# What's brewing at your place?



## jocosa (Oct 18, 2007)

With the changing color of the leaves, and outdoor temps dropping, many brewers start thinking more about brewing beer or getting a holiday batch wrapped up - what's brewing at your place?

I just bottled 5 gallons of stout and 5 gallons of porter, will be brewing an Irish Red soon and making a Black Raspberry Merlot.  Also need to start a batch of hard cider - 'tis the season you know.

We'll be bottling 5 gallons of traditional mead and 3 gallons of pyment...

Hoping to get some sausage making equipment soon.... hoping that homemade sausages and a mixed-six pack will make great 'made with love' gifts.    :)


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## scotty (Oct 18, 2007)

HEY!!!!!! I make wine. Im aging a white grape peach and an apricot.
Next wee i will start an austrailian shiraz.

Im lining up to make a concord grape red wine and an oange chocolate wine also.


Here are lots of photos
http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...wine%20making/


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## jocosa (Oct 18, 2007)

Wow scotty - Nice looking bottles and labels!   I made a concord pyment once, we still have one bottle of that test batch - got any tips on making anything using concord?  Of course I used the juice from the store, that may have been my mistake, or I may have not used enough.

Very nice color on those too... the fruit cocktail looks particularly enticing.  And don't you *love* a floor corker? 

I never tried one of the smaller hand corkers , don't have to be a psychic to know that would end up broken glass and blood...  and some manner of wasted beverage.


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## payson (Oct 18, 2007)

Just brewed 5 gallons of American barley wine with Warrior, Simcoe and Cascade (1.108!!) and did a second running ESB 5 gallon batch. Still happily fermenting away. We've got a Flanders Red awaiting the keg as well as a pretty standard clover-honey mead.


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## ted (Oct 18, 2007)

payson, Flanders Red? Nice!! How about a recipe for that ?
I have an Amarillo Delight that just got kegged, it's an APA with all Amarillo, I have a Homegrown Hop Ale that is just finishing primary and a Bitter that was split in 2 wit each half fermented with a different Brit ale yeast for research purposes!  This weekend I will be brewing a 10 gal batch of Porter with another brewer and splitting it with him! Coming up I have a batch of Multi-berry Melomel that will be made and then a couple lagers that need to get done, along with another attempt at a hard cider!!


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## jocosa (Oct 18, 2007)

Ted... what yeast do you usually use for hard cider?  I've tried Nottingham, and WL English Ale... and both did ok, and while friends lapped it up as fast as I could open it - it just wasn't emotionally satisfying to me... it keeps seeming more like a dry apple wine than a cider to me.

I'm gonna try the Wyeast Cider Ale yeast with this batch, just trying to decide what mixture of juices I want to use.  

Payson... I've only done one second running brew thus far - what kind of OG did you have?


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## deejaydebi (Oct 18, 2007)

Nothing brewing right now. I've been way to busy getting my Christmas sausages ans bacon going. I don't have to get my German Altbier, IPA and Balentine Clone going for News Years thought.


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## scotty (Oct 18, 2007)

Concord from frozen welches concentrare is something i have made my specialty.
I make 4 types from frozen concord.
1 11 oz can per 3 gallon batch((dont laugh))it puts most rose wines to shame

Then i do 1 or 2 or 3 cans per gallon styles. I always make a 3 gallon batch or more.

Then always use A hydrometer to test sg and keep the alcohol down to a max of 10-12 percent. High alcohol hides the flavor. After it is fermented to fully dry i backsweeten to varying percentages of sugar to suit my tast or what i expect others will like. One of my favorire parts of the hobby is making pretentious names for the wine
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Here is a forum of extremely helpfull folks. just like the smoking forum bunch
http://corneliushome.com/Wiz/forum/default.asp

I have a small program called wine calc which computes mant things including hpw much sugar to add to how many gallons based on the specific gravity of the must/juice but i cant seem to find the link now

I also use welches white grape peach--dynamite white wine


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## scotty (Oct 18, 2007)

Ballantine wow i havent heard that name since i was a teenager.
 The brewery went out of business because  the union contract would  not allow the truck to deliver  more than 40 cases per man per day((2 men on a huge truck))

 The  bud drivers used to deliver 1000 cases to one of  my stores and still have some for other stops.
 Balantine cases were 8-six packs unlike the 4  six pack cases of today.


