Messages

1

All Grain Brewing / Re: Hot Side Aeration

« on: Today at 11:03:41 AM »

I have been using a stainless spoon at the end of the boil to stir up a whirlpool and accelerate cooling without any noticeable issues (I used to just use the IC in a similar manner by swirling it).  It isn't getting real splashy, either way, but it gets 10 gallons down below 100F fairly quickly; from there I just wait it out until 56F, rack to fermenter and aerate with a sanitized two blade aerator using a cordless drill.  The only time I have tasted anything like that described was with an Alt that I let sit long in primary and jostled around too much moving to a bottling bucket and then into bottles.  Maybe it was HSA, but I don't think so...

+1.  I have always stirred with a spoon while cooling with my IC to shorten cooling time.  Never to a froth, but very steadily. My only two oxidized batches in 20 years could be traced to definite post-fermentation issues. One, where my daughter knocked off an airlock from a fermenter (never good), and the other from accidental splashing at kegging.

2

All Things Food / Re: BBQ Style

« on: Today at 10:03:30 AM »

Here's the BBQ guru Steven Raichlen's KC style BBQ Sauce recipe. I give it the bluesman's twist by adding some New Mexico chili powder to it. A fantastic all- around grilling sauce. Slather it on anythiing form babybacks to burgers.

Basic Barbecue Sauce Recipe
This is the type of sauce that most people in the United States think of as barbecue sauce: Brown sugar and molasses make it sweet; liquid smoke makes it smoky--there isn't a Kansas City pit boss around who wouldn't recognize it as local. Slather it on ribs and chicken, spoon it over pork shoulder, and serve it with anything else you may fancy. You won't be disappointed.

Makes about 2-1/2 cups


2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon of your favorite barbecue rub
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon black pepper


Combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan and bring slowly to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and gently simmer the sauce until dark, thick, and richly flavored, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the sauce to clean (or even sterile) jars and store in the refrigerator. It will keep for several months.

I do something pretty similar but with a couple of twists.  All the "heat" comes from new Mexico red chile powder, some mild but mostly hot or extra hot.  Also I use homemade malt vinegar instead of cider vinegar, and I leave out the liquid smoke.  Very finely diced shallots and garlic take the place of the dry rub ingredients.  But the ketchup/brown sugar/mustard base is the same.  lately I've been adding about a cup of homebrewed stout or porter also.

Sounds like a winner to me! 

Adding your own twist makes it yours.

+1.  That's almost a carbon copy of my BBQ sauce, except I usually add a pureed can (or 2) of chipotles with the Adobo sauce. Very tasty.  +1 to anytime beiing a good time to bbq !

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Green beer - pellets?

« on: June 17, 2013, 11:27:12 AM »

I've had issues with this is a few beers. They have had a couple of things in common. They have all had a crapload of dry hops (> 1 oz/gallon) and had 3 days or less of contact time with the last dry hop addition prior to bottling. They all did use pellets (although some had both pellets and whole cone hops). I'm not sure what the major factor was in giving the grassy/muddy/green flavors, but some cold conditioning time in the bottle did clear out those off flavors after some time.

+1.  I not only use fine mesh paint strainer bags to dry hop, I also use one wrapped around the end of my racking cane (with a rubber band) as a second "filter".  I think it helps remove just a little more of the hop particulate, which I feel is the main offender. +1 to cold crashing as well.

4

Beer Recipes / Re: Bourbon barrel porter recipe formulated

« on: June 17, 2013, 10:04:42 AM »

sounds really good. looks a lot like my porter recipe, except I think I didn't use any roasted/black barley. the munich is really the bomb in this style. I mean I love munich malt anyway, put it in almost everything, but this style particularly really benefits from the rich fruity maltiness.

+1.  Munich is very underrated in porter and stout.  Looks great !  I made a "bourbon barrel" milk stout a few months back that came out great, and I used the chips and bourbon the same way.

5

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dads Day Brew?

« on: June 16, 2013, 04:42:40 PM »

No brewing today.  Grilling locally made German sausages (made by a German guy) , along with German potato salad, red cabbage, and obviously good lagers. Dad gets to set the menu today !

From Claus's market?

Absolutely Jeff.  Claus is fantastic.  Can't be too many places like that left. I had some pretty good sausages (and beer) when I went up your way to Frankenmuth last year.

One brother lives in Beech Grove, so we often stop there when visiting. Authentic.

