Messages

16

Beer Recipes / Re: Belgian Red Ale?

« on: June 13, 2013, 03:30:43 PM »

Depending on how "Belgian" you want it to taste vs. how much you want it to taste like a red ale, I'd use Special B and/or dark Candi Syrup to get your red color from instead of the roast barley. I brewed a small dubbel with lots of late hops over the winter that was one of my best brews ever.

17

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Orange Hefe?

« on: June 11, 2013, 03:40:34 PM »

If you're going for something like Shock Top, then I'd just use orange soda flavoring. It may not be the most high brow approach, but it should get the job done. I certainly won't judge you.

For an extract brew I'd use half wheat DME and half Pils DME, shoot for 1.045ish OG, with about 20 IBUs of Magnum at 60 minutes. I would use a clean ale strain (US-05 if you're using dry yeast) and ferment in the low 60s. I wouldn't use a true hefeweizen yeast for this.

18

Equipment and Software / Re: Plastic carboy

« on: June 11, 2013, 11:47:16 AM »

My buckets seem to always hold on to a little odor, but it never affects the next batch.

I've found the same. I figure if none of my cleaners can get the odor out, then the beer isn't very likely to do so either.

19

Ingredients / Re: Calypso Hops

« on: June 11, 2013, 09:09:38 AM »

I used Calypso last year when I did a bunch of single-hopped test batches. Here are my tasting notes (from this post):

Next beer up was brewed with Calypso. These were 12.8% AA from AHS. The pellets had some tropical fruit aroma, along with a pungent herbal/earthy scent and a hint of tobacco. I also picked up a very distinct aroma that smells like fresh-picked tomatoes, or more specifically, like the smell of a tomato plant after you just snapped off a ripe tomato.

On the nose of the beer itself I get some aromas of tropical fruit (similar to coconut), some earthiness, and faint notes of onion/sulfur as well as cocoa butter.

On the palate there is a fleeting grapefruit/citrus flavor, but the main character is herbal/grassy with a resinous bitterness that really seems to cling on. Some earthy and spicy flavors are tucked away in the background as well. I did start to pick up an interesting cocoa flavor after a few sips that seemed to intensify as the beer warmed up a bit.

I have to admit, with a name like Calypso i was expecting something totally different from this hop. I was hoping for something that reminded me of sipping a Mai Tai, but this seems pretty meh overall. This had a really tongue-coating resinous bite, so maybe this could work as a bittering hop for an IPA. The cocoa flavor was kind of interesting. I could see this doing well as a late addition in a Robust Porter.

20

Ingredients / Re: Juniper Berries

« on: June 11, 2013, 09:04:55 AM »

Gratuitous juniper berry pics:

21

Ingredients / Juniper Berries

« on: June 11, 2013, 09:03:07 AM »

Anyone here have experience brewing with juniper berries? Some of my juniper bushes are covered with light blue berries right now. I crushed one open and got an instant craving for a Bombay Sapphire Martini. I'm not generally a fan exotic flavorings or spices in my beer, but I do like cooking and brewing with ingredients I've grown myself.

Any tips on how to use the berries, and when to harvest them? Right now the berries are pretty small and green, and they're covered with a waxy coating the consistency of cake frosting or a honey-glazed donut. As the season goes on the berries get darker and drier and the coating gets stickier (more the consistancy of pine resin). What I want is that fresh gin aroma, and I'm getting a lot of it right now, so I;m thinking of harvesting now before the berries start to dry out.

I probably won't be able to brew for another month or two, so I'm thinking of vacuum packing them and storing in the freezer until I'm ready to use them. Drying is the other option I was thinking of, but then I might as well just leave them on the bush for a while longer, right?

For the beer, I'm thinking a Saison with lemon zest and Centennial to go for that juniper-lemon-floral thing that I get from Bombay Sapphire.

So, enough rambling for now. If anyone's got any input I'd love to hear it.

22

Beer Recipes / Re: SMASH extract

« on: June 10, 2013, 09:48:57 PM »

The general philosophy of SMaSH is to simplify a recipe down to one malt and one hop to get a good picture of the flavor contributions of each. While technically most extracts aren't made from a single malt (a few are - Northern Brewer's Marris Otter extract is one.), 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.

23

Ingredients / Re: General hop guidelines

« on: June 10, 2013, 07:01:07 PM »

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to hops. Any hop can be used for bittering, flavor and/or aroma. Some are better suited for different applications, however. A low alpha hop is probably not the best idea for a beer that needs a lot of IBU's simply because of the sheer volume of hop material that is required.

