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What are you brewing?

smellysell said:
CRQuarto said:
smellysell said:
CRQuarto said:
smellysell said:
Borrowing a buddies plate chiller to see how it works on my system and decide if I want to buy one. Will be testing it out on a saison using some yeast I cultured out of a De Ranke bottle.
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Nice :) Are you using a chiller of any type right now, or are you just going the ice bath route? I built this thing a while ago, and it works outstanding, but I want to build a pre-chiller for it to immerse in ice water:



[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/Cubic2AC/Brewing/Beer/6c515071.jpg"]http://img.photobuck...er/6c515071.jpg[/url][/img
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I actually have an immersion and a counter flow chiller. ???

They both work ok, but I just got a pump and I really want to be able to whirlpool with it. The CFC restricts it too much and I can't get a whirlpool. I still need to try the whirlpool along with the immersion chiller, but my buddy can go from boiling to pitching temps in 4 minutes with his plate chiller. :0
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Wow, not bad at all. I'll let you know how the pre-chiller and immersion works out. I get really good cold breaks right now as is (my tap water is really cold), so I get down to pitching temps in about 10 minutes or less. I figure with a pre-chiller I should be in the 6 minute range, which is perfect for the cost. I get a pretty good whirlpool with the immersion, but I have no doubt that a plate chiller would work better.
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Forgot to mention a different buddy has a pre-chiller for his immersion, and it works great. Do you just whirlpool by stirring?
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Ok, I'm getting one!

http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid154.photobucket.com/albums/s275/smellysell/beer/2011-07-11_14-13-42_629.mp4
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You're Damn Right - a double chocolate coconut milk stout.

and

Swallow Your Pride - an Amber Imperial? I'll have to see how it turns out. It's heavy on the caramel malts and equally heavy on the hops.
 
tsmckenney said:
You're Damn Right - a double chocolate coconut milk stout.

and

Swallow Your Pride - an Amber Imperial? I'll have to see how it turns out. It's heavy on the caramel malts and equally heavy on the hops.
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More details are needed here my friend...
 
You're Damn Right: pound of lactose, 4 oz cocoa, and 2 pds of unsweetened, lightly toasted coconut. 6 oz for the full boil, another 10 oz for 10 minutes, and 16 oz in the secondary. Bottling this weekend. I won't be drinking this until fall. Well, I'll try it sooner than that, but it will be best after some time. Or it might be horrible. :laugh: The name is my response to everyone's reaction to this beer. "Are you serious?"

Swallow Your Pride: initially I was going to throw in some Pride hops, but everything I read about them steered me away. With this beer, I wanted to focus on combining my favorite malts and hops. Nothing complex really. Lots of caramel malts. Lots of Nugget. Along with Warrior, Cascade, Centennial and Williamette. Half of the hops I used went in at flame-out. Dry-hopped with Nugget (which I'll do on Saturday).

Before these two, I had success with an Alpha King clone and a Twilight clone. The Alpha King clone is the best beer I've had this year. I will be brewing that again.
 
I need some beer brewing buddies, like you fellas. In need of a mentor :sign:
 
Been brewing like a mad man the last couple weeks getting stuff ready for the weddings of
multiple buddies. The shitty part is that I've been brewing 3 or 4 times a week and my pipeline is drying up.
 
tsmckenney said:
Before these two, I had success with an Alpha King clone and a Twilight clone. The Alpha King clone is the best beer I've had this year. I will be brewing that again.
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I was impressed with both. I liked the Twilight a little better, but I wouldn't have turned either of them down.
 
Mounted the new plate chiller today. Test run went from boiling to 64 in 5 minutes 37 seconds! :thumbs:

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Bottled and ESB yesterday. I had made the beer as a demo to the organic students at our University. I've contemplated starting a brewing club for the school, but I'll wait til I'm a tenure-track professor.
 
Bought my second brew kit from Midwest, a Bourbon Barrel Old Ale, and got it in the primary yesterday. Has 6 lb. Amber liquid malt extract, 3.3 lb. Gold liquid malt extract, 8 oz. Brown Malt, 8 oz. Crystal 50-60L, 8 oz. Wheat, 4 oz. Aromatic, 4 oz. Chocolate specialty grains, 1 oz. Northern Brewer, 2 oz. Willamette, and 2 oz. Fuggle hops. Gravity was right at 1.10!

I chose Jim Beam's Devil's Cut, which the oak cubes have been soaking in for about a week. The directions say to siphon the brew into a secondary once fermentation has stopped, add the bourbon/cubes and leave for approximately six months before bottling. The only other container I have is the bottling bucket. Should/Could I just pour the bourbon/cubes into the primary and keep it in there for the six months? I'd like to get a carboy to put it in, but those things are right at $50 shipped.
 
Not to start a whole debate, but I secondary/age Ina Culligan water bottle...<gasp>

I figure if it is good enough for water, it is good enough for beer.

Tim
 
We have one of those water coolers on our floor at the office with the big five gallon plastic jugs. I keep trying to catch the guy that changes them out to see if he would maybe sell me one, but keep missing him. But, I'd still like to know if I really need to have a secondary, or can I leave in the primary for six+ months?
 
IMO 6 months might be pushing it a bit to leave it on the cake, but you could prolly get away with it
 
I don't have any experience to back this up, but I would not add oak and leave a beer in primary for 6 months. If the yeast haven't dropped out completely (and the act of adding the oak will likely rouse them), they will metabolize the vanillin in the oak and you'll lose much of the sweetness that oak has to offer. You will maintain the spiciness of the oak and the tannin qualities.

Like I said, I don't have direct experience with this. This is what I have read and learned from the experiences of others and by reading some of the science behind the process.

I'm not one who usually uses a secondary vessel for my beers (I normally let them sit in primary for 4-6 weeks). When adding something like oak or dry hopping is in the recipe, I would use a secondary every time.

YMMV, of course.
 
Secondary it will be! I'll just go ahead and siphon the beer into the bottling bucket, drop the oak/liquor in, and close'r up for the next six months.

Many thanks!
 
Off topic from your question, but related to your kit - I brewed this same beer and left the cubes in the secondary for 4 1/2 months. When I bottled it, I put 2-3 cubes in each 22 oz bottle. The beer has now been in bottles for 9 months, and every one I open just keeps getting better. Something to think about if you want to try it with a couple bottles. Just be careful when you drink it.
 
tomthirtysix said:
Off topic from your question, but related to your kit - I brewed this same beer and left the cubes in the secondary for 4 1/2 months. When I bottled it, I put 2-3 cubes in each 22 oz bottle. The beer has now been in bottles for 9 months, and every one I open just keeps getting better. Something to think about if you want to try it with a couple bottles. Just be careful when you drink it.
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That is a really good idea! I've only got 12 oz bottles (48), so will put one cube in each until all cubes are gone. Not only will it hopefully continue to add flavor, but will be quite the novelty when sharing with friends. Yeah...just don't guzzle it out the bottle. :whistling:

Edit to add question: How much bourbon did you put in?
 
King,

If you have a brewstore near just pick up a few cheep primary buckets that seal well, use them to age your beer in.
Or if you have store that sells 5 gallon water bottels just get ine of those and eat the deposit. I use Culligan water as my brewing water, then add salts...
So I never give them back the jug, it cost me like $5 sometimes, sometimes they dont care....when they get funky, I throw them out....

Tim
 
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