The Beer Thread

stevewizzle wrote:

sweetcell wrote:
guess it would depend on what kind of saison you're going for.  saaz and the like are a tad spicey so they could reinforce that aspect of your saison, or you could try getting some other flavor in there with your hops.  i'm happy to trade if you want to try bobek, lemme know what ya got :)

here's what the saison ended up being: http://hopville.com/recipe/1405033/saison-recipes/let-the-pig-out-of-the-farmhouse ..  went with a more forgiving yeast. 

will work with carapils next time, thanks for the heads up.

your saison recipe: interesting that you went with 2-row instead of the more traditional pilsner.  should give just a tad more maltiness.  the wheat should help with head retention (as will a 48+ hours in the fridge before consumption: more cold = more time for CO2 to be absorbed in the liquid from the headspace.  if you really want to impress someone with your homebrew, try refrigerating it for a week).

nice move to the French Saison 3711.  that's the yeast i was considering when planning a saison, but decided to go with a belgian blond instead.  should be a little less demanding in terms of what constitutes "warm" for it.  what temp are you able to maintain?

fyi carapils is more or less the same thing as carafoam - they're pretty much interchangeable, in case you can't find one just use the other.

stevewizzle wrote:
awesome update!  if you need any help drinking any of those…

the amarillo/optic smash should be ready in ~3 weeks (dry-hopping this weekend, bottling next weekend, then 2 weeks to carb).  the blond should be a week or two behind that.  the stout won't be ready for several months, apparently it comes into its own in half a year.  i'm lucky that i have a lot of cellaring space so i'm building up a supply of strong beers that require aging.  i have a dark belgian that's about a month old, now the stout, and in a few weeks i will be making a tripel with the yeast from the blond.  the plan is to not touch these until the xmas holidays, or later.  yeah, that's the plan… however…  ;D

but as for my other brews that don't require aging - c'mon over.  would be a blast to compare beers.  this weekend won't work, but if you're free any other lemme know!

sweetcell wrote:
your saison recipe: interesting that you went with 2-row instead of the more traditional pilsner.  should give just a tad more maltiness.  the wheat should help with head retention (as will a 48+ hours in the fridge before consumption: more cold = more time for CO2 to be absorbed in the liquid from the headspace.  if you really want to impress someone with your homebrew, try refrigerating it for a week).

nice move to the French Saison 3711.  that's the yeast i was considering when planning a saison, but decided to go with a belgian blond instead.  should be a little less demanding in terms of what constitutes "warm" for it.  what temp are you able to maintain?

2-row was slightly forced upon us. the original recipe called for pils, but w/o a grain mill (any reccomendations?) we weren't about to crush 6#s by hand.  so, 6# of pre-crushed 2-row was substituted. 

75* right now (which is perfect for 3711), but no temp control.  Not enough space cellar, or have a keezer, etc.  Which belgian blond did you use?

sweetcell wrote:
the amarillo/optic smash should be ready in ~3 weeks (dry-hopping this weekend, bottling next weekend, then 2 weeks to carb).  the blond should be a week or two behind that.  the stout won't be ready for several months, apparently it comes into its own in half a year.  i'm lucky that i have a lot of cellaring space so i'm building up a supply of strong beers that require aging.  i have a dark belgian that's about a month old, now the stout, and in a few weeks i will be making a tripel with the yeast from the blond.  the plan is to not touch these until the xmas holidays, or later.  yeah, that's the plan… however…  ;D

but as for my other brews that don't require aging - c'mon over.  would be a blast to compare beers.  this weekend won't work, but if you're free any other lemme know!

well shit, i'll need some brews ready for drinking first (a serious hiatus from brewing occurred between january and april).  that's cool about the ability of cellaring, ever thing about working with a brettanamyces and letting that age?  working with amarillo for the first time myself, i'm excited to hear how that beer turns out for u.  i hear dry-hopping with amarillo is amazing.

the beach was . . . nice this time of year.

drank this

dogfish head  tweason'ale  (yummy)

dogfish head  90 min ipa  (this stuff was everywhere.  everybar and restaurant.  i almost drown)

anderson valley  winter solstice  (thought weird for drinking this at the beach, but was the best!!)

