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What are you brewing?

To give some info, my buddy Ray (rpm_sac) purchased a Coopers home brew kit. A few weeks ago I arrived at his house (was a fun trip there, first scene) and he/we jumped into our first home brewing attempt. Ray decided to go to a local grocery store and get a couple bottles of honey called Agave Nectar to add to our first brew, basically a honey lager. Last weekend, after only seven days, we tried out a bottle just to see how it was coming along and well, it was not the best beer but decent enough to drink. Ray's gone on a kayak tripthis weekend, something I intend on getting into possibly come spring, so we'll probably give the first real taste test a try this coming weekend. We've also got a Coopers stout kit and wil be working on it for the next brew, then after that the plan is to get into our first half to all grain brew. And so...the adventure has begun!

Ray and Greg's Beer Adventure
 
Kingantz said:
To give some info, my buddy Ray (rpm_sac) purchased a Coopers home brew kit. A few weeks ago I arrived at his house (was a fun trip there, first scene) and he/we jumped into our first home brewing attempt. Ray decided to go to a local grocery store and get a couple bottles of honey called Agave Nectar to add to our first brew, basically a honey lager. Last weekend, after only seven days, we tried out a bottle just to see how it was coming along and well, it was not the best beer but decent enough to drink. Ray's gone on a kayak tripthis weekend, something I intend on getting into possibly come spring, so we'll probably give the first real taste test a try this coming weekend. We've also got a Coopers stout kit and wil be working on it for the next brew, then after that the plan is to get into our first half to all grain brew. And so...the adventure has begun!

Ray and Greg's Beer Adventure
Click to expand...

Nice job Greg. The very general rule is 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, 3 weeks carbing. After three it should be pretty solid and if it was tasty after one you should be in for a treat.
 
Kingantz said:
To give some info, my buddy Ray (rpm_sac) purchased a Coopers home brew kit. A few weeks ago I arrived at his house (was a fun trip there, first scene) and he/we jumped into our first home brewing attempt. Ray decided to go to a local grocery store and get a couple bottles of honey called Agave Nectar to add to our first brew, basically a honey lager. Last weekend, after only seven days, we tried out a bottle just to see how it was coming along and well, it was not the best beer but decent enough to drink. Ray's gone on a kayak tripthis weekend, something I intend on getting into possibly come spring, so we'll probably give the first real taste test a try this coming weekend. We've also got a Coopers stout kit and wil be working on it for the next brew, then after that the plan is to get into our first half to all grain brew. And so...the adventure has begun!

Ray and Greg's Beer Adventure
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new addiction!

Doing a lager for you first batch is pretty ambitious. What are you using for temp control?
 
Kingantz said:
To give some info, my buddy Ray (rpm_sac) purchased a Coopers home brew kit. A few weeks ago I arrived at his house (was a fun trip there, first scene) and he/we jumped into our first home brewing attempt. Ray decided to go to a local grocery store and get a couple bottles of honey called Agave Nectar to add to our first brew, basically a honey lager. Last weekend, after only seven days, we tried out a bottle just to see how it was coming along and well, it was not the best beer but decent enough to drink. Ray's gone on a kayak tripthis weekend, something I intend on getting into possibly come spring, so we'll probably give the first real taste test a try this coming weekend. We've also got a Coopers stout kit and wil be working on it for the next brew, then after that the plan is to get into our first half to all grain brew. And so...the adventure has begun!

Ray and Greg's Beer Adventure
Click to expand...


I remember my friend Slummy brewing his first "Honey Lager" at my place. At the time he didn't know it was a Lager and required some cooler temperatures during fermentation. Lets just say it didn't end well. I had "Old Faithful" make an appearance in my closet. One of the bottles exploded in my hand and I still to this day have no idea why I didn't get cut but had glass shrapnel on my back and front of course. The recipe is called Rocky the Raccoon's Honey Lager if my memory serves me. It would have been good if it hadn't exploded.
 
smellysell said:
Doing a lager for you first batch is pretty ambitious. What are you using for temp control?
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Yeahhhh...I saw that. This is why I haven't attempted a lager as of yet. No temp control system.


Also, Greg: 2, 2, 2. Always works for me. Unless it's a bigger beer.
 
souldog said:
smellysell said:
Doing a lager for you first batch is pretty ambitious. What are you using for temp control?
Click to expand...

Yeahhhh...I saw that. This is why I haven't attempted a lager as of yet. No temp control system.


Also, Greg: 2, 2, 2. Always works for me. Unless it's a bigger beer.
Click to expand...

Use a hydrometer to see when it's done, then bottle/keg. No need for secondary for 99% of beers.
 
Secondary always clarifies and cleans it up for me. Ill never go back to just primary.

Different strokes for different folks. I don't try to sway anyone toward any particular camp.
 
