Messages

601

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Root BEER

« on: November 04, 2010, 07:37:52 AM »

A guy in town who makes and sells root beer at events gave me 3 bottles of Zatarains root beer extract. Directions call for adding 1 bottle of extract and a packet of beer yeast to 4.5 gallons of water along with some sugar.  This makes me wonder if I can(or would even want to) brew a beer with this stuff.  Maybe 8-10 pounds pilsner malt and no hops.  Any thoughts?

A town close to me used have a "strange brew fest" and one year a guy had "Booted Rear."  It was a rootbeer flavored beer.  Not sure how he did though.

602

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Watch out for short-cuts!

« on: November 01, 2010, 08:03:34 AM »

Saturday about 4pm, my neighbor is starting the bonfire, for a night of partying.  I walk over and help him, and a bunch of his friends start coming over.  Once they find out I'm a homebrewer, they all want to brew a batch. 
.
25 pounds of grain + 5 ounces of hops + a couple smack packs of yeast + 5 drunk guys = ?
.
We'll just have to find out in a month or so.   

603

All Grain Brewing / Re: Black Ale recipe

« on: October 29, 2010, 03:51:51 PM »

Agreed.  I started with W10 recipe, from BYO.  But now add 2 ounces of Sorachi hops at 60 minutes, and 2 ounces of Oak cubes in the fermenter.

I've done a few blind taste tests with the Dechutte's CDA (their name, not mine) and folks have struggled to tell the difference. 

604

All Grain Brewing / Re: Black Ale recipe

« on: October 29, 2010, 04:54:06 AM »

Why do you have to use carafa?  I used 1/4 of black malt in my last IBA.  It was tasty.

Carafa, being debittered, will provide more restrained roastiness, bitterness, etc. It minimizes the flavor contribution that you get by using dark malts. The other approach is to use Sinamar, which is essentially a cold extract of carafa. The idea being to get the black color with minimal dark roastiness.

It's this concept that many people have trouble with regarding these beers..... what's the point if it's just color and not flavor? I don't have an answer to that. Still trying to expolre more commercial examples (and homebrewed as well) to get my head around this 'style'.  The naming thing is another whole issue, but I'm more concerned with flavor/brewing issues. The name will shake out over time.

I enjoy this style from Iron Horse in Ellensberg, wa, and Dechuttes, in Oregon.  The Alaskan version isn't too good.  nor the one from 21A.

605

All Grain Brewing / Re: Black Ale recipe

« on: October 28, 2010, 10:28:18 AM »

beersk may have some anger issues to deal with, but i do think he's got a good point on the naming of the style.  my local pub has been making a "black IPA"  for quite some time and i live in holland, mi.  i agree it should be called an "india black ale".

he he. if it's made with cannibis could it be called an "indica pale (or black) ale"?   

I've never been the most subtle at getting my point across but I'm workin' on it.  What a wonderful life it would be if we were all the people we strive to be so early on in life...

No worries dude. 

606

All Grain Brewing / Re: Black Ale recipe

« on: October 23, 2010, 08:41:08 AM »

He said black ale, not stupid named rip off of an east coast style ale.  That "Cascadian Dark Ale" crap can take a hike.  

There's some pretty decent looking 1554 clone recipes kicking around somewhere...can't seem to find them at the moment.

Sorry Bluesman, no hostility towards you, I just hate that whole "Cascadian Dark Ale" business....

Why so hostile?  It's just beer.

607

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash efficiency

« on: October 18, 2010, 09:10:55 AM »

Well guys, I finally ordered a sight guage for my HLT,

What did you order?  I am thinking about putting a site gage on my HLT and MT.

Weldless Sight Gauge, 16" 6693   

From www.midwestsupplies.com 

608

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Using Wort for Starter

« on: October 17, 2010, 08:30:55 AM »

Why not just freeze it instead of canning it? If you can it you don't need to put it in the fridge.

Good question, I don't have a good answer. 

