quebec.  Anyway, does this sound right?

49

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP670 - waiting for something funky

« on: September 04, 2012, 01:32:49 PM »

I made a farmhouse ale with this yeast and kegged and carbed as per my normal routine.  Hydrometer was low and appeared stable but I have no idea what the final gravity would end up being.  It was around 1.008 or 1.006.  When I taste the beer, it's good but it doesn't really seem any different from other saisons I've made without Brett in the blend. 
Is Brett generally slower to work (I assume it is).
Should I take it back out of cold storage and give it more warm time?  I'm sure the Sach. was done but will the Brett continue to work away slowly over time?  Will this continue to change the longer I leave it out?  I've had straight saisons get lower FG than this so I'm wondering if I've rushed this.  It was brewed on July 29 and stayed on the yeast in primary for about a month.
Thanks

50

All Grain Brewing / Batch sparging a Mild - water:grain question

« on: September 04, 2012, 09:24:26 AM »

When I make a 1.050ish beer, I usually end up using about 10 lbs of grain and mash at 2L/lb so I add 20L of water and get back about 12 - 14L of 1st runnings and then sparge with roughly the same amount of warm water to get my boil volumes.  I've read repeatedly that you want to have about 1/2 of the volume in each (mash and sparge).

But, I want to make some milds and I'm still not sure how to handle the water volumes.  Does it matter if I have a small mash (6lbs grain:12L water) and then a much larger sparge to make up the boil volume?  Or do I try to stay at 50:50 and have a very thin mash?

51

All Things Food / Injection marinade for chicken

« on: August 31, 2012, 07:45:45 PM »

Doing a deep fried whole chicken tomorrow. About 8.5 lbs and I'm thinking of trying to inject some more flavour into the bird.
Anyone have a good injection marinade recipes?

52

Yeast and Fermentation / "Irish" bitter

« on: August 30, 2012, 08:25:08 AM »

Anyone ever use Irish Ale (WLP004) in British style beers?  I ordered some WLP007 and it's back ordered and I only have about 2 days left to brew before work gets busy so I am going to make a bitter or a mild with a vial of Irish Ale yeast I have.  Probably shoot for 1.040-42 OG because I don't want to make a starter for this one (or more accurately, it's is a starter for a higher OG sweet stout I have planned which is why I have the yeast).

Any thoughts or comments on this choice?  Thinking of the following but haven't ran it through Beersmith yet.

6 lbs Maris Otter
1/2 lb Special Roast
1/4 lb C 45
1/4 lb C 90
1/4 lb Light chocolate (200 SRM)
1 oz EKG at 60 (5%)
1 oz EKG at 15
WLP004

Edit: Added the light chocolate cause in Beersmith it was looking too pale.

That's it.
Thanks.

53

All Things Food / Maple in a smoker (BGE)

« on: August 19, 2012, 06:36:35 PM »

Anyone ever used maple as a smoking wood in a smoker or Big Green Egg?  We just had a whole bunch of trees cut down and there's lots of maple around here but I never hear about it as a smoker wood so I'm wondering why.  I'm guessing it's pretty mild.  I can find chips for apple, hickory, alder, pecan etc but I've got all this easy access to maple so I wondered if it was worth trying.
Thanks.

54

All Things Food / Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?

« on: August 14, 2012, 02:48:07 PM »

I want to expand my cooking prowess and the two cuisines I'd like to try are Mexican (I can't say I've ever really had "authentic" Mexican more than once or twice) and Indian (and who knows how authentic that is here).

So, do you have a recommendation for good cookbooks for either of these cuisines?  I'm looking to buy one of each.
Thanks

55

Wood/Casks / Oak Chips in a Farmhouse?

« on: August 09, 2012, 05:02:03 PM »

I bought some oak chips (1 oz I think) and I was going to add them to a sour beer I'm making but I just had a thought.  What would the do in a farmhouse (WLP670) for a week?  This beer has been a problem for me (blew the airlock out over night so who knows how many fruit flies got in it) so I sort of think, why not?

56

Kegging and Bottling / Twist-tops

« on: August 04, 2012, 12:09:15 PM »

I've asked this before and I'm pretty sure I know the answer I'm gonna get but I am having a really hard time finding "pop" top bottles at something even close to a reasonable price.  I don't wanna pay $1 per bottle for new bottles and not get them back to re-use.

So, is there any capper that can be used to cap screw tops?  I can get new screw tops for $0.15 per bottle which is obviously a lot better.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

57

General Homebrew Discussion / What makes it "Belgian"?

« on: August 02, 2012, 08:42:46 PM »

So I've seen Belgian IPAs and now a Belgian stout. Is it as simple as a regular IPA or stout recipe fermented with Belgian yeast?  Wouldn't the hops or roast clash with the phenols of these yeast strains? 

58

Yeast and Fermentation / Temperature fluctuations - Bad or OK?

« on: July 29, 2012, 10:01:18 AM »

I'm making an American Farmhouse tomorrow with WLP670 and I don't really have a great way to control temperatures.  I'm normally ferment ales at about 68F in my basement and that temp is quite steady and has never been a problem.
But, I'm trying to decide if this is too cool for this yeast.  My only other option is to ferment this in garage.
A quick check of the 14 day forecast shows an average of about 80 during the day with evening temps dropping to about 62.  Given that it's gonna be in the garage, the highs could be a bit more and the lows a bit less just because it's not sitting outside. 

So, is are these swings an issue with this style of beer?  I use WY3711 but only in the basement, I've never done it warmer and it's been fine but I have no base for comparison either.

59

Ingredients / Palisade Hops - nope, actually they're Calypso

« on: July 26, 2012, 09:33:51 AM »

A year ago I won a lb of these and they've been in the freezer, still vacuum packed ever since.  I guess I best break them out and give them a try.
Anyone used these?  What character could I expect if you have used them?  I am going to do an APA with only 2-row, crystal and Palisade hops just to get a feel for the flavour.  Given that no one ever talks about them, I'm assuming that they aren't a favourite.  I know that there are profiles on line but how accurate are they (I never see Cat-Pee or Vomit or Feet on these as descriptors but I read it here a lot)?
Thanks

60

All Grain Brewing / Skimming foam

« on: July 23, 2012, 02:19:04 PM »

As my wort was heating up today, I had a large amount of foam prior to the boil.  I did have a mashing problem today and my wort was cloudier than usual so it could be starch, could be protein (there was some wheat in the mash  - 14 lbs 2-row, 2 lbs wheat, 2 lbs corn for 10 gals).  Also, my mash temp was lower than I wanted 145 instead of 149.

I skimmed off a lot of this foam but is that the right thing to do?  It was brown, clumpy and unappealing.  Looked like I was making chicken stock if that makes any sense.
Should I have just left it or do you skim it off?
Thanks