Here are a few recommendations to get you started. Everyone's tastes and palates are different, so please play around. This is in no way an inclusive list, but it's a few ideas for you.

Clean bittering hops:
Warrior, Magnum, Horizon

Sharp bittering hops (suited for an IPA):
Columbus, Chinook

Citrus aroma/flavor:
Cascade
Centennial
Amarillo
Nelson Sauvin

Tropical fruit aroma/flavor:
Citra
Galaxy
Rakau

Piney aroma/flavor:
Simcoe
Chinook

Dank/resinous flavor/aroma:
Columbus
Apollo
Simcoe
Summit (but it can also taste like onions, so user beware)

Earthy flavor/aroma:
Fuggles
Willamette
Styrian Goldings

Floral flavor/aroma:
East Kent Goldings
Amarillo
Centennial

The flavor descriptors aren't as simple as I'm making them look either. For example, even though I consider Columbus a dank hop primarily, I still get pine and citrus from it. I also haven't branched out into too many noble-type hops as I don't brew too many traditional lagers. I'm sure there are others here who can give you a bit more guidance in those styles.

I am a big hophead, and one of the primary reasons I got into homebrewing was to explore the whole hoppy side of things. I strongly encourage you to experiment. If something sounds interesting, then buy a few ounces and brew a Pale Ale with it. There are a few less-common hop varieties that have become staples in my brewery (Caliente and Motueka in particular) because I gave them a trial run and fell in love with them.

24

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

« on: June 10, 2013, 06:57:31 AM »

+1 to the smaller batches suggestion.

I made the jump to all grain but still wanted to keep brewing in the kitchen with my existing kettle. I use a 5 gallon beverage cooler lined with a bag for my mash tun. Most batches I no-sparge (and treat it like BIAB), but I have batch sparged with this setup as well for really big brews.

I get anywhere from a case to a case and a half per batch depending on batch size. The best part is that I get to brew twice as often. This means you can climb the learning curve twice as fast as well.

25

The Pub / Re: OnTap Liquid Beer Enchancer - WTF?

« on: June 09, 2013, 09:35:54 AM »

I like the idea- for those times when good beer ain't available. Besides, what homebrewer hasn't tried adding hops or crystal malt to a Coors light?
...I wonder if I could make my own....

It says it doesn't add calories, so it can't be malt syrup. I don't see an ingredient list anywhere, but my money is on caramel color and (hopefully) some hop oil/extract.

26

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottle not carbonating

« on: June 09, 2013, 09:01:16 AM »

A big portion of the sugar was probably consumed by the yeast before you bottled. Wait a few more days and check again, but my guess us they'll still be under-carbed. If that's the case, you have two options. Drink them slightly flat. Or reprime the bottles individually.

I don't know if I buy that a big portion of the yeast would be consumed within the first 24 hours. Otherwise you'd probably notice a decent carbonation level within a day or two of bottling. I'm thinking that the lag phase at bottling has to be pretty significant since the remaining amount of yeast is pretty low and you're only adding about 1.003 worth of sugar.

27

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: SG question

« on: June 09, 2013, 08:56:10 AM »

Depending on beer style, an OG can generally be anywhere from the low 1.030's to 1.120 (or higher). An FG could be anywhere from the 1.030ish on down. But an SG reading can also be taken at any point between start and finish, so unless you are given the specific information about what the reading is it doesn't really have any meaning.

If I saw a pic with a reading of 1.092 I would assume it is an OG.

28

The Pub / Re: OnTap Liquid Beer Enchancer - WTF?

« on: June 08, 2013, 07:45:27 PM »

Sounds disgusting.  Might as well just drop one of these in your beer...

That is great! A few of us like to prank each other by changing the backgrounds on someone's PC when they step away from their desk. I will definitely be using this one.

29

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottle not carbonating

« on: June 08, 2013, 02:34:51 PM »

Generally I don't bother checking before 10 days after bottling, and I'll usually try to wait 2 weeks unless I'm really impatient. Also, I let the bottle sit cold in the fridge for at least a day before opening. The cold temps help CO2 dissolve in the beer better.

30

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Infection risk

« on: June 08, 2013, 12:23:52 PM »

Keep a spray bottle of Star San and spray everything down. Frankly, I think it's kinda tough to infect a beer post-ferment unless you are grossly sloppy with your sanitation.