bell's  consecrator dopplebock  (first bell's beer i have liked)

sisters of the moon  ipa  (some local area stuff.  not bad)


don't fall flat out staggering intoxicated into a face full of beachy sand . . . people might stare and laugh at you.

stevewizzle wrote:
a grain mill (any reccomendations?)

based on what little research i've done, it looks like it's a choice between a cheap corona mill (can be under $30, needs to be tweaked to get a good crush, not easily configurable/variable, can be hit-or-miss), or a more expensive Barley Crusher ($120, high-quality parts, dial to adjust gap, very consistent crush, etc).  so it depends if i want to go big or not and i'm still weighing whether i want to leap into that investment.  it would allow me to get in on bulk grain purchases which really drives costs down.  but i don't brew *that* often, and i kinda like being able to run to the shop and get just what i need, instead of that equipment and grain taking up space in my basement then feeling the need to use whatever i have as opposed to whatever i want… if i do go the self-milling route it wouldn't be until this fall.  after the tripel in a few weeks i likely won't be brewing again until late sept or oct.

stevewizzle wrote: Which belgian blond did you use?

i went with wyeast 3522, Belgian Ardennes (AKA the Achouffe strain).  a big attraction is the fact that it flocculates nicely for a belgian.  hopefully both the blond and the ensuing tripel will come out clear.

stevewizzle wrote:well shit, i'll need some brews ready for drinking first (a serious hiatus from brewing occurred between january and april). 

well shit, get on that ;D  no worries.  you just brewed a batch, didn't you?  so you'll be good to go in a few weeks.  if not i've got plenty to keep us entertained.  you can host next time.

stevewizzle wrote:that's cool about the ability of cellaring, ever thing about working with a brettanamyces and letting that age? 

interesting idea.  i really need to learn more about brett.  i'm not even 100% sure what it tastes like.  i'm also not big on tying up a carboy for that long, so need to look into whether is can be added at bottling time and can do it's thing in a sealed bottle.

stevewizzle wrote:working with amarillo for the first time myself, i'm excited to hear how that beer turns out for u.  i hear dry-hopping with amarillo is amazing.

i'll be dry-hopping tomorrow and bottling next weekend.  the optic-only brew is the lightest thing i've made to date, the yellow is amazing.  can't wait to see what it looks like once it clears.

"flocculates"


sounds kind of scary….


i've had a lot of beer today…time to hit the hay.

Came across not one but two bottles of Firestone Parabola while visiting my parents this weekend. Naturally bought them both. That's one fantastic brew.

For $15/bomber it better be! (I've had it only on dradt and it is pretty damn fine.)

Back from Germany/Belgium/Holland, I'll tell y'all about it after i catch up on work.

BrettnotBritt wrote:
Came across not one but two bottles of Firestone Parabola while visiting my parents this weekend. Naturally bought them both. That's one fantastic brew.

made the pilgrimage to Dogfish Head in Rehoboth on Saturday.  samplers included:

120 min IPA - great, but almost too much of an alcohol taste
90 min IPA - mmmmmmmmmm
Aprihop - better than expected
Black & Blue - good, but i'm not a big blueberry beer fan
Red & White - WOW, great

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
made the pilgrimage to Dogfish Head in Rehoboth on Saturday.  samplers included:

120 min IPA - great, but almost too much of an alcohol taste
90 min IPA - mmmmmmmmmm
Aprihop - better than expected
Black & Blue - good, but i'm not a big blueberry beer fan
Red & White - WOW, great

Their World Wide Stout is one of my all time favorites.

How was the water temperature at Rehoboth?

Normally early June might find cold water temps, but maybe the record breaking warmth we've had spells warmer water temps earlier this year?

sooooo… any reports from SAVOR?

hutch wrote:
"flocculates"


sounds kind of scary….

;D

flocculating is what you call a yeast's tendency to drop out of suspension and collect at the bottom of your fermentor.  if you want a clear beer, you should use a highly flocculating yeast.  you can clear a beer with a medium or low flocculating yeast, it's just a bigger PITA to pull off.  if you'r brewing a hazy beer like a hefeweizen, they you don't care about flocculation.

that, and it'll chew you face off in the middle of the night while you sleep.

