^that's the AHS one, right? Mine's gone already

5/16/2011 8:17:15 AM

It was this guy: http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/SinistralWarriorIPA.pdf

one more pic of it for page 24 since nobody's looking at the last page .

5/16/2011 9:26:47 PM

i'm gonna try to pull that photo off with my Black IPA

[Edited on May 16, 2011 at 10:27 PM. Reason : .]

5/16/2011 10:24:17 PM

This thread is dead... I know you guys are still brewing, what's on tap?

Here's a pic of the Kolsch, it turned out great but i'd really like to make it again with a lager yeast strain. I'm bottling a weizenbier and brewing American Brewmaster's cream ale extract kit tomorrow. Next weekend i'll be bottling an american wheat beer, the recipe just says to ferment in primary for two weeks and then bottle so we'll see how that works out...


[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 11:21 AM. Reason : pic]

5/21/2011 11:19:01 AM

I'm brewing a Belgian Wit, but not until mid-June. I've been swamped at work, working weekends.

I'll try to get a picture of the Black IPA up soon.

And my hops.

5/21/2011 11:39:00 AM

just finished brewing a batch of IPA...i don't know if my hydrometer is off or something, but i don't think the specific gravity readings are right

before adding yeast, the carboy was 1.016 and the brewing bucket (my other carboy wasn't clean) was 1.03

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 6:28 PM. Reason : .]

5/21/2011 6:27:26 PM

i'm trying to get started on this.

i was told to go to Alternative Beverage in Charlotte. for those who are familiar, how does their price/quality match up with other sellers? i prefer going places and physically seeing what i am buying, but if there were cheaper options online i would do that.

5/21/2011 6:36:17 PM

^^what temperature was the wort when you tested it?

5/24/2011 5:30:35 PM

^^their pricing is very fair and they're helpful people. Honestly I would go to their main store in Belmont. It's not too far and it has a bigger selection and they're a bit friendlier at that one. If Jess is there he is the owner and a great guy.

5/24/2011 8:39:00 PM

i just may do that, thanks for the info. i actually drive through Belmont quite frequently so i'll make a stop one of these times.

5/24/2011 8:42:00 PM

I brewed a basic wheat Sunday, and I am going to add 4 lbs of fresh blueberries to it when I rack over to secondary. I know I am probably being paranoid, but I am a little worried about sanitation of the berries, so I bought some campden tablets. Anyone ever used any before?

I have also heard adding in a packet of unflavored gelatin can reduce the haziness in the fruit beer. Advice?

5/24/2011 11:22:26 PM

my process for blueberries has always been to wash well, dry, freeze, thaw, do a rough blend, and add at the end of primary - we always get loads of berries in the summer, so I've done it a few times with no ill effect - that's my limited experience anyway

i've used pectic enzyme to clear before, but generally don't care if my beer is hazy so it's been quite awhile

been throwing around ideas for a berliner weiss or maybe a hoppy wit of hefe, just been really busy and haven't had much chance to make it happen

[Edited on May 24, 2011 at 11:41 PM. Reason : w]

5/24/2011 11:39:18 PM

Quote :

"hoppy wit of hefe"

that's like 3 beers in one! but i must ask why would you hop up a wit or weizen? what kind of hops are you thinking? kind of like a citrus/fruit burst with Citra? that could work. i'd maybe hop up a dunkel or something and create like a hoppy german dark lager, or hop up a Schwarzbier and create something like a German-version of a black IPA... huh.. that gives me some ideas

[Edited on May 25, 2011 at 12:14 AM. Reason : .]

5/25/2011 12:06:27 AM

bad typo - wit OR hefe (in case it wasn't obvious )

guess "hoppy" was pretty vague, or incorrect even - I was thinking more of a nice orange/tangerine hop, a la citra or the like, rather than just pure hoppiness, maybe a dry hop application

I've had a couple great commercial examples - an American wheat using Citra from Bullfrog, and a couple of the New Glarus wheats use Amarillo, so that's kinda what I'm shooting for

[Edited on May 25, 2011 at 12:16 AM. Reason : in after your edit: that's exactly what I'm after]

5/25/2011 12:15:26 AM

sounds good to me!

