i, too, am worried about a saison. i kegged it yesterday.

my dumbass in a fit of "brilliance" tried to make a pomegranate saison, with no research into it at all. pretty much a spur of the moment decision during the move to secondary.

tasted great when racking prior to fruit addition, tasted kinda meh when kegging. tart and bretty though, after only a few months of storage. belgian saison yeast, belgian sour yeasts added later.

we shall see.

congrats prospero. that's really awesome.

what do you guys do to get feedback on your beers? I feel like the friends i normally share mine with are always "this shit is awesome man" but can't really give much more constructive feedback. and they're always positive, even when i know things could be better. i've considered sending a bottle or two to trading partners that i have, but haven't done it yet.

8/13/2012 9:12:32 AM

well you can enter the beer into BJCP sanctioned events for one, since they are certified judges they are pretty good at giving feedback for the category you're aiming for, if it's not category specific or if your doing something different, just throw it in the cat 23 and they'll judge it as if it were a specialty.

funny thing was we entered two beers into the fair just to get feedback, it was like $5/entry and thought that was well worth the price to get the feedback, didn't really expect a ribbon

the AHA has tons of homebrew competitions throughout the year
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/competitions/aha-bjcp-sanctioned-competition
http://www.bjcp.org/apps/comp_schedule/competition_schedule.php

doesn't have to be AHA related though, a lot of breweries or homebrew stores put on their own 'homebrew' competitions


[Edited on August 13, 2012 at 9:38 AM. Reason : .]

8/13/2012 9:36:37 AM

I'm part of a "brewing disorganization" of sorts. There's about 30 of us, and we pride ourselves on our "thickskin" feedback. We'll not hesitate to tell you to your face if your beer sucks. In fact, we'll probably tell you that before we even taste it, haha. But it's a great group of people that goes out of our way to help each other brew better beer.

We usually dont get very hung up on BJCP, as we just want to make "good beer". But we do provide useful feedback if asked, and there's even a cicerone or two in our group.

8/13/2012 11:51:49 AM

congrats, that's awesome.


anyone have a good Oktoberfest/Marzen recipe?

8/13/2012 1:49:14 PM

ive thought about checking out a group near me. it's a bunch of NASA people and the group is called the mashstronauts.

perhaps i should.

8/13/2012 2:05:09 PM

^^^yea brewing clubs are great source of feedback as well, so long as you have some people in the group that are educated in the process of making beer, not just tasting it. depends on the type of feedback you want, at this point, i'm looking for issues with the recipe/ingredients/technique/process that help narrow down flaws and what to fix in the next recipe. BJCP's not necessary, just helpful for objective feedback. i've met people brewing for 2 years that are phenomenal and have really honed their recipes & processes, then i've met people that have brewed for 10+ years and while their beer is good, one can kind of tell they've never really progressed because they feel like they know everything. that was kind of a rant, but anyhow, i couldn't agree more that clubs are a good place to start, just be specific on the kind of feedback you want, that's it really.

Quote :

"We usually dont get very hung up on BJCP, as we just want to make "good beer"."

i'm not talking about BJCP as in trying to be the best according to their style guide, i'm talking about BJCP because of the level of certification and education it takes to become a judge. they won't just tell you if they taste oxidation, they'll explain why/how/what the issue was and how to fix it. you just have to weed out the comments talking about how it doesn't match the style, or whatever, if you're not concerned with that. it's more objective feedback, which in turn makes "good beer" taste more like "great beer", imho. clubs are a great place to start (as many BJCP judges and Cicerones are in homebrew clubs as well) but once you have some good feedback and think you have a good beer you're willing to showcase, why not drop 2 bottles off to see how they do?

another side note: a lot of breweries have homebrew clubs which are a ton of fun, and if they don't i know a lot of brewers that came from homebrew clubs and participate in them reguarly as well

[Edited on August 13, 2012 at 2:31 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2012 2:18:42 PM

Does anyone ever get stock extract kits "judged" (not competition, just useful feedback) for advice on process (since the recipe is standard).

I know I could taste beer and tell if it's good or not, or if it may have some bad notes, but I'd have no clue on how to pinpoint/describe all notes, why they're there, and how to fix them.

Figured I'd brew some standardized extract kits to get the process down, but it would be nice to have feedback on what I could be doing wrong/what could be improved process-wise.

