Messages

16

Ingredients / Re: Your favorite Hops that are rarely mentioned...

« on: May 26, 2014, 12:32:02 AM »

I like to use Styrian Goldings and Tettnang when brewing Belgian styles. Two of my favs.
I also really like Belma for bittering. Very smooth, with no harshness.

17

The Pub / Local podcast... I'm famous!

« on: May 23, 2014, 05:18:29 AM »

http://www.hybridendings.com/a-shadow-in-fat-news-52214-show/
 
If you want to skip to the good stuff, the beer review starts at 56:50. I brewed the White House Honey Ale for them. These guys are pretty funny, check them out, and give them a like on the bookyface thingy.

18

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sour beer question

« on: May 15, 2014, 12:49:53 AM »

I p;an on pulling out 2/3 of what's in the carboy, (its a 6.5 gallon) and the beer that I put in there was fully fermented before adding it to the bugs. It was a carboy I bought from a club member that already had about 1-1 1/2 gallons in it, already soured. Cherries were added after the beer had been on the bugs for 2 months.

Thanks for the responses guys!

19

Yeast and Fermentation / Sour beer question

« on: May 14, 2014, 06:13:27 PM »

So, I have my first (intentionally) soured beer, and has been sitting on the bugs for about nine months now. I am about ready to package it, as it has reached a sour and flavor level I like. I put in 3 pounds of cherries, too. My question is this: I would like to do a solera type thing, and add more beer on top of the dregs in the carboy, and continue the sour process with another beer. Is it important to get rid of the cherries that are still floating about, or can I just leave them in there? I don't think they will impart much cherry flavor to the next batch, but will they throw some off flavors, like an autolysized yeast would? Thanks...

20

All Grain Brewing / Re: Changing step mash to single

« on: May 06, 2014, 05:05:17 AM »

Mash at 150* for 90 minutes, and maybe increase the amount of Melanoidin malt. May not come out exactly the same as the original recipe, but make it your own and run with it.

21

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash efficiency survey

« on: April 16, 2014, 12:07:33 AM »

I use a rectangular cooler with braided hose, sparge at around 180*, have my own mill, and consistently hit 80-85%.

22

Beer Recipes / Re: Thoughts on an IPA

« on: April 12, 2014, 10:29:54 PM »

Hop schedule looks pretty good. Centennial and Columbus play well together, too. Amarillo and Cascades are very nice.
The only thing I would do, (and this is solely based on personal preference) would be to add about 2 lbs of cane sugar, to dry it out a bit. Otherwise, your malt bill looks nearly identical to mine, and I've had very good results with it.

23

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Smoke Signal

« on: April 12, 2014, 10:24:31 PM »

Awesome!

24

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Gusher Infection?

« on: April 11, 2014, 12:50:45 AM »

Buy kegs, wash them with PBR, sanitize them with Star-San, put beer in them.

I know PBR us not great but will it actually clean a keg?

Lol... You beat me to it!

Before I started kegging, I would clean out my bottles as soon as I emptied them. And to sanitize, I would throw them in the oven the night before, at 250* for an hour. In 60 batches in the bottle, not one infection or gusher.

25

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First Dry Hop

« on: April 04, 2014, 03:37:10 AM »

4 days, in my opinion, is way too early to transfer to secondary. If you pull the beer off the yeast too early, you could wind up with off flavors and a stuck fermentation. Like the others have said, leave it be for a while. I rarely even use secondary anymore, even when dry hopping.

I love dry hopping. adds a different dimension to a beer. I've enjoyed experimenting with beers that aren't traditionally dry hopped, like German wheat, tripel, stout,to name a few.

Airlock activity is a poor indicator of fermentation progress. Could just be CO2 just coming out of solution, and not actual fermentation.

Welcome to the forum, this is a great place to learn!

26

Ingredients / Re: Two hops...

« on: April 01, 2014, 04:30:32 AM »

I am really liking Galena for a bittering charge, clean and smooth. I think, (with a little more experimentation) that this may very well end up as my go-to hop for the bittering addition.

I do like Mosaic a lot, but I have to agree with most everyone here on Cascade. Great hop, very versatile, and can be used in almost every style of beer.

27

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Monks Cafe - Flemish Red Sour

« on: March 28, 2014, 01:54:08 PM »

I thought it was good, if a bit tame. I think the four pack is $15 at my liquor store. Not sure I would pay for them again, but if someone were to offer me one...

28

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Introduction

« on: March 25, 2014, 12:39:56 AM »

Welcome to the forum!

29

Going Pro / Re: Doubling/Tripling your estimated start-up costs. Where?

« on: March 24, 2014, 12:34:35 AM »

Construction/remodeling/building. That gets expensive in a hurry.

30

Hop Growing / Re: Indoor Hops?

« on: March 08, 2014, 07:17:33 PM »

I knew a guy who was growing indoors, in a sunroom in his house. He had pretty good success, they were on their third year, and starting to produce. It can work, and we're at 6,200 ft altitude.

(Edit) He was growing Cascade and Centennial...