Posted on 11/09/2012 3:34:30 PM PST by Red_Devil 232
Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!
Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew
BEER
Well, the Local Homebrew Store in Shriveport, La had their opening day yesterday. I drove the 35 miles to their location and was not disappointed. They had quite a collection of craft beers. They also have a nice selection of grains, hops and other supplies. I talked to the owner for a little bit, nice people. I bought a vile of White Labs Champagne Yeast (WLP715) and a pack of Nottingham Ale Yeast and a couple of other items I needed for a 5-gallon batch of another Hard Apple Cider. They also had quite a selection of Extract Kits. I will be going back when I need something. I am hoping they are successful in their business. It is nice to be able to drive to a store and not have to order over the internet then wait for delivery.
The link below is to a Sapporo Beer (Japan) commercial that was posted to me today on the Gardening Thread. Excellent Graphics. I drank quite a few of them as a young Marine stationed in Japan. I hope you enjoy it, I enjoyed the beer back when and the commercial today. It is not long but entertaining.
I will start the 5-gallon batch of Cider tomorrow. My Irish Stout is still in the secondary for at least another week.
I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let us know what your favorite brew, wine or spirit is.
Pine to all the usual suspects!
in before the ping?
Yep! But it looks like I was pining to the list.
(Not quite.)
A fellow FReeper mentioned homemade Beet Wine in a separate thread. I found several online recipes involving boiling a quantity of beets, adding sugar, and fermenting the liquid.
Anyone here heard of this?
I have a rather large quantity of beets right now.
Thanks for the link! I reading it as I drink one of my 2008 (Bush Era)hard apple cider.
My first attempt at brewing, an IPA is bubbling away and smells awesome.
Newcastle, Brown Ale it is!
Go for it! It will turn out great!
We sure could have used this thread Tuesday evening...
I almost bought one to sample from the homebrew store I visisited. Here is to a good brew!
I watched as long as I could sipping on some Sparkling Cranberry Mead but headed to bed at 9 central. Disgusting outcome. the election, not the Mead!
Nanuet NY just opened a new homebrew place ! Growlers and Gills. Will plan on visiting it this weekend. Free tastings !!
You must try a Newcastle Brown Ale. Very smooth, no aftertaste.
By the way, Happy Birthday Marine!
I always liked that Sapporo commercial. Really clever. Don’t know if they still make it or not, but back in the 1990s Sapporo made a brew called Sapporo Black that I really liked. Not too hoppy, nice roasted malt character, just a hint of toffee at the end. Good stuff.
Were I to try it again, I would use raisins or possible a wine concentrate.
Just sayin'
There was a campus bar back when I was in college that used to serve Newcastle on tap. I would get a pint (or three) every Thursday when I’d go for lunch. One of my favorite beers of all time.
Have a batch of Belgium Triple brewing but I'm a bit concerned that it's not working yet after 2 days...hmmmm.
I'll give it a day or 2 and see if I need to re add yeast.
Anyways my local home brew store had a 10% off sale on Tuesday if you showed them your I Voted sticker. Cool guys.
And to you! Tomorrow is indeed a special day, 237th! I bet Tuns Tavern and Brewery was awash in beers or ciders that day as they offered up a pint or two to the new recruits - those first Marines.
I don’t remember if there was a Sapporo Black when I was there in the early 70’s. But I liked it. Along with a few brews and a couple of their small ceramic flasks of sake - Gees that could make a guy wobbly!
IPA drinker thinking about homebrewing... any FReeper recommendations on how to get started?
Thanks all!
Our wine is going nicely. We bottled 59 bottles of white wine and racked 2 carboys of plum wine to tertiary. For some reason there was lots of pulp still left in the plum. We need to add some finnings to it and at least one of the cherry wines has a haze also.
We are going to purchase a ratchet press next year so any suggestions on a press is appreciated.
I was bottling wine tuesday, which means we were also drinking what was on the bottom of the carboy. Fitting really.
IPA drinker heh. :)
Do you have a homebrew shop nearby? If so visit them. Expect to spend at least $100 for your equipment minus a pot and bottles. If you drink beer that uses crown caps you can save them and be green by recycling. :) If you know someone at a restaurant that serves those types of beers then you can get some free ones from them. I have a restaurant that saves me wine bottles. You will need a boiling pot of at least 16 quarts, but for an IPA you will really need to have at least a 20qt or larger pot to get good extraction on your hops.
Lots of technical stuff but your local homebrew shop will be more than willing to help. There are several good books and forums that offer lots of help.
One last thing, start simple. Don’t try to do any complicated clones of commercial beers that you really like. Stick with something that is extract about 9 lbs of malt extract 2 oz bittering hops maybe 1 or 2 lbs of specialty grains and 1-2 oz of finishing hops. Go with a quality liquid yeast even if you purchase a kit with dry yeast. If you start simple you will be much happier.
Then you will need ingredients - some starter kits come with an Extract Kit just have look around the internet searching for home brew or homebrewing to get your best price. There are many on line stores most charge shipping and some like the one above have no shipping charges if you buy over a set amount of $.
I started using Midwest Supplies They charge shipping on everything but have good Extract Kits. it is up to you
Thank you for the recommendations... hopefully I can re-create the dear, departed Alchemist’s “Holy Cow”!