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## homebrew & bbq (Oct 19, 2007)

I'm just getting started at homebrewing. I can count the brews I've made on one hand, all with kits. Right now I have a German Altbier that should be ready to bottle in the next week or so. I am hoping to get an American Amber started before too long.


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## deejaydebi (Oct 19, 2007)

Scotty -

This is a clone of the 1950's Balentine XX not the new crap they sell today by that name that could just as easily be Bud (no offence if you actually drink Bud but ...)  Good stuff!

Terry - What kit did you use for the German Altbier? Was it an extract kit? I made a Brewers Best kit a few year back that was very good and got me hooked on the stuff! Very active brew.


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## scotty (Oct 19, 2007)

I dont drink period Deb. I sip wine on ocasion and will enjoy a cold beer on ocasion but if there were no such thing as any kind of *****, alcohol or cigarettes my life would hardly change except perhaps in the area of smelling the stink of tobacco.


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## tailgatingpirate (Oct 19, 2007)

i think im getting brewing starter kit soon as well


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## homebrew & bbq (Oct 19, 2007)

Debi,

I am using the Brewers Best kit. It was recommended to me by the owner of the beer & wine shop where I get my supplies.


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## deejaydebi (Oct 19, 2007)

Scotty -

It's okay to drink on occasion as long as you do it responsibly.

TailGatingPirate -

I have a small (okay 84 page) ebook on my site you can download to get an idea what the various processes are and different alternatives.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/BeerMenu.htm


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## tailgatingpirate (Oct 19, 2007)

sweet thanks i dont know when im getting the kit but i know where to find it


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## jocosa (Oct 19, 2007)

And there are plenty of us here who can answer any quick questions that you may have...  :)


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## richtee (Oct 19, 2007)

Dammit... this just MIGHT get me over the edge. Been 8 years since I brewed...SOOO much fun. Sigh... Wife hates it tho... grin..the "smell and mess"  heh... then again, she dn't drink beer. Silly woman, anyway..  ;{)


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## payson (Oct 19, 2007)

Ted, I'll see if I can dig up the recipe and post it for you.

jocosa, the second runnings had a gravity of 1.052. Bear in mind that the initial batch was a pretty big barley wine. Generally speaking I'll always parti-gyle when my first beer is a big one. Twice the beer for not much more effort. Also, for what it's worth, I generally use "no-sparge" or once in a blue moon I'll batch sparge. I think this helps when it comes to the second running. Lots of sugars left in there! I'm obviously not remotely concerned with efficiency! Hell, in the scheme of things grain is still pretty cheap (in bulk!) and my beers are never even remotely astringent!


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## ted (Oct 19, 2007)

Payson, that would be great!
Debi, if your Ballentine recipe is all grain, I'd like to see it. I have a buddy that brews a Ballentine IPA and has recieved rave reviews from a guy that used to brew it at the  Naragansat location before the brewery started it's move to the midwest.


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## jocosa (Oct 19, 2007)

Payson - that makes sense, and I'd do the same - in fact, someone asked me a week ago when I would be doing a barleywine - might just be time.

Efficiency, I think I tried calculating that 3 years ago when I went AG, but haven't worried with it since... too much math!

I batch sparge anyway, and have learned that just an extra running tends to give me just what I need for my 5 gallon batches.   Have a keggle and a CFC, just gotta get some high-temp tubing and 'get to it.'  :)    And like full volume boils and AG, once I start a new method, there's no turning back.


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## payson (Oct 19, 2007)

Likewise on the "no turning back". In the past a 5 gallon brew day was the norm. Now it's usually 10 and we even did 20 in one day once. More is always better! 
 I was foolish enough many moons ago to think that homebrewing would save me money!! Now, there's always some other gadget I must have! Recently upgraded from an immersion chiller to a counterflow. I'm much happier with it.


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## jocosa (Oct 19, 2007)

I'm looking forward to using the CFC - will keep my immersion chiller, it may end up being a pre-chiller for the CFC when brewing on Georgia summer days...  

Or is that over-engineering?


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## payson (Oct 19, 2007)

Not over-engineering at all. I have to do the same in South Carolina.


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## jrbruin (Oct 19, 2007)

I've got a big saturday planned with a brisket smoke and brewing my famous (in my household anyway) pumpkin ale.

It's a long day of brewing with the prepping and cooking of the pumpkin, then a separate mini-mash (to break down the pumpkin) before the main mash - but the final result is delicious.

