Central ADV Homebrewers

Buying by the bag is the only way. I have already gone through a 25 kilo bag. Time for another.

I might start buying by the bag, at least for the two row. I've been thinking about buying a mill considering the problems I'm having but wanted to make sure I knew where my problem was.

I just got done brewing the batch I crushed yesterday at 13 mil. Ended up with 74% mash efficiency and hit my target OG of 1.044 dead on It's in the fermenter.

Has anyone brewed with Wild Rice? I may have access to a few lbs of the stuff and would like to give it a try.

I've never brewed with wild rice before but, I've also never brewed with sheep. But I do like your sig line Mr Apocalypse.

Tonight I bottled something like an IPA. Five ounces of Simcoe hops. Smelled yummy! Tomorrow I will brew something like a bock. Or maybe something like a maibock. Tonight I drink a Delirium nocturnum courtesy of the kind, benevolent, and slightly delirious fifthcircle. I also pui.

Just picked up 2 sacks of grain, and several 5lb bags, all from a local grain wholesaler. Not as convenient, as orders are placed once a month, but prices were great and no shipping prices. Paid around $.90/lb for pale ale malt from belgium and cargils new low lx 2 row malt.

Also picked up more dextrose,05, 04, and belgian trappist ale yeast. Gonna be a good brew day. Lots of hops left from my cascade harvest this year.

Brewed up a magnum/cascade apa today, using the last of my hops from garden. Sitting at 1.061 right now, should be tasty. So damn cold outside, I did not even use my wort chiller. Just left the pot out and stirred occasionally. Damn ball lock valve froze, so I had to grab a pot and bail out the wort into a china cap in funnel. 6 gallons of amber joy in 6 weeks.

Used a couple lbs of cargils low lox 2 row, from a sack picked up yesterday. Supposed to have a lower enzyme in it, makes beer stay fresh longer. Any one else try this two row from cargil?

I have to admit, I have never looked for or needed malt outside of that which the local brew supply store has in stock. Looked at Cargill's web site and found out I have more to learn.

Fedex delivered 4 lbs of hops today, so I just had to make beer. Picked up 1 lb of Citra, Cascade, Simcoe, and Kent Goldings. Made a citra cascade pale ale. This is my first attempt at dry hopping. Overshot my efficiency, hit 81, and og is way high, so now it is an IPA. :)

Picked up the hops from Bell Brewing, who have a great homebrew store selection. Cheapest place by far for shipping, hops, supplies in the midwest. Gotta visit them soon. Heres the link. https://bellsbeer.com/store/categories/Homebrewing-Supplies/

Who would have thought, a great brewery selling to home brewers. Love 2 hearted ale, one of my favorites.

I brewed an IPA yesterday too, my first one also so I'll be learning about dry hopping with you I guess! I thought I had read that whole leaf hops are better for dry hopping since it will be easier to filter them out but I couldn't find whole leaf hops in the varieties I needed so I'm going to see how pellets work.

This is my 1st attempt at making something that is not from a kit. Summit Saga has been my local brew of choice recently so I went on their website and came up with the below in BeerSmith.

Summit Saga Clone

American IPA (14 B)



Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.96 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.46 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 4.75 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

Date: 11 Jan 2014
Equipment: Pot and Cooler (15/10 gallon)
Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 68.2 %
Taste Rating: 30.0

Taste Notes:

<table class="BeerSmithTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <caption>Ingredients</caption> <tbody> <tr> <th align="left" width="22%">Amt</th> <th align="left" width="50%">Name</th> <th align="left" width="11%">Type</th> <th align="left" width="4%">#</th> <th align="left" width="11%">%/IBU</th></tr> <tr> <td align="left">10 lbs 12.0 oz</td> <td align="left">Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)</td> <td align="left">Grain</td> <td align="left">1</td> <td align="left">88.9 %</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">13.4 oz</td> <td align="left">Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM)</td> <td align="left">Grain</td> <td align="left">2</td> <td align="left">6.9 %</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">8.0 oz</td> <td align="left">Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM)</td> <td align="left">Grain</td> <td align="left">3</td> <td align="left">4.1 %</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">2.00 oz</td> <td align="left">Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min</td> <td align="left">Hop</td> <td align="left">4</td> <td align="left">77.0 IBUs</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">0.25 tsp</td> <td align="left">Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)</td> <td align="left">Fining</td> <td align="left">6</td> <td align="left">-</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">1.0 pkg</td> <td align="left">American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml]</td> <td align="left">Yeast</td> <td align="left">7</td> <td align="left">-</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">1.00 oz</td> <td align="left">Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days</td> <td align="left">Hop</td> <td align="left">8</td> <td align="left">0.0 IBUs</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">1.00 oz</td> <td align="left">Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days</td> <td align="left">Hop</td> <td align="left">9</td> <td align="left">0.0 IBUs</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">1.00 oz</td> <td align="left">Rakau (Alpharoma) [10.50 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days</td> <td align="left">Hop</td> <td align="left">10</td> <td align="left">0.0 IBUs</td></tr></tbody></table>
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.7 %
Bitterness: 77.0 IBUs
Est Color: 9.0 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.058 SG


