New Brewery!

[Barron]

Originally Posted by P B G

Interesting, and they used the fruit?

I've been under the impression that if you use honey alone, and buy it pasteurized instead of "wild" you can get away with not boiling the batch, but that if you wanted to do wild honey that it should be briefly boiled, or perhaps have tablets added to knock down any batch infections prior to introducing your yeast.

That makes total sense to me, and I agree with what you said as far as boiling it and the types of honey. If you check out Joes Ancient Orange he kinda talks about that...

Like I said though, this is an experiment and I got most of the ingredients with a gift certificate. I'll be sure to post up how it turns out though.

-Barron

[P B G]

Good I'll check back in several months for that one! Mead....

[Apocalypse Cow]

I have read that some of you guys put your beer in used wooden barrels. I would like to try that as my experience increases.
Do you use it as you primary fermentor, secondary? Do you keep in the barrel for a more extended time than you would normally in your primary, if that is how you use it?
I am really eager to try this so any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[fifthcircle]

Originally Posted by Apocalypse Cow

I have read that some of you guys put your beer in used wooden barrels. I would like to try that as my experience increases.
Do you use it as you primary fermentor, secondary? Do you keep in the barrel for a more extended time than you would normally in your primary, if that is how you use it?
I am really eager to try this so any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Cheat and use wood cubes in a fermentation bucket.

I have not yet done this, but I have heard good things if you combine the correct flavors. I was thinking about a stout with a dash of Jack Daniels, and some maple wood....

Sent from my Razr MAXX.

[Jason F.]

Originally Posted by Apocalypse Cow

I have read that some of you guys put your beer in used wooden barrels. I would like to try that as my experience increases.
Do you use it as you primary fermentor, secondary? Do you keep in the barrel for a more extended time than you would normally in your primary, if that is how you use it?
I am really eager to try this so any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Almost always as a secondary or aging vessel. It would be a bit rare to use wood as the primary fermentation vessel, some crazy sour beers or beers done with Brettanomyces would be the rare exception.

You would normally put it in the barrel and age it for as long as you need to get the flavor you want. You would pull small samples with a wine thief every once in a while until the wood flavor or character you want is reached. I almost always over shoot just a bit since once you remove it from the wood it will mellow slightly with a bit more age in the bottle.

5 or 10 gallon barrels can be fairly expensive for the average home brewer. Filling a full size barrel from a distillery (55 gallons or so) is dificult for the average home brewer. That is why you generally only see a club or group of brewers fill a big barrel like my local home brew club has done.

For a 5 or 10 gallon batch it is far more normal for brewers to just use wood cubes and add them to the secondary. That is what I did with my recent oatmeal stout. I fermented it out in primary, transferred to a keg for secondary, and added a bunch of oak cubes that I had cut out of a Jack Daniels barrel stave. I soaked the cubes in Jack before I added them to the keg. I put them in a mesh grain bag and hung them in the keg from a small thread. Once I hit the flavor I wanted I popped the keg open and pulled out the bag of cubes.

There is no time I can tell you to leave the cubes in or amount (weight) of cubes to add. You have to do it by taste since it is really about the strength of the "flavor" left in the cubes and the surface area of the cubes or chips. The more surface area there is to be in contact with the beer the faster the flavor will develop. 4oz of large cubes will take much longer than 4oz of small cubes or chips to develop the same flavor.

[P B G]

Originally Posted by Barron

That makes total sense to me, and I agree with what you said as far as boiling it and the types of honey. If you check out Joes Ancient Orange he kinda talks about that...

Like I said though, this is an experiment and I got most of the ingredients with a gift certificate. I'll be sure to post up how it turns out though.

-Barron

Been checking with my brother who id into making mead, he was saying that the moisture content of the honey was important, that the sugars and natural chemicals in the honey kept infections down so long as there were not "wet" pockets in the honey. And that crystallization contributed negatively to this.

More to think about.