It ends up with a good pumpkin flavor/aroma in a chocolatey stout beer.


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## deejaydebi (Oct 19, 2007)

Terry –

Those were really good kits. I did change the yeast from the kits dry yeast to 1 tube of German Ale/Kolsch Liquid Yeast. Boy was it active! Keep a small bucket handy and if it gets over active put a blow off tube in the airlock and put the other end in a bucket of water.

When your ready I have the all-grain version also.

Ted –
I’ve got the recipe worked out for extract and all-grain. The extract is not quite as good but the all-grain is great! Here's the printout from BeerSmith.

*Deejays Ballentine *** Ale*
American Light/Standard/Premium Lager
Type: All Grain Date: 6/13/2006
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Brewer: Deejay
Boil Size: 6.34 gal    Asst Brewer: Jessie
Boil Time: 60 min 
Equipment: Brew Pot (12.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 42.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.0
Taste Notes: Yummy

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Grits (1.0 SRM) Adjunct 6.9 %
5.00 lb Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 69.0 %
0.75 lb Wheat, White (Cargill) (2.9 SRM) Grain 10.3 %
0.50 lb Carafoam (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.9 %
0.50 lb Crystal Light - 45L (Crisp) (45.0 SRM) Grain 6.9 %
0.50 oz Mt. Hood [6.00%] (30 min) Hops 9.4 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (20 min) Hops 5.9 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.9 IBU

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.040 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.8 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.6 %
Bitterness: 17.2 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 6.6 SRM

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Temperature Mash,
1 Step, Full Body Total Grain Weight: 7.25 lb
Sparge Water: 5.19 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment:
FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Saccharification Add 9.06 qt of water at 170.5 F 158.0 F 40 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F 10 min

Mash Notes: Temperature mash for use when mashing in a brew pot over a
heat source such as the stove. Use heat to maintain desired temperature during the mash.
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged
(Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI Carbonation Used: 3.78
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

JR -

Had my first Pumpkin Ale this summer in Salem Mass at the Salem Brew Works it was very good. Wanna share your recipe?


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## ted (Oct 19, 2007)

Thanks Debi, that looks mighty good!!! By grits I am assuming you mean corn/maize?  I may have to brew this soon!! 
Terry, like Debi suggested, upgrading to a liquid yeast is a good step for any kit.


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## homebrew & bbq (Oct 20, 2007)

Debi & Ted,

Thanks for the tip on liquid yeast. I want to get this batch started soon so I don't know if I can make the substitution this time. My nearest supplier is 100 miles away. 

It would be great to make it to all grain brewing, but right now my available time is keeping my learning curve like fixing Q... low and slow. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 But I know where to go for help/advice if I ever make it there.


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## jrbruin (Oct 20, 2007)

Hey Deb,
  Sure thing.. my recipe is alot different than most pumpkin ales that I've found.  Those ones tend to go for a lighter ale with a pumpkin flavor whereas I went for a much darker beer.  I'll post it tomorrow while I'm brewing, my notebook is out in the garage so all I can remember off the top of my head is the non-2row grains and the pumpkins and hops.  Full recipe to come tomorrow 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I don't have it in Promash so it won't be quite as nicely formatted as your recipe.


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## ted (Oct 20, 2007)

Hey, there's no prob using dry yeast. In fact dry yeast has improved greatly in the last couple yrs and is now every bit as good as liquid yeast in most settings. Liquid yeast has an advantage simply because you can streamline your beer very closely to the brew you are attempting to make. Example is the Kolsch yeast, you can't find a dry Kolsch yeast, the best you could do is make something that vaguely resembles a Kolsch with dry yeast. However, there are more dry yeasts now than ever before, and you can get the dry American Ale yeast along with multiple Brit strains and a couple Belgian strains in dry form. I still have not found a good, reliable lager yeast in dry form, but that is not essential as I only brew a handful of lagers any given year anyway.
As for going All Grain, yes it is arguably the cats meow for homebrewers, but there are a number of people that make outstanding beers with extract, you don't need to get to hungup on that. I would only suggest when making beer from extract to use the lightest color extract possible, then get you color and flavor by steeping specialty grains or moving to partial mashing. By doing one or the other, you can make any beer style you want with little to restrict your effort.


