Brewed up a Kolsch today.
At a little more than 3 hours in the fermentor, I can already see bubbling and krausen developing! Yay for starters!


3 out of 4 have something in them now:
Kolsch - Fresh into the fermentor today
Session IPA - On the dry hops (four more days)
California Common - Chilling (Ready to keg, looking for time)
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Transferred all my batches of "NuptiAle," a session ale my boss is serving at his daughter's wedding, into secondaries before leaving for vacation. While I'm here at the beach, dreaming up what to brew when I get back :-) Thinking about getting my 2011 Christmas beer going--working up a sweet stout recipe using some Lindt's chocolate (99% cocoa) I bought for my wife but she didn't like. Can't let it go to waste!
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I brewed a Watermelon wheat and a Bourbon Barrel Porter this weekend.
I am still trying to decide what Bourbon to use with the Porter. Im kind of thinking about using the new Jack Daniels Honey.
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Just FYI, Jack is not a bourbon but that doesn't mean it won't be good. If you like the taste of it then use it. Matt and I used 1792 in ours because it was the only bottle in one of our collections we didn't mind sacrificing. It turned out pretty good.
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Brewed up the AG Centennial Blonde from HBT this weekend. Used Maris Otter as my base for the first time, and bumped the IBUs ever so slightly. I wanted something a bit 'chewyer' than what the original recipe had going on. I've got an ounce of citra for dry hopping...never met a citra dry hop I didn't like, but also never have tried it with MO...:-)
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I just made a marris/simcoe smash that tasted great going into bottles. So did the last pale i made with only two row though :-)
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Question for you guys:

When the hop aroma fades from an Imperial IPA, what does the beer become? An old ale? Barleywine?

I have two beers that have been in the bottle for 6+ months or so--both started life as an IIPA, but have lost some of their initial aromas and are more malty on the nose now. Details--

#1 = 1.087 OG, 75 IBU, 9% ABV, Centennial/Citra/Simcoe/Amarillo
#2 = 1.084 OG, 101 IBU, 8.5% ABV, Amarillo/Nugget/Simcoe/Warrior

Thinking about entering a couple upcoming contests. I know taste would probably dictate your decisions, just wondering what you would choose "on paper." Thanks!
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I have thought that a few DIPAs I've aged tastes like Barleywine. However is American Strong Ale a category? Its kind of a catch all if I remember correctly.
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Old Ale is 19A & Barleywine is 19B. I guess I'm asking more about the flavor differences between those two styles, what I should be looking at to put the beer in the right category. Some competitions will lump all the sub categories into the same flight.
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Double batch today. Belgian strong that I didn't sparge. Added 5 pounds of pearl into the mash tun and ran off a second batch. The belgian is already bubbling after adding a big starter of wyeasts rochefort strain. The second is cooling now but will be getting a starter from DFH squall dregs.

Anyone used the squall dregs? My last batch with the yeast went from 1.055 to 1.005 and was still bubbling every two minutes when I bottled. Needless to say I added less priming sugar than I normally would.
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Hey guys.
Just getting started, and my first batch is bubbling away.
I already got a ton of help from Albert and Tim, but I don't want to be burdensome.
I have a few questions and I was wondering if anybody can help.

I plan on doing 2 more 5 gallon extract batches tomorrow.
How much water should I start with.
My first batch I started with 5 but finished with a bit under 4 gallons of wort.
I thought about adding water after the fact but didn't want to screw up, so I left it alone.

another question.
The other day I unpacked my 5 gallon carboy from the box.
It bears a striking resemblance to an empty 5 gallon water jug.
I have access to plenty of these jugs, about 25 a week to choose from.
Could I use them as a disposable secondary?

Thanks in advance fellas! :-)
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Dom, always happy to help another homebrewer, so you wouldn't be a burden at all. Feel free to ask away!

For water, it sounds like you're doing full-volume boils. In order to end up with 5 gallons after a 60 minute boil, I usually start with about 6 gallons of water. Once you transfer the wort from your kettle to the fermenter, you can also top off with enough distilled or spring water to bring the total to 5 gallons. I usually start with more than 5 gallons in the primary anyway, since you'll lose some volume to trub when you transfer.