[Barron]

Originally Posted by P B G

Been checking with my brother who id into making mead, he was saying that the moisture content of the honey was important, that the sugars and natural chemicals in the honey kept infections down so long as there were not "wet" pockets in the honey. And that crystallization contributed negatively to this.

More to think about.

Cool. I got my honey from a homebrew shop so I hope it was on point. I didn't see any crystals. eh, not much I can do about it now

I can't wait to try it though...

Gotta cook up an American ale this weekend though... darn the luck

[tootal]

We had a brew day at a local micro brewery and brewed 60 gallons. It took 6 half barrels to boil it down. Once fermented we pumped it into a rye whiskey barrel and left it for 4 months. We brewed a barley wine with 3 guys and let it ferment. When it was ready we pumped the barrel into corny kegs and pumped the barleywine into the barrel. Next year will be an Imperial Stout! After that it's going to be a sour ale barrel, forever!!

[Apocalypse Cow]

Thanks for all of the great barrel info.. I will let you know how it all turns out.

Apoc.

[Dansrc51]

Oak Barrels can be had in all sizes now days. They are pretty popular with just about every crowd. I have a friend who is also a proffesional brewer, and he used a small 3-5 gallon barrel at home. I can't vouch for them, but I know their out there.

just googled this


http://oakbarrelsltd.com/?gclid=CK3Y...FSoZQgoddEHBVg

plenty more too. something to think about.

[Jason F.]

Originally Posted by Dansrc51

Oak Barrels can be had in all sizes now days. They are pretty popular with just about every crowd. I have a friend who is also a proffesional brewer, and he used a small 3-5 gallon barrel at home. I can't vouch for them, but I know their out there.

just googled this


http://oakbarrelsltd.com/?gclid=CK3Y...FSoZQgoddEHBVg

plenty more too. something to think about.

They are ceratinly available but not cheap. A 5 gallon (~20 liter) barrel is over $125 which is high for the average home brewer. Especially when you consider it is a limited use secondary aging vessel.

There is something cool about aging in a barrel but you can get the same flavors with a few dollars worth of toasted oak cubes. I just poured 5 gallons of my whiskey stout to a crowd at a charity beer festival and got rave reviews on it. Took just over an hour to empty the keg and that was at 3oz tasting pours.

[P B G]

Anyone making skeeter pee?

http://skeeterpee.com/

I've got a primary that will be empty as of sat. And I have a few ciders I put in gallon jugs last weekend, and my secondary fermenter will be occupied for a few weeks, so I am thinking maybe I can bust a batch of this out in the meanwhile.

Thoughts? Seems like I have all of the ingredients readily available.

[levain]

GREAT to see this thread still rolling. I haven't brewed in awhile. We're renovating a new house, and I have plans for my "New Brewery" so I'll be sure to post those when I move in

[Dansrc51]

Originally Posted by levain

GREAT to see this thread still rolling. I haven't brewed in awhile. We're renovating a new house, and I have plans for my "New Brewery" so I'll be sure to post those when I move in

get on it!

I we just blew a keg of a chocolate stout that was amazing. one word for all of you... cacao nibs, in secondary. you'll never regret it. bottled the rest of a Pliney clone, and now I'm drinking Unibroue Belgium beers from Candad...eh?

Anybody have secrets to mash efficiency? I'm beginning to think it has to do a lot with the grain crush.

[discochris]

Originally Posted by Dansrc51

get on it!

I we just blew a keg of a chocolate stout that was amazing. one word for all of you... cacao nibs, in secondary. you'll never regret it. bottled the rest of a Pliney clone, and now I'm drinking Unibroue Belgium beers from Candad...eh?

Anybody have secrets to mash efficiency? I'm beginning to think it has to do a lot with the grain crush.

C'mon - give us the chocolate stout recipe!
There's a microbrewery in Wisconsin (South Shore) that makes a mint chocolate stout that's just amazing. They only sell it on the premises though.