Messages

61

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Wild Hops in Virginia?

« on: May 31, 2011, 04:56:13 pm »

Don't know about central VA, but I grew up in SW Virginia and would probably begin with Floyd. It's a place with a long tradition of fermented beverages.. of all kinds. I'm sure that somebody planted a few hop rhizomes back in the day.

62

General Homebrew Discussion / AHA National results from Northeast?

« on: May 19, 2011, 05:43:06 pm »

Anybody who submitted their beers to Saratoga Springs received their results yet? I'm not holding out much hope for advancing to the second round, but would love to get some feedback.

63

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dry Hop question

« on: May 14, 2011, 12:31:48 pm »

I tend to go with loose, and then when I'm transferring the beer to the bottling bucket, I'll put a nylon bag over the end of the siphon tubing to catch any hop debris. I don't think you'd lose that much flavor by dry hopping with the bag, but keep in mind that it's one more thing to introduce creepy crawlies, and could be a pain to get out of the carboy if you're using a lot of hops.

64

General Homebrew Discussion / AHA Nationals?

« on: May 07, 2011, 12:02:06 pm »

Anybody know when we should expect to hear about the AHA National competition results?

65

Beer Travel / Philadelphia beer trip

« on: April 11, 2011, 04:56:02 pm »

I'm going to Philadelphia for 4 days and am trying to plan beer bar/brewery stops. I've been told that The Foodery and Monks are must-sees. Any other suggestions?

Chris

66

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Saaz and Cascade in an IPA?

« on: March 26, 2011, 08:52:20 am »

@Oscarvan -- That's about what I was thinking, although I've actually got twice as many hops -- 8 oz. total, with 4 oz. of each variety. I was thinking maybe something like this:

2 oz. Cascade -- 60 min.
1 oz. Cascade -- 20 min.
.5 oz. Cascade -- 10 min.
1 oz. Saaz -- 5 min.
1 oz. Saaz -- 1 min.
2 oz. Saaz -- dry hop
.5 oz. Cascade -- dry hop

67

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Mock Pilsener

« on: March 26, 2011, 08:43:29 am »

I agree with the US-05 suggestion, as you probably want a clean fermenting yeast. Also, I've never used it, but Cry Havoc is supposed to be good for both ales and lagers, and ferments clean.

68

General Homebrew Discussion / Saaz and Cascade in an IPA?

« on: March 26, 2011, 08:36:10 am »

I've got about 4 oz. each of Czech Saaz and Cascade pellets and was thinking about using them in an IPA. Anybody ever tried this flavor/aroma combination?

69

General Homebrew Discussion / Occassional diacetyl problem

« on: February 26, 2011, 11:51:15 am »

I've been noticing a strong diacetyl presence in several bottles of doppelbock that I bottled about a month ago. Weird thing is that it's not every bottle. Some of them seem just fine. Is this possible, or am I just making this up? If some bottles have a diacetyl problem and others don't, what accounts for it? My sanitation methods are pretty thorough (or so I thought.)

70

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dry hopping pilsners?

« on: February 19, 2011, 12:18:49 pm »

Well, all right then. Guess I won't be dry hopping. Thanks.

71

General Homebrew Discussion / Dry hopping pilsners?

« on: February 19, 2011, 09:03:02 am »

I'm thinking of dry hopping a Bohemian pilsner and was wondering if any of you had suggestions for best amounts/methods. I was thinking of using 2 oz. of Saaz pellets, added to the secondary (which is lagering) for 2 weeks before bottling. Should I dry hop in the primary before lagering, or does it even matter?

(I was drinking Sam Adams Noble Pils last night, which is what inspired the dry hopping idea. That beer is so aromatic!)

72

General Homebrew Discussion / Cocoa Nibs in secondary

« on: January 15, 2011, 08:36:25 am »

I'm about to rack my milk stout onto 6 oz. of cocoa nibs. Any recommendations on how long I should keep it in the secondary? I'm looking for detectable chocolate flavor, but not so much that it dominates. I was thinking 2 weeks. Is this enough time?

73

General Homebrew Discussion / cocoa nibs vs. powder

« on: November 29, 2010, 07:05:06 pm »

Does anyone have experience using cocoa nibs vs. powder? A friend of mine has asked for a chocolate milk stout. I was planning on using my milk stout recipe (based on Left Hand's) and adding 8 oz. of cocoa powder, but heard that 8 oz. of nibs for 2 weeks in the secondary might give a cleaner, less grainy mouthfeel and flavor. Thoughts?

74

General Homebrew Discussion / Dry hopping with homegrown hops

« on: September 11, 2010, 08:06:15 am »

I'd like to hear people's experiences on dry hopping with homegrown hops. I've heard conflicting information on this subject. A lot of people say that hops are naturally antiseptic, but others who've tried dry hopping with homegrown hops have said they've had mixed results, getting contaminated batches, etc. The only time I tried it, myself, I noticed some off flavors from contamination. What are people's experiences with this?