National Homebrew Day is coming upon May 7th, and this Saturday is AHA's "Big Brew:"

http://www.homebrewersassociation.or...l-homebrew-day

May not be enough time to coordinate something in line with what they're doing, but one of the recipes they've chosen this year is an American Wheat Beer. That could be a good cigar beer.
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Well the yeast is alive kicking and bubbleling like a mad man. I hope my dunkelweizen turns out well I am bringing it to a herf! home brew always turns out good as long as you follow a coulpe "rules" :-)
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I vote RIS. Maybe paired with Triple Maduro? Hah. I still need to try that. Like I said I love big Stouts and nice Maduros.
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I could be wrong but I was reading May 1st...
Title: AHA Big Brew: Celebrating National Homebrew Day

Date: 05/01/10 12:01 AM - 05/01/10 11:59 PM

In 1988, May 7th was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association created Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day not only in the United States, but around the world. Big Brew is held each year on the first Saturday in May.

http://www.homebrewersassociation.or...vents/calendar
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Right: National Homebrew Day is May 7th, but the first Saturday in May (May 1 this year) is "Big Brew" day. So I was suggesting we could sync our Cigar Asylum brew with Big Brew day.
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That's cool just wanted to understand and have others understand too.
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Well, 8 days with a half tsp of amylase enzyme seems to have helped a good deal. Or perhaps it was just 8 more days of settling. In any case, my beer seems to look like "beer" now rather than wallpaper paste. Picture comparison below.

I just racked it over to a clean carboy, added a Tbsp of Biofine Clear, and will give it another week before bottling. It's down to one small bubble every 2 minutes in the airlock.
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Much better! I was worried for you...! :-)
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Hopefully brewing my first lager in a loooong time this weekend, Oktoberfest. Got the kegerator set-up to just under 50F (which is the low end for the yeast), so I figure cracking the door every so often and the heat from fermentation (maybe a degree or two) this one will be OK.
Any lager experts? Will 48F be OK to ferment at?
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I am not a lager expert but after last night I am a lot better at cleaning up after a spillover. ARRRRGH!
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I racked my Ferocious (Surly Furious clone) over to secondary last night, it gets dry-hopped with 3 oz. of hops. I harvested the yeast for a batch of ESB I plan to make in the next week or two. Tastes good now, should taste great once it's dry hopped and carbonated.

Image
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Did my first bottling tonight. Here is my first bottle (22 oz) and a glass of uncarbonated beer. It's a cream ale, so I think it came out a little cloudier than it should have. This picture makes it look a little pink, but it's really a nice orange/yellow color. I dry hopped it with an ounce of Cascade hops, and it tastes really nice. Now I'll let it sit for a couple weeks to carbonate. :-)
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Lookin' good :-) It should clarify even more in the bottle, so you may be happier with the results after a few weeks
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So true, plus (in the future I mean) you can let it clarify in the primary or secondary for a while plus theres things to add for clarification too if need be.
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I got the beer to clear up in secondary, but then I dry-hopped it, and just put the hop pellets directly into the beer. The cloudiness is a little "debris" from the hops. When I moved the secondary carboy to the kitchen I stirred up the hops, and some of them siphoned over to the bottling bucket. Next time I need to let the beer settle a while after moving the carboy before bottling. I figure once I chill the bottles before drinking the residue will "cold crash" to the bottom, and I can leave it in the bottle when pouring into a glass.
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I kegged my dry hopped Pale Ale last night. I too use pellet hops. Here is what I do in order to keep the pellet hop debris out:

1. Take a grain bag and cut it in half. Keep the closed end and sanitize it and a rubber band.
2. Use the rubber band and attach the bag to the tube end of your siphon
3. The grain bag will catch all of the hop debris and the beer will filter through the bag = clear beer!!!

Works like a charm!!!!!
If you dont have an extra grain bag to cut, you can go to Lowes or Homedepot and purchase 1 gallon paint strainer bags.
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Gotch Warren, I should've paid closer attention. I have heard using a muslin (sp)?) bag works great.
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Mesh bag = brilliant. Thanks for the tip guys!
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I prefer nylon to muslin in this case. You want them to spread out as much as they can, and the muslin being stretchy will tend to hold them together more. The nylon is also reusable.
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An alternative to dry hopping is to make a hop tea which you then add to the bottling bucket. It works okay, but I get much more satisfaction out of seeing those hops floating in the carboy.
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