Ray basically followed the instructions that came with the kit. Not sure about temp control other than the blanket I saw wrapped around the container. He used the hydrometer to test it Fri, Sat, and then when it was the same reading Sun, we bottled. Again, this is the first of probably many brews, so complete beginners and nothing fancy. Learning as we go!
 
If no one hasn't heard yet but the Discovery Channel has a new show called "Brewmasters" that I think comes on this week sometime.
 
smellysell said:
Putting together a recipe for a Black Rye IPA. Hopefully will brew it in the next few days.
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Brewing this tomorrow. Cold mashed the the dark grains, so we'll see how that works. The wort I just strained out smells like milk chocolate though, so I'm hopeful.
 
Quite a few updates from our brew kitchen.

Primary

Amarillo IPA - named after the hops used, not to be confused with Amaretto as several people have thought in the past

Secondary

Pete Smoked Porter - Mmmm Smokey

Bottle Conditioning

Belgian Trappist - Super excited for this one but I think it is going to take some time to settle down even beyond the normal conditioning time
Advantageous Wiesenbock - Dunkel brewed at Dopplebock strength (basically 10%)

Drinking

Cologne Kolsch - Very solid Wheat beer. Between the blonde and hefeweizen we brewed previously.
Happy Holiday - Good but nothing exceptional
Oaked IPA - All of the bottles I am opening have carbed nicely so I think it just needed a ridiculously long conditioning time. My guess is the alcohol content or lack of a proper starter might have caused the yeast to all but completely die off.

RIP

Caribou Slobber - Fantastic nut brown ale that I will make again
Dry Irish Stout - Very good and earned praise from several others. One exception is that I think the Ester Alcohol content was high on this because I get headaches within the first couple of sips and am very susceptible to that. I want to try this one again.
Scotch Ale - This ended up being a very good beer. It required a lengthy cold condition to really come into its own.
 
Bohemian Pils is almost done lagering, so gonna brew a German Pils this weekend if my basement is cool enough yet.
 
Stir bar ordered today
Stirplate almost done
Coffee / Chocolate porter is almost ready to brew

Tim
 
Old Ale is now on tap, with Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout clone in primary, Edwort's Apfelwein in primary, and Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout in secondary. The FKBS is going to sit for about six months before it will be even considered for kegging. The SS Oatmeal Stout needs to bs blended with a one gallon batch of a very heavy roast brew before it can be ready due to a poor conversion (made a stupid, stupid error when mashing, bah). The Apfelwein will sit for about three months.

Going to brew up a batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale this weekend, and then I'm going to possibly do either a cream ale or Belgian dubbel next, haven't decided. I'm really enjoying the recent swItch from partial mash to all grain.
 
CRQuarto said:
Going to brew up a batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale this weekend...
Click to expand...

Just killed a keg of this keg yesterday. It was great. I'm going to try to keep a keg of this on tap all the time after I get a couple of experiments out of the way.

My Christmas Ale tastes like incense. I'm going to let it sit for awhile and hope that eases a bit. If not, a blendin' I will go...
 
Brewed a batch of my "public house" pale ale today. 1.060, all cascade pale that satisfies my hop cravings without getting stupid. Now I'm looking at a foreign extra stout to throw on this yeast when it's finished fermenting.
 
Transfered a huge imperial honey porter to secondary that will sit for a good long while. Also transferred and started lagering a German Pils and Munich Helles. Kicked my keg of saison so my black IPA is now on tap along with a couple SMASHs and a regular IPA. Tasted a coffee oatmeal stout I brewed a while back that I left on the coffee too long and the coffee has finally faded enough that I think I'll throw that in the kegerator after the next keg kicks (probably the Perle/MO SMASH).

ETA - Just cracked a bottle of my no-boil Berliner Weiss and the tart/citrus aroma is starting to take over the sweaty foot aroma as several people told me would happen! :thumbs:
 
LilBastage said:
CRQuarto said:
Going to brew up a batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale this weekend...
Click to expand...

Just killed a keg of this keg yesterday. It was great. I'm going to try to keep a keg of this on tap all the time after I get a couple of experiments out of the way.

My Christmas Ale tastes like incense. I'm going to let it sit for awhile and hope that eases a bit. If not, a blendin' I will go...
Click to expand...

Nice, good to know someone here has brewed and enjoyed that beer. Thanks for the heads up, Alan. :). How fast did yours ferment?
 
Got a five gallon batch of Oatmeal Coffee Stout sitting in secondary right now. Just threw in some Doi Changg Peaberry last night and will let it sit until I bottle on Sunday.

I didn't get the efficiency I was shooting for on my first all grain batch by not adding enough water for mashing. Looks like it's going to come in just under 6% when the estimated was around 9.5%.
 
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