[Edited on August 13, 2012 at 2:31 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2012 2:31:14 PM

this is the form you typically enter (though not always necessary) and by submitting information like O.G. and F.G., fermentation temperatures, any specialty grains and their %'s all that's useful information that can help inform any off-flavors that are detected and/or how to fix it. i'm not sure if BJCP judges extract brews or not, i presume they would. i have to say though i brewed about 10 batches extract or so and converted to all-grain, then after another 10 or so batches started submitting for better feedback once i got the process down.
http://www.bjcp.org/docs/BJCP_EntryRecipe.pdf

i typically use these:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewdaysheets/

or BeerSmith's printouts.

basically keep good notes, take those notes & measurements from brew day with the beer and you could get some good feedback.

honestly the extract kits probably insure the consistency of the beer, yes you can burn the extract on the bottom by not stirring and pouring it in all at once, you can forget to put the hops in at the right time, but commonly if you stick to the process it should be pretty good. the only real problem is the residual sweetness that can linger from extract that isn't as prevalent in all-grain

really a lot of problems come from fermentation temperature swings, yeast cultivation and storage conditions.

[Edited on August 13, 2012 at 2:44 PM. Reason : /]

[Edited on August 13, 2012 at 2:45 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2012 2:36:39 PM

my saison sucks.

8/21/2012 6:27:20 PM

pretty funny someone has FOIA'd the White House's microbrew recipe

8/21/2012 11:01:41 PM

loved reading about that

8/22/2012 1:01:16 AM

link?

8/22/2012 8:20:38 AM

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/homebrewers-petition-obama-to-release-white-house-honey-ale-recipe.35206/

8/22/2012 8:28:07 AM

yea, signed that... although people should be able to keep their homebrew recipes private... it's pretty funny though.

Quote :

"my saison sucks. "

i got a great recipe if you brew it again.

Bottled my doppedbock last night after 10 days in primary. Started at 60'F, reduced to 55', then to 50'F within first 24 hours to prevent thermal shock to yeast, fermented at 50'F for 7 days, then 55-60'F for diacetyl rest the last 2 days. Bottle conditioning for 2-weeks at 55'F then lagering for 6-weeks at 34'F

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 11:05 AM. Reason : ,]

8/22/2012 11:03:11 AM

so my girlfriend got me a Refractometer for my birthday. Definitely was not suspecting that as my brewing has been dormant through the summer. But it's a cool gift, one that will definitely come in handy when i finally make the AG switch.

8/30/2012 10:55:46 AM

http://bertusbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/08/ipa-clone-series-stone-runination-10th.html

i think im going to try this recipe this weekend

assuming i can find the hops i want.

plan to do the 2nd dry hop in a bag in the keg. did this for a surly bitter brewer clone and whooboy that was nice.

[Edited on August 30, 2012 at 12:43 PM. Reason : e]

8/30/2012 12:42:30 PM

8/30/2012 4:41:59 PM

Whitehouse brew recipes released.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/ale-chief-white-house-beer-recipe

[Edited on September 1, 2012 at 2:25 PM. Reason : link]

9/1/2012 2:23:43 PM

i used the free BrewR app for my oktoberfest yesterday: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weekendcoders.brewr

not as full-featured or bulletproof as something like beersmith, but it's free and doesn't require a computer...i liked having the timers built-in (though it's not really feature so much as a convenience)

9/2/2012 10:07:34 AM

Anyone ever have a True Brew bucket lid pop off? I've got a batch fermenting and the top is bulging even though I've got a blow off tube on it rather than an air lock. The bubling gets a little intense at times. Should I be worried that the top is going to blow off and send beer everywhere?

The recipe is a clone of Cusquena Dark, tweeked (mainly extra DME).

9/2/2012 10:54:50 PM

How many days/hours has it been fermenting and what is the OG?

9/2/2012 11:04:53 PM

9 hours, the OG was 1.085.

9/2/2012 11:09:56 PM

pretty damn high OG, should be tasty . that's going to ferment strongly for a while but I've never seen the top come off. The fermentation will calm down in a about 20 more hours tops, you should be fine by then. Did you have a yeast starter or just a really healthy smack pack or something? Is the air managing to come out of the airlock tube?

9/2/2012 11:17:57 PM

The blow off tube has a steady bubbling that gets intense maybe every 10 to 15 seconds. There's foam coming out here and there, in fact the water at the end of the blow off is almost the same color as the beer.

I was going for a high gravity beer (mission accomplished) so I used a yeast starter. One mistake that I might have made is the temp of the wort might have been a little high when I pitched the yeast (do you pitch a starter?) in the 80 - 85 range.

9/2/2012 11:30:37 PM

Finally calmed to a steady popping. It might not taste good but at least it's fermenting (right?)

9/3/2012 8:33:09 PM

Anyone w/ experience making Apfelwein? The plan would be to make a batch of the EdWort recipe for x-mas gifts and one batch of a mutant EdWort (honey, brown sugar, spice, vanilla?).

When it comes to the substitution of dextrose for honey, there are differing opinions - some say use 5 cups of honey for a 5 gal batch while others have used up to 10lbs (cyser?).

9/5/2012 12:18:57 AM

it was discussed last year, look back through the thread.

