beer My Homebrews

[font=Arial']Greetings![/font]

[font=Arial']About 5 weeks ago I started my very first home brew. It was from an American Pale Ale ingredient kit from Brewer's Best. [/font]

[font=Arial']I was going to wait to drink it until the 6 week mark, but I had to have a taste. And that taste led to about 24 12oz tastes... Heh, whoops. I still have about a case worth that will (hopefully) see it to the 6th week mark.[/font]

[font=Arial']All in all I think I freaking nailed my first beer. It was delicious. Better than some other craft APA's you can buy in stores IMO. I truly feel this beer is as good as the recipe. Someday I will create my own recipe, but until then these kits will do.[/font]

[font=Arial']The only thing I could have improved I would say would be the clarity of the beer. It is in no way clear. Next time I'll try doing some clearing techniques, but got damn this is good brew. [/font]

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[font=Arial']Cheers![/font]
 
Thanks, great to be here. I'd love for a pro to review my brew for sure.

I do look forward to the day when I can create my own recipe. As for now, there are things that I don't quite grasp when it comes to creating a recipe. Some day though. I guess other peoples recipe it is for now.
 
Thanks, great to be here. I'd love for a pro to review my brew for sure.

I do look forward to the day when I can create my own recipe. As for now, there are things that I don't quite grasp when it comes to creating a recipe. Some day though. I guess other peoples recipe it is for now.

hey man im in Sarasota, we could make a day of it
 
No need to wait 6 weeks to drink an apa mate.
You leave it too long those hop aromas die, seeing as apa usually lacks malt complexity you wanna drink it as soon as possible.

What's the abv%? Usually for an apa, well looked after 4 weeks should be fine, 3 if you have a really healthy yeast culture.

Been home brewing for 12 years, professional for 6.
Drink it based on judgement. If it tastes right, drink!

Happy to help anyone where I can, just ask.

By the way, clarity depends on a few factors. Mainly temperature (the lower, the easier yeast falls) yeast strain and vessel shape. As it's your first attempt and this is the only flaw you found, read up and work on it for next time - then pick on the next flaw you find, repeat, repeat until you are happy (good brewers are never happy with it, the challenge of improvement is most of the fun!)
 
No need to wait 6 weeks to drink an apa mate.
You leave it too long those hop aromas die, seeing as apa usually lacks malt complexity you wanna drink it as soon as possible.

What's the abv%? Usually for an apa, well looked after 4 weeks should be fine, 3 if you have a really healthy yeast culture.

Been home brewing for 12 years, professional for 6.
Drink it based on judgement. If it tastes right, drink!

Happy to help anyone where I can, just ask.

By the way, clarity depends on a few factors. Mainly temperature (the lower, the easier yeast falls) yeast strain and vessel shape. As it's your first attempt and this is the only flaw you found, read up and work on it for next time - then pick on the next flaw you find, repeat, repeat until you are happy (good brewers are never happy with it, the challenge of improvement is most of the fun!)

So you think 6 weeks would not benefit the beer style? And just to clarify I am talking 6 weeks from pitch to drink, but either way I'm going to leave SOME bottles to condition until week 6 so I can compare taste.

The ABV is unknown, I failed to take a gravity reading. But I followed the recipe to a T and shorted the water about .5 gallons, so I think my OG would have been slightly higher than intended. I did take an FG though and it was right on target of 1.012. So I'd guess it is at least 5.5%

I have a porter I'm about to bottle tomorrow, this is also a low gravity beer. Would this style benefit from 6 weeks?
 
Cold will help to settle the suspended particles to the bottom of what ever container you have it in. As it is bottled just put them in the fridge and crank it down as cold as you can get it. Allow them to sit un touched/bumped for a week and then just be careful pouring and leave the bottom most portion in the bottle. I have a beer in the secondary that I had to put in at 32 degrees F to get it to clear up. Then I'll rack it into the bottling bucket, allow it to warm some and pitch a new yeast so it'll bottle condition. Next time I brew it I'll probably add some Irish Moss to help it settle out some more and not have to repitch yeast to bottle condidtion.

