301
Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Chimey Red
« on: August 11, 2010, 09:05:02 AM »
Absouletely love Chimey red. I haven't bought any in a while... Perhaps I should.
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302
Beer Recipes / Re: Hot Peppers
« on: August 10, 2010, 09:15:43 AM »Sweet balances hot, so they're likely to go better with a maltier style. Hot accentuates bitterness, so watch out if you add them to a bitter (or dry) beer. They can change the balance.
I like the flavor of roasted peppers better than plain; less vegetal flavors. You can use them anywhere, but I'd recommend you use them in a way that lets you adjust the balance and flavor. So I'd wait until the beer was in secondary so you know what the final balance of the beer is like.
Put some in and taste every day until it's the level you want, then pull them out. Or split your beer in half and do the same thing. If you go too far, you can then blend with the un-peppered version to fix it.
You pretty much have to do this by taste so (gasp) blending techniques are the key.
How do you blend your beers to prevent oxidation....or is that not a concern. I'm thinking that you blend beers that are already carbonated to allow for the natural effect of CO2 coming out of the beer and blocking O2 from contaminating the beer.
Sorry to OP for the thread hijack...I'm just curious as to how Gordon does his blending.
no worries. There are some great ideas in here, and I was just curious as to the backbone recipe.
303
Beer Recipes / Hot Peppers
« on: August 09, 2010, 09:34:50 AM »
What is a good recipie to use roasted Jalapenos (or other peppers) in? The recipe wiki says a scotch ale, but i'm curious to what style would provide the best base? Throw them in the boil or secondary like a dry hop or both?
304
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Batch overflow
« on: August 02, 2010, 08:09:02 PM »
Next time I will avoid the "vigorous boil." Thank you!
As an aside, and a note... it always helps to make sure the lid is securely on the fermenting bucket! I wasn't seeing any activity so I gave in and checked the bucket. Found the lid wasn't tightly on in all places. Opened it up and saw visible signs of fermentation. Closed everything tight, and the airlock started immediately. I am a happy brewer and can't wait for this batch to finish.
Time to start getting another batch together in the meantime.
As an aside, and a note... it always helps to make sure the lid is securely on the fermenting bucket! I wasn't seeing any activity so I gave in and checked the bucket. Found the lid wasn't tightly on in all places. Opened it up and saw visible signs of fermentation. Closed everything tight, and the airlock started immediately. I am a happy brewer and can't wait for this batch to finish.
Time to start getting another batch together in the meantime.
305
General Homebrew Discussion / Batch overflow
« on: August 02, 2010, 05:43:03 AM »
So I was brewing a Witbier yesterday, and i had a pretty good boil going. I go to add the hops and immediately upon addition of the first package, the wort just got violent and overflowed out of my brewpot. (Had about 4in space between the top of my pot and the wort, was boiling about 2 gallons). Long story short, I moved the pot to another burner (electric stove), and tried to salvage the batch. I lost some wort with some hops, but the rest of the boil went normal. I checked my gravity and it was about where it should be for OG. (1.04).
I pitched my yeast after everything cooled off, but no activity in my airlock. I know airlock activity isn't necessarily indicitive of whats going on, but has me a liitle worried.
So think it will be a salvageable batch?
I pitched my yeast after everything cooled off, but no activity in my airlock. I know airlock activity isn't necessarily indicitive of whats going on, but has me a liitle worried.
So think it will be a salvageable batch?
306
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 7/30 Edition
« on: July 29, 2010, 09:27:18 AM »
Hopefully Sunday I will be brewing MadScientist Witbier. Need a bigger pot though!
307
Beer Recipes / Re: Pilsner recipie with ale yeast
« on: July 28, 2010, 05:34:03 AM »
What about something like this?
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/recipe-kits/extract-kits/extract-ale-kits/victorious-primo-extract-kit.html
I was thinking of getting this myself.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/recipe-kits/extract-kits/extract-ale-kits/victorious-primo-extract-kit.html
I was thinking of getting this myself.
308
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: New to Homebrewing
« on: July 20, 2010, 07:45:24 PM »
I promised I would update after the process of making my first brew was completed. It was an Amber Ale from a kit. Today has been 8 days since the beer was bottled, and I couldn't resist trying one, so I chilled one and a few hours later tried it. Wow! I guess i did everything right, because the carbonation was there, and it had a nice head on it. It tasted... good. Not amazing, but damn it was good. Hopefully it will only get better as I continue brewing! I have plans for a Belgian Wit next and then I think an Irish Ale or Pale Ale. However, I think I might go with the irish ale, since this amber ale is almost like a pale ale.
The swamp cooler was a great no-cost method to ferment the beer. I took a plastic tub and filled it partially with water and ice bottles, and used a t-shirt. Easily kept the beer below 75 deg F during some of the hottest temperatures NJ has seen this summer. At times i checked the stick on thermometer and the temp was actually about 68. (I don't know how accurate those are, but i figure it was at least below 75). I cut the lid into two sections and now the top of my fermeting bucket sticks out a few inches.
OK now i'm just rambling. I will say, though, there is something extremely satisfying about opening a bottle of home brewed beer.
The swamp cooler was a great no-cost method to ferment the beer. I took a plastic tub and filled it partially with water and ice bottles, and used a t-shirt. Easily kept the beer below 75 deg F during some of the hottest temperatures NJ has seen this summer. At times i checked the stick on thermometer and the temp was actually about 68. (I don't know how accurate those are, but i figure it was at least below 75). I cut the lid into two sections and now the top of my fermeting bucket sticks out a few inches.