5/25/2011 12:24:11 AM

Columbus:


Centennial:


I have Cascade too, but it's barely broken ground, still waiting for it to warm up.... we had a really cold last 2 weeks in Colorado and I put them in the ground too early.... probably not many hops this year while they get established.

5/25/2011 5:10:42 PM

I took that strong brown ale from primary to secondary...left it in secondary for about a week with Polyclar treatment to increase the clarity. I racked ~3 gallons to a separate secondary to age it over bourbon-soaked oak chips.

The rest of the batch is getting dry hopped on Mt. Rainer hops (1/2 oz leaf) and then cold conditioned. I'm not sure how long to leave the beer on top of those oak chips, but I was thinking the longer, the better. I'm heading back to NC for two weeks in late June, so I thought I might just bottle then so it's ready to drink when I get back.

SoundBoy - I'm interested in your photog setup for those pics. What are you using for lighting? What lens/exposure - they look really great.

5/25/2011 8:36:59 PM

^it's in the EXIF data, come on now!

Nikon D90, f/3.2, 1/80s, ISO-320, +1.7 step, 90mm, Camera set to Aperature Priority, No flash (it looks like direct sunlight hitting white blinds behind it and overexposed so it looks like a light box, or some sort of linear light source behind the glass.

[Edited on May 26, 2011 at 12:22 AM. Reason : .]

5/26/2011 12:19:19 AM

Soundboy's photos are hosted on imageshack - I didn't see any exif info.

OK, I even downloaded the pic and tried to play around with the jpg - now this is just embarassing but how did you find the exif?

[Edited on May 26, 2011 at 11:10 AM. Reason : dl]

5/26/2011 11:08:25 AM

^saved the image, right-click -> properties -> details tab

5/26/2011 11:47:59 AM

Do you guys know of any local places in Raleigh that will laser engrave/etch glasses?

5/29/2011 8:36:52 PM

Should have added this into the previous post. I'm hoping to get into kegging soon, and I'm trying to find the best price equipment. I would appreciate the help. Thanks!

5/29/2011 10:31:40 PM

kegconnection.com

or

beveragefactory.com

had the best prices when I looked into it. Just bought a 2-keg kit and ran with it.

5/30/2011 10:26:52 AM

OH MY GOD

I think i just bottled the wrong beer today... I really need to start labeling the carboys.

5/30/2011 11:10:06 PM

Oh, and i just read the pic comments. Prospero nailed it on the head, I just had the ipa sitting on the kitchen table in front of the blinds. I had to manually overexpose by almost 2 stops because the camera's light meter kept on wanting to expose for the blinds instead of the beer.

5/30/2011 11:55:04 PM

Do any of you guys lager? If so, how do you do it?

6/3/2011 9:23:05 PM

i've never lagered, but I have a mini fridge I can do it in.

6/4/2011 12:34:30 PM

Lagers are for the Germans and really cheap Americans

No seriously it's the same process, it's just the Lager yeast needs colder temperatures to ferment vs. room temperature for Ales (generally speaking). Lagers can take longer too.

6/4/2011 2:15:05 PM

moved the IPA over to the secondary and put in the cascade for dry hopping

6/4/2011 5:46:33 PM

My SWMBO loves fruity beers and asked me to make something "very berry". This is my first time ever formulating a recipe, so I'm very unsure of what this recipe might taste like. Anyway the recipe is below and I would appreciate any changes/suggestions. Thanks a ton!

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.048 ~
Final Gravity: 1.011 ~

4.5# Extra Pale LME
1.5# Wheat LME
1# Blueberry Honey
.4 oz Cluster 6.8% @ 60 min
.25 oz Cluster 6.8% @ 20 min
Whirlfloc @ 15 min
White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale
5lbs Blueberry 2lbs Raspberry 1lbs Blackberry (In the secondary)

6/5/2011 6:12:55 PM

^that sounds good. let us know how it turns out!