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## jrbruin (Oct 20, 2007)

Well said Ted, I agree about the dry yeast whole heartedly.  In fact, the majority of my beers are made iwth the Safale US-56 strain (now called US-05).  It makes a very good pale ale, IPA, amber, etc.. I always have one or two of those types of beer on tap, then two more specialty type beers (pumpkin for example).  Those ones I may buy a liquid yeast, I've got a bavarian hefe on tap right now that used white labs.

Today's brew, I'm going to use the dry US56 again, initially I was going to go with a English Ale type yeast when I first brewed this - but I think I had trouble finding what I wanted and ended up using the dry us ale yeast and was so happy with the results that I'm going to stick with it.  For $1 a package compared to $5 or $6 for the liquid stuff, unless you save and culture your own strains it's much cheaper and still makes high quality beer.


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## jrbruin (Oct 20, 2007)

And here's that pumpkin ale recipe:

4 pumpkins
Clean the seeds, etc and cut them up into 1 inch cubes and roast in the oven at 350 for 1 hr.
Add 3lb 2-row (I use Maris Otter)

Mini-mash the above in the oven or wherever for 1 hour at 155
This supposedly helps break down the gums in the pumpkin so that you don't get a stuck mash.

In the meantime, prepare the main mash:
7 lb 2-row British
2 lb Wheat
1.5 lb Crystal 20 
.5 lb British (Dark) Chocolate Malt

Mash at 155
During boil:
1.5oz Mt. Hood (4.4AA) for 60 min
.5oz Mt. Hood (4.4AA) for 1 min 

With a few minutes left in the boil, add:
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs nutmeg
2 tsp ginger
.5 tsp clove
1 tsp allspice

I used Safale Dry US05 (US56) yeast, but I think an english ale yeast would be good as well.
My OG was 1.061, but this should have been a much bigger beer according to promash, will let you know what I end up with today. :)
Let me know if I left anything out.


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## jocosa (Oct 20, 2007)

jrbruin - thanks for the pumpkin ale recipe...  I did one once, and helped some friends make one once, but a dark base instead of an amber base sounds like it might be worth trying again.

I use dry wine yeasts for meads - and occasionally a neutral dry yeast for brew... 

HB&BBQ - some of my best remembered brews are from extract kits - and there's a wide margin for 'customization' with these very kits too...  Brewer's Best is one of my favorite brands for extract kits because they *do* put steeping grains in the box.

Some of my favorite tweaks for extract kits are adding a lb or two of honey at flame out (when you turn off the heat at the end of the boil), or maybe adding a qt of maple syrup (not pancake syrup!) at the same time...   I also like to add a 1/2 lb of oats during the steep - it'll help give a nice body boost and nice head to a plain porter or stout - effectively making them an 'oatmeal porter' or 'oatmeal stout.'   
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





AG is fun too, but still tons you can do with extracts...  I've gone back to extracts for a bit to help teach my boyfriend about both brewing methods - it's been fun.


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## ted (Oct 20, 2007)

Here's what I'm brewing on Sunday with another brewer. We will be splitting this, with each getting 5 gallons. Mmmm, just in time for the winter months!! 

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Recipe Name:  WLP (1850)
Brewed On: N/A


Batch Size (Gal):    10.00
Est. IBU:  61.8
Est. OG:   1.065   Plato: 15.82


Grain/Extract/Sugar

   %     Amount     Name                          Origin        Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 78.6    18.33 lbs. Marris Otter                  Great Britain  1.038      2
 16.1     3.75 lbs. Brown Malt                    Great Britain  1.034     60
  1.8     0.42 lbs. Black Patent Malt             Great Britain  1.027    525
  1.8     0.42 lbs. Chocolate Malt                Great Britain  1.034    375
  1.8     0.42 lbs. Carafa Special                Germany        1.030    600

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

   Amount     Name                              Form    Alpha  IBU  Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4.17 oz.    Fuggle                            Whole    4.00  30.9  90 min.
  4.17 oz.    Goldings - E.K.                   Whole    4.00  30.9  90 min.


Extras

  Amount      Name                           Type      Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Unit(s)Whirlfloc                      Fining     5 Min.(boil) 


Yeast
-----

Wyeast London Ale 1028


Mash Schedule
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Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs:   23.33
Water Qts:   28.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal:    7.00 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.20 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 151  Time:  90
Mash-out Rest Temp :         168  Time:  15
Sparge Temp :                166  Time:  60

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.


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