Cheers,
RM

PS. go meet up with wheebz!
 
Yeah, 6 weeks is not gonna benefit the hops. Keep a few bottles back and compare. It's a good rule to live by but also your setup dictates.

Depends on the type of porter, but off the bat I would say probably yes. The complexity of malts really becomes apparent with aging and converse for hops (to a degree). Try a bottle after 2 then 3 then 4 weeks. Everyone is different, but your judgement is the most important - but try to be your own biggest critic!

Rocket man, I recommend using irish moss - it clears proteins in the kettle, not yeast in the final product. You have to boil it for recommended 15 minutes so proteins can coagulate more than would do normally.
Excess protein is harmful, particularly to shelf life.
Re pitching yeast for bottle condition, though not bad will mean that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the bottle when pouring as just making the most of the yeast already present will.
Rack when semi clear and add 1 teaspoon of sugar per litre to the beer. Adding straight to the bottle can cause problems. For a start it will be making CO2 before capping which preserves the environment in the bottle - very good.
If you add the sugar direct to the bottle, dosage is hard to keep uniform, the initial reaction can cause pressure that can blow the bottle a few days in and you won't have that bed of CO2 on the top.
 
[font=Arial']Thanks georgej, next time I brew this one I'll be using some Irish Moss for sure. With an FG of 1.020 (10% ABV) as wheebz said there's still a lot of residual sugar in there and adding priming sugar probably isn't necessary. My concern was that after 8 days of cold conditioning to settle as much suspended matter as possible there wouldn't be any viable yeast left to carbonate the bottles. So, the reasoning behind pitching another yeast.[/font]

[font=Arial']Sorry HTH, didn't mean to hyjack.[/font]
 
It's not hijacking mate, the more discussion he's subjected to the more points he can consider.

Yeah it depends on your yeast strain. Some will still be in suspension after 8 days, others won't. I don't disagree with re pitching, but like I said before older yeast will fall easier.

Yeah 1020 is plenty. We have lower finishing gravity in the UK than the states generally (Germany more so usually) and even after 2 years living in Japan I'm finding the high finishing gravity hard to swallow sometimes (literally). But as long as it tastes good is all that matters. People can offer advice, but never take it as gospel, best thing is to listen to yourself and never give up trying to improve. If you think it's perfect, something ain't right, always criticise your own work is the best advice I have. Apart from never become a brewer - pays lowsy and it's hard work ;)
 
Ok, so my pale ale is bottled, and I only have about 23 bottles left. I wanted to try to save the rest for week 6. but my how fast they go. My porter is bottled and has another 3 weeks to go...

So now I'm left with an empty primary I need to fill and seeing how there is still a good portion of winter left, I want to do my next batch next week, and want to do something nice and heavy for winter, but something that doesn't require a long conditioning period.

I was thinking about doing a chocolate stout or something if I can find a good recipe.

Would something like a choc stout require extra conditioning time if I used actual chocolate or chocolate flavoring? I'm hopin for a 6 week TAT tops.

Finally, anyone have a suggestion on recipe using extract and specialty grain?
 
post your question to ask wheebz and he'll answer for you.

Edit: you might also check out Homebrewtalk.com. They are a home brew forum and have alot of recipes posted.
 
Haha at first I thought I was posting in ask wheebz... ha oh well.

I do frequent homebrewtalk, but there are SO MANY recipes from joe schmo, and I'm not sayin they are bad, but you really don't know what you are going to get. So I am just researching where ever I can. Besides I am partial to THP
 
Depends on how strong you are gonna make it really as to conditioning time mate.
The lower the gravity, the shorter time - I love making english bitter (not just cause I'm an English brewer) they have short conditioning time and are best very fresh.