There's been a lot of debate about using those Poland Springs type jugs as a fermenter. I think most of the issues were around the #7 jugs--typically, people said if you were using #1 or #2 plastic, it was better than the #7. Had to do with O2 permeability or the acidic beer causing some kind of chemical reaction that would affect the outcome. I think some manufacturers are now making PET carboys, which are supposed to be better. In any case, if you're using them as disposables for just one batch, I wouldn't think you'd have many problems. Just make sure they're clean.

What did you brew for your first batch, and what are you planning?
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Thanks Gerard! :-)

I'll check the bottles and see what # plastic they are.
And yes, I would only use them for one batch and toss them.

My first batch I made an amber ale
Here's the recipe I used
http://www.brewapp.com/recipefiles/R...%205%20GAL.pdf

I want to do a Porter or stout and perhaps a brown ale.
I will talk with my local home brew store and see what they recommend.
Some of the porter recipes I looked at use Lager yeast and they told me not to attempt a lager until Oct or Nov.

Many thanks!
I hope to be a regular here! :-)
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I'm a new home brewer myself. Don't worry about adding water to your post-boil wort to bring it up to 5 gallons. As long as the water is sanitary and you followed your recipe directions, it shouldn't be a problem. My first all-grain recipe I was nervous I didn't hit my SG so I did not add the extra gallon to my wort...but now that I know my efficiency I can adjust my brewing so that I can top off without issue.

Welcome to home brewing...it's fun as hell
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Got a starter going now for a 12 gal batch of Bavarian Hefeweizen on Sunday.
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How big is the start for a 12 gal batch? And what all went into it?
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It's actually a two-step starter... I made a 1.75 liter and will decant it tomorrow and make a 2 liter out of that.
All-in-all, it's only one package of yeast and 8 oz. of wheat DME for the first step and 8 oz. of wheat DME for the second step.
The first step is ~2.25 quarts of water and the second ~2.5 quarts. Bring to a boil, add DME, boil for 15 minutes, cool, add yeast.

Otherwise, 'they' say you can do a one-step 3.5 liter starter for this particular size and starting gravity of a batch.

They being a combination of sources... Chris White, and Jamil Z. among my most trusted.
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I read through this thread twice.
It really reads like Chinese to a noob like me!

I guess it will all come with time! :-)
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Brewed up a robust porter this weekend, currently sitting in the primary, happily bubbling away. Hoping to make this my Christmas beer, it uses a few ounces of high-grade Lindt chocolate and will be blended with some Sumatra coffee in the secondary. Recipe in case you are interested:

4# 2-row
8oz crystal 60L
6oz chocolate malt
4oz roasted barley 300L
Single step infusion mash at 150-156, 45 minutes. Sparged, brought volume up to 6.5 gallons & started cooking.

Made some late addition malt extracts at 30 minutes:
2# LME
1# amber DME
1# dark DME
8oz maltodextrin

Hop Schedule
1.0 oz Willamette (4.8%) 60min
½ oz Willamette 45min
½ oz Willamette 30min
¼ oz Willamette 10min

At 5 minutes left in the boil, I added some melted Lindt’s dark chocolate: 1½ oz 99% cocoa + 3½ oz 90% cocoa. Cooled the wort, strained, skimmed some fat that was coagulating, pitched about a pint of Irish Ale yeast at 72dg. Temp slowly dropped over 12 hours to about 68. Fermentation has been steady since Monday morning. I’ll rack to secondary for a few weeks, and then a few days before bottling, I’ll add 24oz of cold-pressed, triple filtered coffee.

The sample I pulled before pitching had a nice chocolatey flavor and a good hop balance, but was pretty oily from the chocolate. I’m hoping the maltodextrin & crystal will help with head retention. We’ll see. Smells great while it’s bubbling away.

OG 1.063, 40 IBUs, target FG = 1.016
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Sounds delicious...

So...I gotta ask...anyone ever mess with a pumpkin/rumpkin/spiced sort of brew before?
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