Messages

1

Events / Re: Maybe next year

« on: June 19, 2013, 07:54:44 am »

Jim-
We also have "Find a judge" links on the WAHA site so that you can contact experienced judges near to you to help you if you want to talk directly with one, or even meet up and have him/her taste your beer personally.  (We also have "find a mentor" links too, so new brewers can find someone close by who can help guide them to the next level in their brewing.)

http://www.wahomebrewers.org/

These links are available if you register with the site.  Don't worry, you won't get spammed with commercial ads, as the emails are only for minimal announcement use and you can opt out.  (Even if you don't opt out, the email count is quite low, on the order of 1 every couple of weeks in general.)

HTH-
Steve

Apparently I need to spend more time on the WAHA site. I completely missed that.

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Who's going to NHC?

« on: June 18, 2013, 04:34:40 pm »

My wife and I get in Saturday. We are mostly free during the week leading up, except for Monday all day, and Tuesday Evening.

3

All Grain Brewing / Re: Rather than doing a decoction...

« on: June 17, 2013, 10:19:38 pm »

I do not believe these provide the same benefit.

I do love that technique, but I believe it provides some sweetness, and caramel notes. I think it is a much bigger flavor impact than decoction provides (which seems rather limited).

4

All Grain Brewing / Re: Hot Side Aeration

« on: June 17, 2013, 03:28:02 pm »

It seems this would be an incredibly easy test to make. run off into two kettles and whip the beejeesus out of kettle one with a wire wisk then let it set for 30 minutes to an hours. leave the other still the same amount of time and boil both. If you want to get really scientific about it split the post boil into 4 separate fermenters and whip the beejeesus out of two post boil, pre-cooling.

at least one of those three portions that have been whipped should fairly quickly show signs of HSA.

Basic Brewing Radio had a guy on 3-4 years ago which did this. One of their bottles got infected, but other than that, they didn't notice much IIRC. They tasted 3 different times, at 2, 6, and 12 months after brew day IIRC.

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: using half of a white labs vial

« on: June 17, 2013, 08:51:15 am »

A local Brewery here never goes beyond 9 generations. They showed us why with a 15bbl fermenter of their scotch (fermented with WY1968 10th Gen) that was at 1.013 and dropping. They were planning on dumping it because it dropped below their accepted FG of 1.016.

6

Ingredients / Re: Topaz hops

« on: June 16, 2013, 10:36:08 am »

I am dredging this back up from the dead. I just got my hands on 4oz of AU Topaz Pellets. Has anyone used this yet? I was thinking of doing a APA with Cascade and Topaz, was thinking 2/3 topaz, 1/3 cascade, 1oz at 60, 1oz at 15, 2oz at flameout, and the rest of the topaz for dryhop, with maybe a 1/2 oz of Cascade... I think the Citrus/Floral would play really well with the Berry theme of the Topaz.

7

Ingredients / Re: Too dry. How to correct.

« on: June 16, 2013, 08:27:54 am »

I agree with all the people who say to taste it, and adjust next batch.

I prefer to raise the mash temp as opposed to adding more crystal, because I feel like it adds body and fullness without adding overt sweetness. I would raise the mash temp 3-4 degrees, and see if that works better.

8

Equipment and Software / Re: I'm ready to trash my kettle

« on: June 15, 2013, 09:51:21 am »

> Too high evaporation- add back a gallon or so of water after 60-75 minutes

This had never occurred to me. But it feels too much like partial-boil. Wouldn't this affect hop utilization rates?

This is how I usually manage my boils. I have a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer, and do 5-gallon all grain batches.

I run off about 6.5-7 gallons into the fryer, and run an extra 1-2 gallons into a 5-gallon brewpot that I got with my original kit. (I boil off about 1.5 gal/hr). While the boil is going, the extra wort is kept at a boil (or close) on my kitchen stove. Once I get down to about 5.5-6 gallons in the kettle (usually about 45 minutes in), I pause my timer, add the rest of the (near) boiling wort to the kettle, and then restart the timer once the wort gets back to a boil. My tongue has not noticed any hop utilization problems. 

