663 replies to this topic

[Poptop]

Some stealthy brewing ninjas on this forum...  

 

Gonna do a dunkel this weekend.   Going to use my standard Pils/Golden Promise/Carahell base and then add add 1/2lb of carafa III at mash out just to get the color right without any roastiness.   Kind of a poor man's Sinamar.     

 

Nice idea, I just might follow suit.

[pkrone]

Thanks.   I did the same thing in a schwarz several years ago and it worked well.  

[Big Nake]

I feel like the carafa III is smooth enough not to worry although I'm typically adding about 3 ounces to the mash (for a dunkel) as opposed to 8.

[Bklmt2000]

Some stealthy brewing ninjas on this forum...    

 

Entirely a matter of necessity in my case. 

[Big Nake]

I don't see it happening for me this week... too many things to do and more things being added.  So the question becomes... leave the current blob of yeast (1028) in the primary that it's currently in and wait until I can brew or go ahead and keg the beer and save the 1028 in a flask... or does it matter?  I can't brew this weekend and I won't be around on the weekend after Thanksgiving either so my next chance to brew is probably Friday 11/30 or thereabout.  If I have to retire the 1028 [after only two batches ] I guess I would be okay with it since 2782 and 2112 are waiting patiently.  

[djinkc]

Hoppy wheat in the morning.  Little hit of Gr Magnum early and then some Galaxy I've been saving.

[Poptop]

Gonna try and keg my disappointing Saison this weekend.  That and hang lights

[Big Nake]

No brewing. A bunch of family coming in for my dad's 90th birthday. Everyone staying here at the Mayfair Court Brewhouse. On Sunday night the Bears are on and everyone will be over here. I have 4 full kegs in the draft fridges (munich helles, Glacier pale ale, red lager & munich dunkel) and then two kegs on deck (pilsner and Signature Ale). Hopefully it's enough.   Once things settle down here I have a lot of brewing to do.  One more batch with the 1028 (an ESB) and then the Staro beers (hopefully 4 batches) and then some 2112 beers.  By that time it'll be spring. 

[pkrone]

Ken,  must be a family of staunch Catholics if you're worried about running out of beer!  

[Area Man]

When I started brewing here, I didn't understand that the water is way harder than what I got used to when I was brewing in Virginia. Good old pale ales and IPAs that I used to do came out like crap here. Rather than figure out how to adjust water, I pretty much quit doing hoppy beers. I can make excellent dark beers and less bitter small beers, so that's what I've done for a few years now.

 

 Today I'm going to mess with my water some, and try my hand at a good old Sierra Nevada-ish pale ale. American 2 row, a pinch of C60, and a few ounces of nothing but Cascade.

[HVB]

When I started brewing here, I didn't understand that the water is way harder than what I got used to when I was brewing in Virginia. Good old pale ales and IPAs that I used to do came out like crap here. Rather than figure out how to adjust water, I pretty much quit doing hoppy beers. I can make excellent dark beers and less bitter small beers, so that's what I've done for a few years now.

Today I'm going to mess with my water some, and try my hand at a good old Sierra Nevada-ish pale ale. American 2 row, a pinch of C60, and a few ounces of nothing but Cascade.

Did you send out your water to get tested?

[positiveContact]

When I started brewing here, I didn't understand that the water is way harder than what I got used to when I was brewing in Virginia. Good old pale ales and IPAs that I used to do came out like crap here. Rather than figure out how to adjust water, I pretty much quit doing hoppy beers. I can make excellent dark beers and less bitter small beers, so that's what I've done for a few years now.

 

 Today I'm going to mess with my water some, and try my hand at a good old Sierra Nevada-ish pale ale. American 2 row, a pinch of C60, and a few ounces of nothing but Cascade.

 

mess with it how?  add distilled water?  boil it first to soften it up?

[Area Man]

Did you send out your water to get tested?

 

Yup! Myself and a few others in our club. Water here tastes good, but just has really high mineral content.

 

mess with it how?  add distilled water?  boil it first to soften it up?

 

 

 Yup, right now just blending distilled and filtered tap water. Rather than dial in specific water profiles for every beer, I'm trying to figure out ratios for different styles that work. I want to be able to brew spontaneously, rather than have to build a profile for every thing I do. So today, for an SNPA clone, I used about 70% distilled, 30% filtered local water. Based on those results, I hope to have a baseline to use going forward.

 

 I've blended water before, but I almost always brew my own recipes so there are a lot of variables in play. I figured starting with a well known recipe straight from the source would provide a good baseline.

 

 Or maybe I'm nuts.

[Big Nake]

Ken,  must be a family of staunch Catholics if you're worried about running out of beer!  

Three sisters who like to drink beer, a brother-in-law, all three of my kids (23, 20, 18 and all beer-drinkers) and then two nephews, two nieces and one niece's fiance... plus my wife and I.  14 people all hitting the taps can put a dent in the supply.  Here it is Monday afternoon and beer has already been flowing here for 2+ hours. 

[Poptop]

Three sisters who like to drink beer, a brother-in-law, all three of my kids (23, 20, 18 and all beer-drinkers) and then two nephews, two nieces and one niece's fiance... plus my wife and I.  14 people all hitting the taps can put a dent in the supply.  Here it is Monday afternoon and beer has already been flowing here for 2+ hours. 

 

There must be a certain delight in watching your friends and family drain your kegs.  I happen to enjoy watching people put me back to work

[Big Nake]

There must be a certain delight in watching your friends and family drain your kegs.  I happen to enjoy watching people put me back to work

I admit that it's fun.  Again, these are twenty-somethings mostly but they're not beer newbies.  Part of me says that they're attracted to beer that comes out of the wall (the running joke here) and also beer that's free! 

[Poptop]

^^ funny on both accounts

[SchwanzBrewer]

I hope to be posting in this thread this weekend...

[djinkc]

Made a starter earlier today and toasted 4 lbs of 2-row a couple weeks ago.  Pale ale tomorrow with some of the toasted malt and a touch of whole chocolate wheat for a little color and hint of roastiness.

[Big Nake]

My family gathering left me with FOUR empty kegs and I had about two pints of a red lager last night before that keg went down.    I'm going to use my harvested 1028 to make an ESB on Saturday.  It's supposed to be 48° and raining but it's better than snow or blistering cold.  The next week I'm going to get a starter going for the Staro and start back up on some lagers... a Czech Pilsner with Saaz, maybe a stab at that Big Bark Amber Lager I mentioned in another thread, maybe Poptop's all-Vienna beer.  I'm sure I'll easily find 4-5 recipes to make with it.  I had just gotten caught up too.