Entering a contest is taking homebrewing to a totally different level. Would be interested on how the Belgian Dubble and Porter come out. :-)
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Another batch of Dry Irish Stout going into secondary in a bit, the yeast will be washed and stored, and I am brewing a 2 Hearted clone from Northern brewer. THAT, boys, is a good Sunday.
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Bottled Ruination clone yesterday.
Need to transfer my belgian stout to secondary tonight.
Trying to decide what/when to start next
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anyone ever do a 20 minute boil?
i've read in some places that you can just double the bittering hops, and it works pretty well....
interested in trying since brewing often has to happen after the kids go to bed.
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I have never tried them but both Midwest & Austin sell 20min boil kits
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the ones at midwest use hopped LME....
i'd be looking to use standard LME or DME...
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In the fermenters:
10g Pilsner Urquell
10g Simco IPA (whole leaf hops this time)

Keggged and conditioning:
10g Honkers Ale
10g EZ street wheat

Finally got around to getting the second Johnson temp control for the fermenting fridge. So decided to put it to good use. 1st time we have ever done a Pilsner/used a lager yeast strain. After reading a bit it would seem that we should have made a starter to pitch more in the pilsner...Oh well the WL yeast vials seemed to be fine as I got bubbles within 24 hrs. Temp is holding at 55deg.

Gotta ask a question to yall who have done lager's...Can I just rack straight into the kegs after fermentation stops in the primary and lager at 32-33 for 3-4 weeks in the keezer? I really dont see any need to go into a secondary/carboy as we don't currently do this for any of our other beers.
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Happened on a store selling Simcoe pellets while we were out of town so I grabbed half a pound of them. Planning out a Pliny clone and another high test hoppy IPA to use my bounty.

Today I'll rack my stout onto a vanilla bean/bourbon slurry and let that sit for 5-7 days, then add a little more bourbon and bottle.

My wife happened upon a round 10 gal cooler, so I'm planning on making the jump to AG as soon as I can get the hardware together.
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I'm doing some planning to try and get a bunch of brewing done while the ambient temperatures are still cool. I just got four more kegs to fill (for a total of eight) and ordered a bunch of hops this morning. Amounts range from a few ounces to a pound.

Simcoe, Cascade, Willamette, Fuggle, Kent Goldings, Saaz, Tettnang, Perle

I already have full pounds of Centennial, Amarillo, Falconer's Flight and Columbus in the freezer.

Now to find the time to brew!
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Just transfered the Porter to the secondary.:-)
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Brewed a Baltic Porter this past Saturday...starting to ferment nicely now! Trying to go for something along the lines of the Master 18 I had while in Prauge, Czech Republic this past summer. Won't be ready for a while but I will be awaiting to see if it comes out even close...

Image
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Is hefeweizen a batch that should be avoided by a first-timer? It's going to be the first full week of March before I can get to brewing anything and really want to have some on hand for spring/summer.

The west coast pale ale from my Mr. Beer kit was very meh. Don't know what happened, but it was very sweet. Followed the recipe exactly, or so I thought anyway. This next batch will be with my real kit though.
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Forgop,
In my opinion a hefenwiezen is a great choice for a first batch.
I have never used a "mr beer" kit but have not heard the most complimentary things about them and am glad you are switching a better set up. :-)
A sweet batch would indicate that it was not completely fermented, if at all. Poor yeast, tempurature issues could be some causes.
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My complete newb guess was that the keg lid had a pretty poor seal and caused the fermentation issues or lack thereof. It had 2 weeks in the keg and 3+ weeks in the bottle. However, when I had the lid on as I put it on the shelf for the 2 weeks to ferment, it would release air if you squeezed the sides of the keg. Obviously, a perfect seal and that doesn't happen. I just hoped for the best and that's what I ended up with.
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So I have a dunkelweizen and an english brown ale fermmenting now. Both are bout the 5%some abv range.
My next batch is somewhat more adventurous...
It's a stout's stout

1.124 OG
1.031 FG
12.4% ABV
8 Lbs DME
3 Lbs Roasted Barley
3 Lbs Black Patent Malt
2 Lbs Chocolate Malt
Willamette 60 (2oz)
Falconer's Flight 30 (1.5oz)
Warrior 0 (1oz)
4 Lbs Brown Sugar
3 packs of Wyeast 1388
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I will be aging my stout's stout of course, my guess would be 1+ years at minimum.
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I found from my 1st Mr. Beer batch that they tend to be sweet unless you use more/ better yeast or allow them to sit longer in the bottle before you put them in the fridge. As for the seal its supposed to do that. It has small slots around the cap to release pressure from the CO2 because it doesnt have a normal airlock. By squeezing out the CO2 theres a good chance it back filled with outside air which is not the best thing.
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Brewed up the start of a sour cherry kriek yesterday. Should be ready in about a year. Using dregs off 3 bottles of Cantillon I pitched into a liter starter.
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Anyone have experience with White Labs #80 Cream Ale Blend? Specifically regarding whether it holds up to lagering.

I've read somewhere that this is a blend of Kolsch & American lager strains (?) Specs say optimal temp is 65-70, and my cream ale batch has been right around 65 for 2 weeks. I was thinking about keeping it in the primary and dropping temp to 48-50 for a few weeks to give it more lager-like character.

Thoughts or alternative suggestions?
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I can't wait to try this, I had a Master 18 and it was delicious!!!
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