[TN]

nothing too exciting here just some pics of brew day, last sunday. might rack to my smaller carboy this weekend, thinking about not bothering with gravity readings. things are definitely slowing down. the batch is a Bock (but uses ale yeast ), partial grain, etc....

ingredients...

*
*insert Narlus comment here

Jack not helping.

check out my sack.

rare pic of la (hands on my sack).

steeping grains.

boiling the wort with hops.

day one in the carboy. things were firing up 8 hours later.

after five days. things are slowing down.

The only mistake i think we made was letting a little bit of extract scorch on the bottom. :huh: We can't wait to start another batch & have some plans for some fruit wine this summer.

 

[BadDNA]

You'll always get some caramelization when brewing with extract, don't worry about.

 

[pnj]

Kick ass!

I'm doing my first all grain today. in my kitchen.. with every pot I have... It's probably going to be about 3-4 gallons. just a simple Pale Ale.

Did an ESB partial mash on Friday.

 

[TN]

Racked to the 5 gal. carboy yesterday. I was stoked that it is tasting like beer now.

How long do you guys keep your brews in secondary? I was going to follow the 1-2-3 rule but a book I am reading says 3-5 days should be fine.

Thoughts?

 

[pnj]

I used to do something like the 1-2-3 but lately have left my last four batches for much longer. 2 or 3 weeks or more in the primary and the same amount in the primary. The beer tastes much better to me.

 

[TN]

Doing a batch of brown ale today with a kit from AHS.

Question.
Do I need to boil the water I add to the wort in the fermenter to treat it?
We didn't last time & everything seems to be OK so far....
Just wondering.

 

[pnj]

Most people don't boil the water they use to top off the fermentor. I use bottled water because I think it's safer (less chance of infection). But many people simply use tap water.

Also, I mentioned earlier that I have left my wort/beer in the primary for multple weeks. After doing some research, it looks like it's better to get the beer off the dead yeast after 10 days or so. If it's colder in the room your beer is sitting, you can leave it longer in the primary without bad results.

have a gander at www.homebrewtalk.com

 

[TN]

Most people don't boil the water they use to top off the fermentor. I use bottled water because I think it's safer (less chance of infection). But many people simply use tap water.

Also, I mentioned earlier that I have left my wort/beer in the primary for multple weeks. After doing some research, it looks like it's better to get the beer off the dead yeast after 10 days or so. If it's colder in the room your beer is sitting, you can leave it longer in the primary without bad results.

have a gander at www.homebrewtalk.com

^great site.

We used tap water again on a batch of Brown Ale. Did some things different this time. Increased our wort volume by a gallon (only diluted with 2 gal.) & added the LME after the boil. Zero scorching this time.

It started bubbling like crazy with only a 4 hr lag time.

Next weekend we will be bottling our Bock & racking our Brown Ale.

 

[Total Heckler]

Nice write up!

I am starting my 3rd batch in the next couple weeks. Doing an IPA this round. The past 2 brews were a Red-Amber Ale and a Dark Lager.

Homebrew is the best.

 

[TN]

Nice write up!

I am starting my 3rd batch in the next couple weeks. Doing an IPA this round. The past 2 brews were a Red-Amber Ale and a Dark Lager.

Homebrew is the best.

You doing partial extract brews?

I think this winter, when the days are short & cold we might try our hand at all-grain brewing.

 

[Ciaran]

Dammit. Why can't you people all live close to me!?!

 

[TN]

Yesterday we bottled the Bock & took TG readings. It is looking like it is going to 4.1% abv which is weak for a Bock but if it tastes good I don't care. It did taste good too.

Also racked the Brown Ale, so we will bottle it in 2 weeks.

I am looking for another beer to brew & I am thinking about a porter.

 

[Aleforge]

Hey guys, I just signed up here since my Wife and I are getting into biking came across this thread. I have been homebrewing for a few years now and its become a huge obsession of mine. Glad to see so many fellow brewers on here!

 

[TN]

Welcome Aleforge!

 

[I Are Baboon]

I cracked open my first vanilla coffee porter. Wifeyness says it's my best one yet (out of the five I've done). I took the vanilla porter recipe from Austin HB and added sumatra beans to secondary. weRd.

And yes, welcome Aleforge! Happy brewing and biking!

 

[binary visions]

It did taste good too.

That's all the matters!

The IPA I made was awesome and has been a big hit with everyone who's tried it - it's great to brew something that turns out so well.

 

[TN]

Bock is about gone & finally drinking good. I do have 3 bombers left though.
Brown Ale has been in the bottle for 3 weeks but still a little rough around the edges. We have a Summer Ale (Brewers Best kit amended with some corriander & grains of paradise) in primary that needs to be racked to 2ndary soon.

I think out next batch will be a partial grain kit from AHS. I am leaning towards a TurboDog clone cuz we can't get it up here.

 

[pnj]

http://brewmasterswarehouse.com
seems to have some great customer service, FWIW.

I have been thinking about buying a pound or two of hops from hopsdirect.com myself. and 50 pounds of grains......