His house made bacon is terrific too, as pretty much everything there. Small world - I'm 15 minutes from Beech Grove.

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Grain to glass in less than 3 weeks

« on: June 16, 2013, 04:23:36 PM »

Thankyou. I really like this grain bill for both my APAs and IPAs. Only difference is I use a pound less 2 row for my APAs.

Yep.  It's a malt base with a lot of character without getting in the way of my dry hops (I like a lot of them for IPA).

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dads Day Brew?

« on: June 16, 2013, 03:35:23 PM »

No brewing today.  Grilling locally made German sausages (made by a German guy) , along with German potato salad, red cabbage, and obviously good lagers. Dad gets to set the menu today !

From Claus's market?

Absolutely Jeff.  Claus is fantastic.  Can't be too many places like that left. I had some pretty good sausages (and beer) when I went up your way to Frankenmuth last year.

8

Ingredients / Re: Too dry. How to correct.

« on: June 16, 2013, 08:48:56 AM »

Personally, I think most AIPAs with 10% crystal are way too sweet and cloying unless you add some sugar to dry the beer out further. Agree with the others, package and drink it. Buy the end of the batch you may find it is not too dry, after all. 1.012 is certainly not excessively dry for an IPA. In fact, its about spot on. For my tastes, anyway.

+1.  Not much crystal for me.

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dads Day Brew?

« on: June 16, 2013, 08:46:46 AM »

No brewing today.  Grilling locally made German sausages (made by a German guy) , along with German potato salad, red cabbage, and obviously good lagers. Dad gets to set the menu today !

10

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Grain to glass in less than 3 weeks

« on: June 16, 2013, 08:37:28 AM »

Looks great man !   I use the the 2 row/Munich/Victory/Wheat grist for most of my APAs and AIPAs.  If I use any crystal at all, it's 8 oz or less ( just preference).  Well done !

11

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: WY3724 How long does this take?

« on: June 14, 2013, 12:21:23 PM »

Very helpful.  That'll shorten the time frame. Thanks Amanda

12

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: WY3724 How long does this take?

« on: June 14, 2013, 10:59:36 AM »

I did that exact same schedule on my last Saison... took 4 weeks at 90 to get down to 1.006 from 1.028.

Next time I'm going to start hot around 80 and push it to 90 per some things I've been seeing from Wyeast. Either that or I'm going with WLP565.

BUT. If you let it finish, it will rock your socks off.

+1.  The one I recently made took just over 3 weeks to hit 1.006.  I mashed @ 147 for just over 90 minutes. Otherwise I used roughly the same fermentation schedule.  It's a shame it takes so much longer than 3711, because it makes people avoid it.  I think it makes a MUCH better saison.

Agreed. 3711 doesn't even come close to 3724. If I get a chance to brew another saison this year, I'm going to pitch 3724 at 80 and see what happens as far as timeline and flavor/aroma. If I have any luck remembering, I'll report back here with some results.

For what it's worth, after waiting nearly a month and a half from brew day to drink my last saison (with Nelson Sauvin and 3724) - 5 gallons lasted us two weeks. Amazing stuff.

Yep.  I made 2 saisons back to back - one with 3711, finished with Saaz, the other with 3724, finished with Nelson.  Both are good, but there's no comparison.  3724/Nelson is the combo for me.

13

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: WL Hefe Choices

« on: June 14, 2013, 10:36:12 AM »

You'll get varying opinions, but using 380 and fermenting at 62 or so gives a great balance between clove and banana.  There was an epic weiss bier thread years ago and this was one of the keys to replicating that German flavor.

My method too.  Works really well.

14

Beer Recipes / Re: Cream Ale

« on: June 14, 2013, 08:53:28 AM »

Hi All:

I was thinking about brewing one of these cream ales over the weekend, and I have a real amature question:

I see the recipie above calls for an addition of 1lb cane sugar during he boil (at 30 min).  If you substitute flacked corn (which I have a little of), does that go into the boil too (and not the mash)?

Thanks for any guidance to the amature here!

-Bill

No, it needs to be mashed.

15

All Grain Brewing / Re: mash efficiency question

« on: June 14, 2013, 08:46:35 AM »

1. get a new/better thermometer/hydrometer,
2. try double crushing and/or tightening roller spacing on my MaltMill, and
3. mash out/sparge slower

And if you really care to know which one of those things makes a difference, you'd make those changes one at a time.

+1