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Re: Who's going to NHC?

« on: June 12, 2013, 04:58:30 pm »

I was only able to register for the Friday-Saturday slot, so I suppose I'll miss the Thursday get-together (and Pro-Night  ).  Hope to bump into the forum crowd at some point.  I'll likely be in a black utilikilt much of the time.

I'm pretty sure the Fri/Sat ticket also includes Pro Night, just not the Thursday seminars.

I was going to say that, but mtnrockhopper beat me to it.

10

Going Pro / Re: First Pro Competition

« on: June 12, 2013, 04:57:48 pm »

Mic, are you going to be pouring at WBF?

I will be there pouring with Twelve Bar Brews. Good luck, I will be cheering for you when they announce the awards!

Sadly no.  We have to be in town for some charity events.  The wife and and I get quite involved in local things, and once we started a brewery, the folks came knocking.  It's cool though, and get's our name out there.  We have fun with it. 

But, when they announce the Ambers, if you wanted to PM me, that would be cool.

I can send you a PM when I hear the results. TBB didn't enter, so I have nothing to listen for for them.

11

Going Pro / Re: First Pro Competition

« on: June 11, 2013, 08:54:14 pm »

Mic, are you going to be pouring at WBF?

I will be there pouring with Twelve Bar Brews. Good luck, I will be cheering for you when they announce the awards!

12

All Grain Brewing / Re: brewing all-grain with less water

« on: June 11, 2013, 08:47:57 am »

Another possibility for you, which I use when I am doing long boils (I only have a 7.5 gal Turkey Fryer) is to use two pots.

If I have too much wort for my kettle, I will pour the remaining wort (1-1.5 gal) into a big stockpot, and boil it on the stove. When I get down to about 10-15 minutes, I add the wort on the stove to the turkey fryer. I don't think you need to do that, and you could boil two separate batches, and add them to the same carboy. That might get you up to 5ish gallons without adding any more junk (assuming you already have a stockpot).

13

Beer Recipes / Re: SMASH extract

« on: June 11, 2013, 08:39:04 am »

you can still get a good picture of how that single extract type works with a single hop variety. If you are an extract brewer, this can be just as useful of a tool as a true SMaSH beer is to an all-grain brewer.

It might be a more useful tool for an extract brewer, considering you can also get a better idea of the fermentability of the extract, and the residual sweetness of your preferred extract. This will give you a good idea of how much crystal or such you want to add to your beer when you are attempting to reach that perfect style.

I have always thought that SMASH beers are really good for understanding ingredients. Sometimes the beer is great, most of the time it feels like its missing a bit of complexity.

14

Beer Recipes / Re: Session IpA recipe critque

« on: June 06, 2013, 09:51:09 pm »

If I were to make a session IPA, this would be the basic idea (It is also the malt bill for my house APA, mashed at 155)

7lb 2-row
3lb Munich
Mash at 162.

That is it.

Starting from the same point as you, I would bump up the MO to 9lb, 8oz Aromatic, and 8oz C40 (I prefer lighter crystal in my PA). Again, mash at 162.

I know that it seems like a high mash temp, but I don't find beers mashed that high to be overly sweet. I find them just to maintain the body that you would expect in a higher gravity beer. If you're scared, you can mash at 158-160...

15

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Update on my first ever homebrew!

« on: June 05, 2013, 10:17:35 pm »

The thing that generally provides the "pumpkin pie" flavor in most pumpkin beers is pumpkin pie spice. Pumpkin on its own doesn't really provide any flavor.

If you want beer that tastes like Apple, try using apple skins. One of the guys in my club produced an "Apple Pie Scotch Ale" and it was Extremely tasty (one of the most popular beers at NHC Club Night). He use apple skins to get more flavor. I might be able to find the recipe if you want it, but it is an all grain recipe.