OK now i'm just rambling. I will say, though, there is something extremely satisfying about opening a bottle of home brewed beer.
309
Beer Recipes / Irish Red Ale
« on: July 20, 2010, 07:35:25 PM »
With the success of my first brew (Amber Ale), I am gathering some ideas for my next batch. I'm looking into making an Irish Red Ale, and I'm curious to what sort of recipe would make a good Irish Ale. I have looked at the recipe on p. 173-174 of the Complete Joy of Homebrewing (3rd ed), which seems similar to the one on Homebrewopedia, and have also found this one that uses Orange Blossom honey.
6 lbs Pale Malt extract syrup
1.0 lb orange blossom honey
1.0 lb Belgian Special B
3 oz cascade hop pellets (total, added at 45 and 10 and 1 min I believe, the procedure is on my laptop)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale
Northern Brewer has all the ingredients, except the honey which is out of stock. Any thoughts on using regular vs. orange blossom? Northern brewer also has the kit, but I looked at it and it's totally different than these recipes. I think I would like to do this without the kit. I'm shooting for something not too bitter. As this one is 20-25 IBU and the one in the book is 30 IBU.
Any thoughts on the appropriate hops for an irish ale?
6 lbs Pale Malt extract syrup
1.0 lb orange blossom honey
1.0 lb Belgian Special B
3 oz cascade hop pellets (total, added at 45 and 10 and 1 min I believe, the procedure is on my laptop)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale
Northern Brewer has all the ingredients, except the honey which is out of stock. Any thoughts on using regular vs. orange blossom? Northern brewer also has the kit, but I looked at it and it's totally different than these recipes. I think I would like to do this without the kit. I'm shooting for something not too bitter. As this one is 20-25 IBU and the one in the book is 30 IBU.
Any thoughts on the appropriate hops for an irish ale?
310
Beer Recipes / Re: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
« on: July 15, 2010, 05:44:41 AM »
Awesome! I think I might try out a smaller batch for this one to start. I like this recipe. I appreciate all the help!
311
Beer Recipes / Re: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
« on: July 14, 2010, 01:14:57 PM »
OK so I decided on a recipe. Basically from the link I posted with the exception of the hops. Should I adjust any amounts of hops?
(I'm assuming this makes 5 gal)
6.6 lbs Light Malt Extract
1.0 lb crystal malt 60L
1.0 oz Perle Hops @60min
1.0 oz Magnum Hops @10min
1.0 oz Cascade Hops @ 1min
Wyeast American Ale 1056
3/4 cup priming sugar
Says the secondary fermenter is optional with an optional dry hopping. What's the advantage of this? Any other thoughts?
I'll steep the grains at about 170 for 30min, then bring to a boil and add extracts, then hops @ appropriate times.
(I'm assuming this makes 5 gal)
6.6 lbs Light Malt Extract
1.0 lb crystal malt 60L
1.0 oz Perle Hops @60min
1.0 oz Magnum Hops @10min
1.0 oz Cascade Hops @ 1min
Wyeast American Ale 1056
3/4 cup priming sugar
Says the secondary fermenter is optional with an optional dry hopping. What's the advantage of this? Any other thoughts?
I'll steep the grains at about 170 for 30min, then bring to a boil and add extracts, then hops @ appropriate times.
312
Beer Recipes / Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
« on: July 14, 2010, 09:39:10 AM »
I tried some searching on the forum and didn't come up with much. I'm looking for an extract recipe for a SNPA clone. I found this via google: http://www.cornells.com/content.cfm?s=5&p=29
But according to wikipedia, SNPA has caramel malt and different hops. Which one is right and what extracts would I use?
But according to wikipedia, SNPA has caramel malt and different hops. Which one is right and what extracts would I use?
313
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: New brew success!
« on: July 13, 2010, 12:59:17 PM »Yay, a fellow Newbie.
I just bottled my first beer (Amber Ale) last night. It was hazy, but I guess that should clear up in the bottles. Chekced my gravity just before bottling, and it was right on 1.010. So far so good. Now I need to have some patience, because dammit, I want to drink it!
Next up for me will be a Wit or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone.
You should have already started that second batchAbout the only way to solve the "patience" problem is to always have homebrew on hand and the best way to get there is to have multiple overlapping batches going on.
Sometimes... I suck at spelling. As soon as I get a bigger brew pot this week, I'll order up some more bottles and get brewing.
314
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: New brew success!
« on: July 13, 2010, 09:28:59 AM »
Yay, a fellow Newbie.
I just bottled my first beer (Amber Ale) last night. It was hazy, but I guess that should clear up in the bottles. Chekced my gravity just before bottling, and it was right on 1.010. So far so good. Now I need to have some patience, because dammit, I want to drink it!
Next up for me will be a Wit or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone.
I just bottled my first beer (Amber Ale) last night. It was hazy, but I guess that should clear up in the bottles. Chekced my gravity just before bottling, and it was right on 1.010. So far so good. Now I need to have some patience, because dammit, I want to drink it!
Next up for me will be a Wit or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone.
315
General Homebrew Discussion / Batches <5gal
« on: July 09, 2010, 10:02:45 AM »
Most of the kits i've seen (and recipes for that matter) are at minimum 5 gallon. Is it possible to brew something less, like a 2 gallon batch? Obviously I can cut the amounts of the ingredients to corrispond to the size I want, but is it that simple? Will this affect the flavor if I attempt to scale it up later?