James wrote:
How was the water temperature at Rehoboth?

Normally early June might find cold water temps, but maybe the record breaking warmth we've had spells warmer water temps earlier this year?

it was pretty cold, but a nice respite from mid-90s heat on the beach

Craft Breweries Take Off In Region
http://wusa9.com/news/article/208291/158/Craft-Breweries-Take-Off-In-Region

Here's some pics of my brewvenirs, brought back from Germany/Belgium/Holland. All beers pictured were two Euros or less (Duvel less than one Euro) and bought in grocery stores, except for the De Dolle, the De Struise, the Westys and the De Molen….which I picked up in bottle shops.










If you're in Munich, you definitely should go to the Hirschgarten, and make a day trip to Kloster Andechs for the beer.



If you're in Belgium, go to the 't Brugs Beertje in Bruges and the Waterhuis aan de Bierkant in Gent.



If you're in Amsterdam, beer is a bit pricier, but In De Wildeman and `t Arendsnest are the bars to go to.



Regret not driving out and taking the De Dolle tour.  Would have been nice to pick up some posters and a tshirt, as they have very cool artwork, and don't sell their merch online.

I tried that Orval trappist ale over the weekend. Whole Foods had it for like $5.50 a single. I did like it a lot.

I am heading up to Cooperstown in a few weeks to visit Ommegang.

And I am so jealous of your recent beer tour!

sweetcell wrote:
sooooo… any reports from SAVOR?

food was scarce towards the end, but enjoyed all of the offerings quite a bit.

favorite beers of the night include:
bells - wild one (best sour, best beer of the night for me)
ballast point - sculpin and indra kunindra (a close second)
upland - gilgamesh
yazoo - rye saison (best saison of the night) and their smoked sour
stone - scotch ale
nebraska - ipa aged in chardonay barrels
allagash - interlude

was impressed with denvers brews.

missed out on stone stbn IPA, heard it was amazing.

boulevard was a huge let down IMO.

terra incognita was dissapointing in draft.  aging it 3-6 months because it needs it.

was amazing to talk with brewers and ask them what they used, the process

for the $120 ticket price, i definitely felt like i got my moneys worth (for comparison… GABF wass $75, I believe).

best beer festival i've been to.

James wrote:
Here's some pics of my brewvenirs, 

how did that import limit thing work for ya? ;D

sweet collection you've brought back there.  i'm surprised you brought back Duvel & Chimay - although you got them for cheaper, i wouldn't have thought that something that can be obtained here was worth the suitcase-space. the Andechser Maximator isn't listed on BA nor RB - nice find!  that stash should have you remembering your vacation for a while. enjoy.

p.s. thank you for bringing back a westie for me!!!

The Andescher is Andescher DoppleBock Dunkel, which is on RB and BA. Unavailable in the STates. The only dopplebock that can give Ayinger a run for its money. The Maximator is from Augustiner. Somewhat limited in the States.

The Duvel was 0.90 and the Chimay slightly more. Compare that to $5+/single here in the States. Couldn't  resist bringing back a few for values sake.

The rare stuff was much pricier. EG Westy 12=7.75, Pannepot=3.95. Compare that to the more common but equally tasty St Bernardus 12 at 1.85 and i got one, one, and four of those.

I don't necessarily subscribe to the rarer is better theory. I guess i could have gotten a few Cantillon's since they are hard to get around here, but one sip of the gueze my wife had at a bar told me i didn't want to do that.

I declared right around the legal limit, though I was slightly over. Wasn't questioned or even taxed.

I'll probably sit of all of this for awhile and drink older stuff.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Here's some pics of my brewvenirs, 

how did that import limit thing work for ya? ;D

sweet collection you've brought back there.  i'm surprised you brought back Duvel & Chimay - although you got them for cheaper, i wouldn't have thought that something that can be obtained here was worth the suitcase-space. the Andechser Maximator isn't listed on BA nor RB - nice find!  that stash should have you remembering your vacation for a while. enjoy.

p.s. thank you for bringing back a westie for me!!!