About getting chocolate into your stout, do NOT add real chocolate. Fats will mess up the whole thing like you wouldn't believe.
Most people use chocolate malt for a start, then either chocolate extract or cocao powder.

Cocao powder has its problems - it forms a sticky mess and is hard to run off after brewing. We made it where I worked in England, that was a long day waiting for 2000 litres to run off from the kettle.
I suggest using extract/essence/flavouring. It's easier and gives a more distinct chocolate flavour (cocao makes the beer extremely bitter)
 
Ok so I really wanted to do a chocolate stout, but I couldn't find a reliable recipe, or at least one I felt confident in following so I am doing a regular stout and my recipe is the following:

Recipe called for Pale Malt DME, but all they had was golden light... hope thats not a big deal.

6.6lbs briess golden light DME
0.5lb crystal 60L malt
0.5 chocolate malt

0.75oz Nugget
1oz Fuggles

White labs WLP004

OG for 5 gallons 1.054

Hope this sounds about right. I'll find out one way or another.

I'ma brew it up this wednesday when I have some time, so it should be ready early Jan, just in time for the heart of a FL "winter"
 
i don't work in lbs mate, seems like the chocolate is kinda high, but i usually formulate a recipe in % of mass.. but also, technically chocolate malt wont make it a stout. you need roast barley to be a true stout... but that's just being fickle... i'd use a far smaller percentage of RB in its place but that's just me... the more coloured malts you use, the more acidic/astringent your beer can get. it's a very difficult balancing game

it's been a while since i've homebrewed and since leaving the UK i don't use imperial measures.
to make it more confusing, US and UK measures are different. significantly so!

but, i reckon you can make a decent beer out of this mate. the trick is to just do it, see how it turns out, and if you think you can improve on it, go back and try again!

what makes a good brewer is really trial and error. you can go to some fancy university and be good on paper as a brewer, but the most important think is your practical knowledge! in the UK, we made a point of not hiring anyone without previous brewery experience or (more important) home brew experience. the guys that are fresh out of college can't wash a cask without getting a calculator out, the people who think on their toes and constantly badmouth themselves saying ' i MUST do it better next time!' are the ones who actually make it.

go for it mate, and really criticise yourself! don't just love the beer cause it's your baby... tell it you are ashamed of it for X reason and that he's grounded until he gets his act together ;)

all the best! let us know how she turns out!
 
Ay, I see. Seeing how I'm still new to the world of brewing I wanted to stick to more traditional recipes to learn what makes the style what it is... The thing is the recipe originally called for roasted barley but the guy at the local homebrew store suggested using choc malts in place for a more chocolate taste. Perhaps I should go pick up that barley as origianlly planned.

Would it work if I use the chocolate malt in addition to the crystal 60 and roasted barely?
 
Absolutely. The balance is hard though, if you overdo the roast barley it goes astringent very fast. However, chocolate malt with roast barley (roast a minority) really compliment each other.

It's all very open to interpretation depending on malt manufacturer. I've had to change recipes cause I've been sent I.e chocolate malt, from a different maltings so there's no right and wrong answer I can give to help. Sensory evaluation will take years to learn.

If you are using chocolate malt and roasted barley together, make sure you use less roast. It adds alot of bitterness and Moreover acidity. Chocolate can give a range of flavours depending on grist percentage. I like using about 2% which gives a smokey, oak like flavour as well as a slightly chocolate flavour in an esb. For a stout I would maybe triple or quad it depending on abv and use a ratio of 3 chocolate to 1 roast, for the reasons like astringency. But that's just for my taste. Maybe try make a few stout back to back and change it every time.

Best way to learn is to stick with one style for a while and adjust a basic recipe each time. It's harder to learn if you I.e go ipa, weizen, bitter, stout, pils etc

But, don't take what I say as gospel - make what you wanna do and enjoy the hell out of it man :)
 
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