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Sparge Water: 2.83 gal
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 1.4 oz
Grain Temperature: 65.0 F
Tun Temperature: 65.0 F
Mash PH: 5.50
<table class="BeerSmithTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <caption>Mash Steps</caption> <tbody> <tr> <th align="left" width="19%">Name</th> <th align="left" width="54%">Description</th> <th align="left" width="12%">Step Temperature</th> <th align="left" width="12%">Step Time</th></tr> <tr> <td align="left">Mash In</td> <td align="left">Add 16.11 qt of water at 168.7 F</td> <td align="left">152.0 F</td> <td align="left">60 min</td></tr> <tr> <td align="left">Mash Out</td> <td align="left">Add 7.20 qt of water at 211.4 F</td> <td align="left">168.0 F</td> <td align="left">10 min</td></tr></tbody></table>
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 2.83gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Carbonation and Storage


Carbonation Type: Keg
Pressure/Weight: 10.10 PSI
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 40.0 F
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Carbonation Used: Keg with 10.10 PSI
Age for: 30.00 days
Storage Temperature: 65.0 F

Notes

Created with BeerSmith ​

I've never dry hopped for only four days before or with pellets. Will you secondary in a glass carboy? Interested to find out how this works for you.

I'm actually debating how long and when to do the dry hopping. Seems like there are a lot of variation on how dry hopping is accomplished. My thought on 4 days is the article I read stated that most of the oils are extracted in the first 24-48 hours then at some point after that the rate at which the aroma escapes is faster than that of which the oils are being extracted. The article was telling me 4 days was the sweet spot but now I can't find where I was reading that. I was actually reading HBT this morning and found people staying they were doing anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks. I was also considering dry hopping in the keg but then I'd need to get some mesh bags or herb balls.

I am using a glass carboy as a secondary and assume you are wondering how I'm going to get the pellet hops out? I was going to put a paint strainer on the end of my autosiphon and just be careful not to get any. I was gong to transfer into a bottling bucket and let it sit for an hour or so there to let it settle again before transferring to the keg. If it is not separating I'll cold crash it the night before.

I'm going to a local brewery for a tour this Friday and was going to pick their brains a bit. I have not been to this brewery in the past but I usually find they are fairly willing to share and help.

What do you do?

I think I just found my solution. I'm going to hop in the keg like this and pull it out after 2 or 3 weeks. Stole this idea off another forum. That is a hose camp tightened around the PSV fitting on the inside of the corny lid.

That looks like a good solution. There a lot of advantages to kegging and it looks you just found another. Secondary hop right there in the keg and eliminate one more transfer.

Brewing a pale ale tonight. I'm only using six ounces of hops-Chinook,Cascade, and Simcoe. Think that is enough? Don't want it too malty. Think I should dry hop?

Yep. Nope.
You throw hops at your beer like a madman. Let this one be slightly hoppy.

Sent from my fat thumbs on a small touch screen.

I had my first boil-over on Saturday. Brewed up a batch of "Jawbreaker wheat ale" from Midwest. Got the initial boil; turned off the burner and started adding the dry malt extract. I was cautious, even - added a little, then stirred it in. Hmmm, not bad. Dumped in the rest - one pound - and waited a bit before stirring. As soon as it moved, the pot erupted like a flowing volcano! Water and malt everywhere. Mrs. B. was unimpressed by the condition of her kitchen range.

This stove has an electronic control panel on the front, which got flooded with goo. We ended up taking the whole thing apart to get it clean. I was lucky; the range survived being drowned. No more beer-making in the kitchen, though. Hafta use the big propane burner in the garage or on the driveway. Could'a been worse, I guess.

I added some DME that i have on the shelf. Not the same kind but it's what I had.

Jon

I suppose it has happened to all of us, I am also banished from the kitchen...

December was a bust because I sold my old house and had to vacate my 28' x 32' garage after 20 years of "collecting". January wasn't much better.
February is looking much better. I was waiting on an overdue order from Midwest and decided to use up some of my left over brewing supplies. I brewed a concoction that I'll call Mike's American Ale. 10 lbs. 2 row, small amounts of caramel 20, caramel 30, and cara munich. I added .5 oz. of magnum and .5 oz. northern brewer at 60 minutes. I had a couple of ozs. cascade whole leaf hops in the freezer that went in at 20 minutes along with an oz. of centennial pellets. Some more centennial and cascade pellets (1 oz. each)went in at one minute. Fermented for two weeks with us05 and then I transferred to a keg with a nylon mesh bag hose clamped to the relief valve like a picture posted here with one more oz. of centennial hops.
I finally put it in my keezer about a week ago. Samples last night with a good beer making friend and we both gave it a seal of approval.
This is the first time I have ventured without a recipe from another source and it was great fun.........

It's been kind of quite here, so here's another bump.
Last weekend I brewed a Boundary Waters Wheat. I've done this all grain recipe twice before. I get honey from a local bee keeper. One pound of honey and two oz. fresh orange zest at flame out. I'll rack it to a secondary next weekend and add a couple of oz. coriander in a little vodka. Not so much added as to overpower the wheat beer. Even my "Light Beer" friends like that one.
Today I brewed an all grain cream stout from Midwest. Very easy beer to brew. I might experiment with a little vanilla bean in the secondary on this one.

Is everyone else too busy brewing to post, or has all the brewers left the Midwest for warmer climates?????

Busy doing stuff...only brewed twice this year. I did collaborate with zoid on a 10gal batch of oatmeal stout. We split it, and used different yeast. I should bottle it sooner than later. No hurry though. I like to let the stouts sit a few weeks minimum.

I will probably brew some blonde ale soon. Once my process is down on the new rig, I will brew an Abt 12 clone.

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