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/alchemist-holy-cow-ipa/29918/
Aftertaste in a good beer is a feature, not a bug. (”Finish” is the term used.) The brown ale style tends to be fairly lightly hopped, so the finish is more subtle than something like an IPA.
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style11.php
Do the right thing and take your time, get the right equipment for what you want to brew. Ales take from about a month to brew, condition and mellow out to a few months and longer. Have patience and you will be rewarded with some incredible IPAs. Go for it!
“Finish” That’s a good term. Thanks.
Finishing up my Hard Cider tonight. I took a sample to my LHBS for criticism and suggestions for finishing. It currently has quite an alcohol bite, it slightly overpowers the apple flavor. Cold crashing cleared up all cloudiness.
Suggestions were to add 1 gal filtered apple juice for sweetness/carbonation then bottle. If after aging it still needs sweetness, I can always add a bit of liquid Stevia.
All told, the 3 person staff at the LHBS were impressed with my first attempt.
That cider may need a little more aging. How long have you aged it? I understand it can take a few months to mellow out and get rid of that Rocket Fuel Alcohol taste and then the apple flavors develop and comes through.
This five gallon batch I am doing tomorrow I intend to let age about six months then bottle for carbonation for two weeks or so.
4 weeks.
It is now bottled and going to a dark shelf ‘till Christmas. This has been an interesting experience.
I literally just drank my next recipe.
It’s a modified version of Blind Pig.
18 lbs of 2 row pale.
1 lb of Crystal 40
No bittering hops but a full pound added from 20 minutes to 170 degrees.
A full pound.
Flavorful, hop forward without being uber bitter and hops, hops, hops.
Will post after I brew it. My buddy made 10 gallons and the single glass I had was far to little.
On the plus side, he had a glass of the chocolate coffee stout I made a few weeks ago and is stealing my recipe to make his own.
That’s what I love about homebrewing.
I tell people that I liken it to cooking a gourmet meal (one of my other hobbies), but unlike cooking where the meal is really at its best 5 or 10 minutes after making it, home brew can be shared for weeks and weeks.
Well, days maybe in my case ;0)
Cheers,
knewshound
Thanks for the reply. Beet/dirt wine seems like something that could use some help. From what I can tell of the recipe, the only fermentable is white sugar. Could maybe use honey instead and end up with Beet Mead?
I strongly urge you to think about apple juice concentrate rather than juice. It adds more sugar and apple flavor with far less volume.
I mean, who wants to drink wimpy cider?
Cheers,
knewshound
My bad, there is a huge caveat to using concentrate.
It will add enough sugars that unless you keg carbonate, it will bottle bombs unseen by modern man.
If it gets warm, it WILL ferment. Beware.
Cheers,
knewshound
I wrote a easy to use, step by step article on homebrewing. You might like it.
I went for the low buck, easy to do method.
http://knewshound.blogspot.com/2007/11/homebrewing-1a.html
Cheers,
knewshound
I did use concentrate, reconstituted with boiled and cooled water. If fermentation restarts it is not a big deal. I bottled it in 1 gal jugs with a screw on cap. I can crack the seal and bleed off excess pressure if needed.
I tasted a small glass with a Cinnamon stick tonight. The added juice did great things in smoothing it out. I think it is a keeper.
Thank you!
Will read... thank you!
I started with
5 gal apple cider UV pasteurized
2 pounds corn sugar
2 packets Red Star Champagne yeast (dry)
OG was 1.076
Brewed one week in Primary at 70 degrees. Racked to secondary, added 2 cans apple concentrate for flavor and 5 tsp. pectic enzymes for clarity. Let it sit for 4 weeks at 70 degrees.
Cold crashed for 5 days to settle everything out.
Racked off the sediment, and added reconstituted apple juice to sweeten/carbonate. Then bottled.
FG 0.998
Then
Now
Metamorphosis complete
Oh My! How does it taste now? That looks so good! Hope the 5 gallon batch I started today turns out as good as that!
Actually tastes pretty good. I had a small glass last night, well chilled with a Cinnamon stick. The last addition of apple juice was key, without it the “rocket fuel” overtones were very strong.
My guess is that by Thanksgiving it will be kinda drinkable. And by Christmas it should be mighty-fine.
I have no one else to tell that would care but I have to tell someone, I finally got the tubing I need for my 2 pump system and I did a test run yesterday using just water.
2.5 GPM and enough hose so that I can go from my boil kettle directly into my carboys in the fermentation chamber without having to lift them!
My back is very much looking forward to this.
Now, what to brew for the maiden run?
Cheers,
knewshound
Oh Man! Now I am jealous.
Great! Anything that saves the back and in my case a hip!
And the best part, at least to me, is that I have 55 bucks in the whole thing.
Weight set off of the free section of Crraigslist to make the brew stand. Traded labor for the march pump. 50 bucks for the recirc pump and 5 bucks worth of PVC to plumb it. My neighbor gave me the hose I needed for the march pump and a few electrical items from my scrap bucket and I am now done.
I can’t wait to get it all fired up with both burners going and the pumps running !!!!!!
I may just have to call in sick to brew this week. Call it a mental health day ;0)
Cheers,
knewshound
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