9/5/2012 10:48:23 AM

anyone here use fermcap-s?

9/11/2012 9:25:34 AM

quite a few of my brewing buddies use it. Especially if their fermenters are a little fuller than they hoped. That keeps the krausen down. I havent heard any complaints.

I also heard about them using it in their starters to keep them from boiling over when boiling in the flask.

9/11/2012 9:42:53 AM

i use it during my boils because i still have a small kettle. it helps keep boil over in check. i've never used it during fermentation as my have large 6 gal carboys with blow off tubes so i rarely have any blow out.

9/11/2012 10:06:05 AM

the iipa i brewed over the weekend is going fucking bananas. that's the reason i ask. i've never had a concern about blowouts, until this one. even with a tube.

i've got it in a swamp cooler, in a shower stall in case it blows off, and try to regulate the fermentation temperature to ~65.

5gal batch, big starter, and a 1.094 OG. 6 gallon carboy, with a blowoff tube going into a 64oz growler. i've had to empty the growler due to overflowing, and put more star san solution already (to about half full), and i had to pull off the blowoff tube and clean it because it was full of gunk and getting clogged with dried gunk. you couldn't see through the tube. it was not bubbling, but rather... making "shots" of air, that would shoot shit out the top of the growler. blowing clogs through a restriction in the line, i guess. used pellet hops.

when i pulled the bung to clean the line, the krausen and foaming shot a few inches up in the air, and kept overflowing while i was cleaning the line. i guess it didn't have tooo much backpressure built up. i didn't have a spare bung or tube ready, and this was a snap decision made this morning while getting ready for work. due to the fact it was still overflowing i dont think i'll have made too big of a mistake. i feel like it was really either that or face a blowout.

i pitched from a 2qt starter on sunday, with wlp007 and LME. starter was initiated on friday. fermentation started up big on sunday evening, and by monday the growler was at a rolling boil with foam pushing through the blowoff tube.

http://hopville.com/recipe/1647367

if that works.

9/11/2012 4:12:22 PM

Here's your problem:
Dry English (WLP007)
yeast in liquid form with high flocculation and 80% attenuation

Mix that yeast with 1.094 worth of sugar and yea... it's gonna blowout chunks of the 13oz. of pellet hops you loaded up on.

[Edited on September 11, 2012 at 4:36 PM. Reason : .]

9/11/2012 4:33:02 PM

i read somewhere that's basically the house yeast for Stone.

some of the people that drink my homebrews mentioned "you don't brew hoppy beers anymore" so i figured i'd blow that shit out for one batch.

live and learn. and don't worry about fermcap i suppose.

[Edited on September 11, 2012 at 4:39 PM. Reason : only 9oz in fermenter... "only"]

what would be a better choice for a future iipa yeast?

[Edited on September 11, 2012 at 4:40 PM. Reason : e]

9/11/2012 4:38:50 PM

IT'S ALIVEEEEEE

9/11/2012 4:40:22 PM

i'm not saying the yeast strain is the problem per say, just that it's a high-flocculating, high-attenuating yeast so it's going to go nuts with that gravity. you can use it, you'll just need a larger blowoff tube

Here are the yeast manf. recommendations:

Wyeast Strains:
1056 - American Ale™
1084 - Irish Ale™
1272 - American Ale II™
1332 - Northwest Ale™
1728 - Scottish Ale™
1450 - Denny's Favorite 50

White Labs:
WLP001 California Ale
WLP051 Calivornia Ale V

[Edited on September 11, 2012 at 4:55 PM. Reason : ,]

9/11/2012 4:53:33 PM

Brewed yesterday an American Pale Ale, with homegrown Columbus, Centennial, and Cascade hops


HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Homegrown APA

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Efficiency: 65%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV (standard): 5.47%
IBU (tinseth): 37.79
SRM (morey): 8.81

FERMENTABLES:
9.5 lb - Pale 2-Row (80.9%)
0.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 20L (4.3%)
0.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 40L (4.3%)
0.5 lb - Munich - Light 10L (4.3%)
0.5 lb - Victory (4.3%)
0.25 lb - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (2.1%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Columbus (AA 15) for 60 min, Type: Fresh, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Cascade (AA 7) for 10 min, Type: Fresh, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Centennial (AA 10) for 10 min, Type: Fresh, Use: Boil
0.2 oz - Cascade (AA 7) for 0 min, Type: Fresh, Use: Boil
0.2 oz - Centennial (AA 10) for 0 min, Type: Fresh, Use: Boil
0.2 oz - Columbus (AA 15) for 0 min, Type: Fresh, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Cascade (AA 7) for 7 days, Type: Fresh, Use: Dry Hop
0.5 oz - Columbus (AA 15) for 7 days, Type: Fresh, Use: Dry Hop

MASH STEPS:
1) Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 16 qt

YEAST:
Wyeast - American Ale 1056
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 75%
Flocculation: Med-Low
Optimum Temperature: 60 F - 72 F

NOTES:
0.5 gallon of infusion to keep in range.
3.25 gallon of sparge at 168'F

This recipe has been published online at:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/18389/homegrown-apa

Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2012-09-16 19:11 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2012-09-16 19:11 UTC

[Edited on September 16, 2012 at 3:13 PM. Reason : /]

9/16/2012 3:13:41 PM

Took the day off work and decided to switch from beer making to trying mead and cider.

