Messages

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: That German lager flavor

« on: May 24, 2013, 03:19:34 PM »

I have lagers sitting in the fridge that I am going to tap in a few weeks. A Czech Dark Lager (saflager 34/70), a Landbier (wlp 833), and a Baltic Porter. I got a little antsy and started drinking the Baltic, which has been hitting the spot this spring. Samples from the others have been very tasty.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Most and Least

« on: May 19, 2013, 01:56:01 PM »

Most Useful for me have been:

A Drill--Just makes my day easier for milling grain, and for aerating the wort.
Grain Mill
Refrigerator--Have a place to store hops makes my kitchen refrigerator much more useful  .
A Large Plastic Box--Cheap and useful for fermentation temp control. In my current house I can get the temp down into the low 50's, and made some very good lagers this Winter.
Vacuum Sealer--Extends the life of my hops for a very long time. So, no worries about buying in bulk.

Least Useful:
Hydrometer--I still use it for every brew, but I have my process down pretty well at this point, and am never surprised. So, I think I could very well stop using it, and know what the numbers are for my brews.

Not too much else I find to be of little use. I'm not very fancy in my brewery, so pretty much everything has a good use.

3

Beer Recipes / Re: S'more Porter?

« on: May 02, 2013, 11:18:49 AM »

One thing that I was thinking about doing was adding a lb or two of meadowfoam honey to my porter. Meadowfoam has a kind of marshmellowy taste to it. Then you could use MO or biscuit malt to provide the graham cracker flavor, and some coca nibs.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 4/28 Edition

« on: April 25, 2013, 06:41:57 PM »

Going to brew a Grodziskie. Finally got some Lublin hops to throw in this one, which I am looking forward to. Might also brew a Belgian Single, with Caliente hops and the Unibroue strain.

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Ingredients / Re: Online stores

« on: April 24, 2013, 05:45:58 PM »

I really like Midwest Brewing Supplies, Farmhouse Brewing Supply, and Yakima Valley Hops.

Lots of good ones out there. Hope that helps!

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All Grain Brewing / Re: Angry Beer?

« on: April 18, 2013, 06:39:42 AM »

I just used WLP002 for the first time, and it had chunks of yeast floating around. Kind of cool to watch.

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: budweiser yes, but kind of cool

« on: April 17, 2013, 10:25:19 AM »

Noticed the link for the 15 best beers in the world.  Most of them are Imperial Stouts.  Didn't know that Bourbon County Stout was no longer being made.  Too bad.  Expensive, but quite an awesome beer.

Bourbon County Stout is still being made. The Rare Bourbon County Stout is what was retired.

8

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Honey - add in boil or at flame out?

« on: April 17, 2013, 06:04:10 AM »

Meadowfoam.  Honey.  2lbs to a 5g batch after first 2/3 of fermentation.

You'll thank me.

Big +1 on the Meadowfoam suggestion.

9

Ingredients / Re: Looking for gratzer malt

« on: April 14, 2013, 08:08:37 AM »

Mine came from Rebel Brewer. I don't think it was flat rate shipping though.

10

All Things Food / Re: Hot tip

« on: April 09, 2013, 06:34:35 PM »

Sliced strawberries are absolutely delicious in a salad.

Nom.

How about dipped in sour cream, and then rolled in brown sugar. I spend at least one summer day doing that every year.

11

Ingredients / Re: Quality Vanilla

« on: April 06, 2013, 12:32:41 PM »

I order my vanilla from the spice house in Chicago myself, and have been very happy with them. Usually this is when I order spices for rubs and the like as well.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 4/7 Edition

« on: April 03, 2013, 04:13:14 PM »

It's going to be a busy one for me. Bottling a Dry Stout, and brewing a Wheat Beer and a Gratzer. Maybe a Brown Ale as well. Looking forward to using this malt from the Colorado Malting co. that I bought.

13

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Wyeast Old Ale alternatives

« on: March 29, 2013, 10:48:29 AM »

The Wyeast Old Ale yeast has a Brett strain in it, so whichever yeast you go with (I prefer 1469 myself), I would also consider pitching some Brett C in the secondary. That is, if you want to mimic the Wyeast Old Ale strain.

14

Beer Recipes / Re: Looking for piney, earthy character in hops

« on: March 20, 2013, 02:29:48 PM »

I use Styrian Celia quite a bit, and get earthy with a touch of lemon. Otherwise, I was drinking Great Lakes' Alchemy Hour the other day, and it was very earthy with some pine and tropical fruit. The hop combo is apparently Mosaic, Nugget, and Cascade.

This is where I was kinda going with my suggestion. Alchemy Hour is certainly an earthy tasting IPA that is very amber in color. I wasn't aware of the Cascades in it. I thought it was an even blend of Nugget and Mosaic....Then I threw in Simcoe for the piney flavor.

I was surprised their was Cascade in there myself, but I got the info from their website.

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/uploads/Beer/2013%20Beer%20Profile%20-%20Alchemy%20Hour.pdf

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Beer Recipes / Re: Looking for piney, earthy character in hops

« on: March 20, 2013, 12:52:12 PM »

Great ideas! Anyone have experience with Aurora or the eastern European hops? Wondering if I could get some earthy hop complexity with those. Although, my philosophy is that simpler is usually better so I might just stick with Simcoe and Chinook, as this could turn into an IPA quickly if I'm not careful. Thanks for the suggestions!

I use Styrian Celia quite a bit, and get earthy with a touch of lemon. Otherwise, I was drinking Great Lakes' Alchemy Hour the other day, and it was very earthy with some pine and tropical fruit. The hop combo is apparently Mosaic, Nugget, and Cascade.