Pic of the all grain american pale ale:

6/8/2011 10:41:45 PM

^^Damn, that is a ton of fruit. I used 4# of blueberries in my wheat.

Also, FanatiK which of those two websites did you end up going with? How fast was the shipping and were you pleased with what you got? They both look like really good deals, especially compared to getting stuff at American Brewmaster. I am looking to keg my next batch, so I want to get something pretty soon.

6/9/2011 10:20:31 PM

I ordered from beveragefactory, no complaints. Everything was in great shape and it arrived quickly.

[Edited on June 10, 2011 at 9:17 AM. Reason : d]

6/10/2011 9:15:26 AM

here she is...11.2%abv of oaky-bourbon chocolately malty hoppyness.

Bourbon Smash

6/13/2011 11:53:21 AM

friends-

i am looking for a cheap sparging apparatus. i have actually had some great efficiency with my slow pour over all the grains with siphon, however i would like to automate this more with a device made of something like CPVC and a valve of sorts.

anyone have any recommendations for such an apparatus?

6/13/2011 12:25:43 PM

Anyone have experience brewing a braggot? Looking for for an extract recipe; been also reading about barleywine braggot, but don't really understand the concept. Please help.

6/21/2011 8:12:10 PM

Columbus hops:

6/27/2011 6:56:07 PM

wow that bourbon smash looks and sounds so GOOD. is 20 bucks cheap enough for a sparge arm? http://www.northernbrewer.com/default/stationary-sparge-arm.html

Prospero - that's how much the columbus grew in a month? That's awesome.

6/27/2011 9:53:20 PM

That was about a week ago, it's now almost 5'-0" tall!

6/27/2011 10:01:17 PM

Just FYI for all the homebrewers, hops are bines not vines. I just got back from some brewery tours (see the beer thread) and both the tour guy at Dogfish Head & the lady at Yuengling said hops are vines. Not sure why that bothers me but it did.

6/27/2011 10:24:16 PM

i brewed a blue moon clone for the girl and summer outside drinking and it kind of sucks. something went... weird and i'm not sure what.

so now i have a full batch to drink, of beer i don't even particularly care for the style of.

so i got that going for me.

need ideas for my next batch though. the next batch will be my first all grain batch. so that's exciting.

6/28/2011 4:22:02 PM

If it's your first all-grain, I'd go with a nice porter. Something darker to cover up any mistakes you might make haha.

6/28/2011 4:43:59 PM

exactly the type of info i was looking for

6/28/2011 5:28:41 PM

Yeah, those roasted/coffee notes should do a nice job of cleaning up any off-flavors. Should at least be drinkable.

My first "good" all-grain was my porter.

Beyond that, the technique for most all-grain beers will the same...only real difference is the grain bill and hop additions. Just keep your mash temp in check.


[Edited on June 28, 2011 at 6:53 PM. Reason : .]

6/28/2011 6:46:32 PM

^exactly plus with a nice porter you can add some chocolate to your grain bill and really cover up any mistakes

7/3/2011 10:56:02 AM

Black IPA... did I mention how dark it is? SRM near 48 Hence the mirror effect.

7/5/2011 1:27:42 AM

where can i get stainless steel fender washers over 1/2" inner diameter?

tried the big stores, and all the ace's i know of.

going to try a marine hardware store on the way home, but coming close to just buying a vise and reaming one out. basically, i'll use it as an excuse to buy a bench vise anyways.

7/5/2011 10:15:35 AM

ok after calling every store around me, i broke down and ordered some from fastenal.

7/5/2011 5:45:08 PM

Finally getting around to brewing again now that my last exam is done.

Belgian Wit (Wittebrew) modified from BCS a bit:
http://hopville.com/recipe/758343/witbier-recipes/bcs-wittebrew

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 11:25 AM. Reason : .]

7/6/2011 11:25:36 AM

doing an imperial IPA tomorrow night based on the Avery Maharaja. LOTS and LOTS of hops...

7/11/2011 3:38:18 PM