My mead recipe was just Joes Ancient Orange Mead. I was told this was one of the easier starter recipe's, although I used some Lavin D-47 instead of bread yeast.

Cider was also pretty simple. I just did a 2.5 gallon batch using Simply Apple, 2 cinnamon sticks, and a few cloves. Yeast was the Wyeast cider variety.

Along with my pumpkin ale in the full carboy, my fermentation area looks awesome!

9/17/2012 10:06:55 PM

I have four first year hop bines, a couple of them have a few cones but my question is am I supposed to lay them out and cut them down at some point? What's a good fertilizer for hops? If it matters I've got two Cascade, one Columbus, and one Nugget.

9/17/2012 10:50:08 PM

When you harvest the cones is when I typically cut them back. Once it gets close to frost-date you can cut down to 4-6" above the dirt. As far as fertilizer, I just use MiracleGro once every couple weeks.

[Edited on September 18, 2012 at 3:13 PM. Reason : .]

9/18/2012 3:12:53 PM

this is the article i read when i planted:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/6034/MAzym09_Hops.pdf

9/18/2012 10:17:03 PM

Can someone give me a good recipe suggestion for a strong IPA? (preferably 7.5%+) I'm fairly new to brewing (maybe 6 different beers in) and want to give it a try

9/18/2012 11:16:03 PM

^Two things you can try if you don't get any suggestions (or maybe even if you do). American Brewmaster has a recipe book in store to use. Or you can purchase one of their kits and ask them for suggestions on upping the alcohol, maybe add more malt extract. I took a recipe in and asked how to do that and more DME was what they suggested. It took my brew from what should have been a 5.7% abv to just over 8%.


^^Thank you sir.

9/19/2012 8:42:56 AM

that iipa i posted above is still bubbling, 10 days later. was going to rack it last night, but i'll wait a day or two more.

9/19/2012 9:42:50 AM

Anyone ever shipped homebrew with UPS or FedEx? Does the "live yeast samples" thing really work, I suspect it wouldn't and that the best bet would be to not say what's inside and if they ask lie. Also, it's it a UPS/FedEx policy or is it a legal matter?

9/19/2012 10:41:35 PM

I ship beer all the time, only one store asks me what's inside and I just say rare collectibles. I've shipped probably 30 boxes of beer (60 if you count the trader's boxes as well) over the last 6 months and no issues thus far. I only use FedEx, they are more chillax.

[Edited on September 19, 2012 at 11:39 PM. Reason : .]

9/19/2012 11:39:09 PM

i use fedex too.

fedex thinks i run a gourmet barbecue sauce business through the internet.



[Edited on September 20, 2012 at 9:10 AM. Reason : e]

9/20/2012 9:10:19 AM

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/09/18/161338723/u-s-explodes-atomic-bombs-near-beers-to-see-if-they-are-safe-to-drink

9/20/2012 7:37:51 PM

Last shipping question, promise. Can you ship the beer after bottling but before refrigerating? The beer I want to ship was bottled 8 days ago and I'll be shipping some Monday. None of it is in the refrigeratot yet and I was wondering if cooling then letting it get warm would affect the flavor.

Thanks ^,^^

9/22/2012 1:59:25 PM

None issue.

Unless you're shipping in 90'+F heat, then just ship on Monday/Tuesday's to minimize time the box spends sitting in hot trucks & warehouses over the weekends. Large temperature swings don't affect anything unless it's done repetitively, say like 4-5 times. Heat just makes beer age quicker, so if the person is drinking it relatively soon, it really doesn't matter.

9/22/2012 4:27:40 PM

http://hopville.com/recipe/1650253

did this saturday. comedy of errors.

missed my sparge bed temperature by ~8*F.
screwed up the water calculations, and got distracted and didnt shut off the sparge water in time, left too much in the kettle.
too much volume, not a heavy enough boil, etc, ended up with ~.75gal more wort than expected, and ended up having to dump it. which, of course, contained a lot of the coffee grounds and chocolate matter. i have to begin considering the boil off rate if i'm going to continue doing what i've been doing.
missed my OG by ~0.015. due to above probably.

bubbling like crazy though. we'll see.

that IIPA, hit the FG right on the nose though. I'm excited for that one.

9/24/2012 9:11:01 AM