609

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast. the practical guide to beer fermentation

« on: October 17, 2010, 08:29:08 AM »

I haven't started my copy yet, but can't figure out why the BA and BN can't come up with a better deal for either us (members) or the LHBS.  My LHBS suggested I check out pricing on Amazon.com when I asked if he was getting it in, as that was where he got stock for the store.  I got "yeast..." and "brewing with wheat" together on Amazon for $25 w/ free shipping. 

The BN has a markup to help support their programming since they don't require any money for their content ( although you can donate monthly, which I do ).  They also have signed copies.  I bought mine from The Brewing Network store to support what they are doing.

+1

610

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Using Wort for Starter

« on: October 15, 2010, 09:20:48 AM »

Every three of four brews, I'll adjust recipe to 11 gal, instead of 10, and fill four mason jars of wort, pressure cook them, and stick them in the fridge.  That's what I use for starters. 

This is something I definitely want to start doing.  Need to get myself a pressure cooker first though.

One of the Brewstrong episodes described this process.  It's not my original thought. 

611

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Using Wort for Starter

« on: October 15, 2010, 07:46:34 AM »

Every three of four brews, I'll adjust recipe to 11 gal, instead of 10, and fill four mason jars of wort, pressure cook them, and stick them in the fridge.  That's what I use for starters. 

So far, it's all gone great.  The IPA have fermenting now used a stepped up starter begining with just one pack of 1056 for ten gallons.  I'll find out next week how well that worked......

612

Ingredients / Re: Keffir Lime and Lemongrass Berliner Weisse

« on: October 14, 2010, 09:51:00 AM »

Does anyone have any ideas as to the best way to introduce these ingredients into my beer?  I want something citrusy and refreshing.  I've done a Berliner Weisse before but have never worked with Keffir Lime or Lemongrass.  Do I add at the end of the boil?  Do a tea?  Dry hop? 

Any help is appreciated!

-Darla

Early this summer I brewed a clone of New Belgium's "skinny dip."  I had emailed the brewer for tips, I told him I was gonna use two ounced of frozen Keffir leaves at flame out for a ten gallon batch.  He told that should work fine.  And it did. 

613

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash efficiency

« on: October 14, 2010, 09:47:25 AM »

Pretty simple calculation. Essentially you just need to divide your actual sugar extracted by the total amount of sugar (potential extract) in the grains. The total amount of sugar is just the gravity of the wort multiplied by the volume (so "point-gal" typically for a unit). The potential extract is the sum of the extracts for each type of grain in the grist, weighted proportionally.

For a really simple example, say you're brewing a pale ale with 9 lb of 2-row and 1 lb C60, and you collected 6.5 gal of 1.040 wort. Looking up the extract of the grains (this chart is handy) you find they're about 37 and 34 point-gal/lb, respectively. The potential extract is:

9*37 + 1*34 = 367 point-gal

You collected 6.5*40 = 260 point-gal, so the efficiency is 260/367 = 0.708, about 71%.

edit: I think the link to Kai's writeup was supposed to be: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Understanding_Efficiency

So I need to install the sight gauage on my boil pot?  I thought it would go on the HLT??

614

All Grain Brewing / Mash efficiency

« on: October 14, 2010, 08:50:27 AM »

Well guys, I finally ordered a sight guage for my HLT, so I can know for certain how much water I was added to the mash.  (I had been just eyeballing to what I perceived as a good water/grain ratio.  It seemed the next step for my brewing system. 

And I will be able to calculate my mash efficiency since I will know with great accuracy how much water I'm using.  Can someone explain how to do such?  I've read Palmer's book on it, and read some other forums, but it's still a bit confusing to me........

615

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: BC Canada Homebrew Laws

« on: October 11, 2010, 08:48:23 PM »

Random question -

A friend of mine has been banished by his company for the next year or so to Sechelt BC.  Google maps literally shows zero roads there.  Rumor has it there's a homebrew shop in "town", but he's not sure he's allowed to brew.  Does anyone have a clue about this?  He's a US resident with a Canadian work permit. 

When up in Vancouver a few years ago, we came by a LHBS, so it must be legal.  And I know "brew on premises" is very popular in Canada because of the tax on beer.  A six pack of MGD (I know, don't say it) was $9.