What beers do you prefer to brew.

Mind sharing a recipe for that Oatmeal Porter? I love doing solid base beers and playing with them. I've been on a vanilla kick that I just cant stop as of late.

 

Boil Size: 7.89 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 28.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 37.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes


10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
Couple of handfuls of rice hulls in the mash...
2.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 23.1 IBUs
0.25 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 8.5 IBUs
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 5.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Aroma Ste 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Whitbread Ale (Wyeast Labs #1099)


I mash around 152-153. IMO, this beer has been best with 3-4oz cocoa nibs added at flameout and 3-4oz good coffee coarsely ground added when cooled below 150 and steeped until transferring to the fermenter and pitching. The chocolate is huge for the first couple of months in the bottle, and then it mellows nicely and comes together really well. Bourbon/oak treatments haven't been as good.

 

I also have Denny Conn's imperial porter in secondary on oak, vanilla beans, and cocoa nibs right now...probably another week, and then I'll add bourbon and bottle. It's shaping up to turn out beautifully. This recipe is much lauded on a number of the homebrew message boards:

http://www.brew365.com/beer_dennys_bourbon_vanilla_porter.php

 

You have a problem- there.

On a topic related note- 75% of what I brew is Ambers, APA, IPA, bitters, session type ales, Porters and Stouts. Been brewing a lot of lagers as well, mostly Helles or Pils. I really need to get on that Octoberfest....is it too late?
Hefes are another style I've brewed a lot. But the last year I have only brewed one, but it was my best ever, so that counts for something. Big styles- like barleywine, BDSA, Old Ale, Tripel, GSA- I try to brew one of those a year for aging.

My issue is brewing .vs. drinking. I used to never have a shortage of willing drinkers, now with a child and with friends having so much going on in life I have to drink more or brew less. Usually, brew less.

 

I started with kits for a year, then I made clone recipes for a variety of english and american styles (IPAs, stouts, porters, scottish ales). When I went AG a year ago I stuck to a few of the same recipes that had good results. For the last few batches I was using original recipes, for a DIPA and a barleywine/parti-gyle, from which I made a delicous belgian dark ale so another belgian in the style of trappist beers is one of the first on my list to be brewed. I'm currently working on improving my beers with a SOAFC, I already have a homemade stir plate and I'm planning on getting an oxygenation system before brewing again.

 

Interesting to see everyone's preferences. I have to say I'm surprised, sort of, to see the number of lagers, pales, and session beers. Reading this site, you might get the impression nobody drinks anything by DIPAs, RISs and Belgians. But I digress.

I sort of schedule my brewing calendar around german seasonals, making sure I've got a maibock for spring, pils for summer, wiezenbock for autumn, etc. In between I do whatever strikes my fancy. Seems like I wind up doing an American IPA about every two or three brews. I've got two taps in my kegerator, and generally speaking I like to have one lighter, more sessionable beer in there, along with something heavier, darker, and/or hoppier.

 

I am guessing that most of us are brewing for everyday drinking most often. When I can keep up, my wife and I consume 80%+ homebrew.

 

Just need a better sample size

Personally I brew just about everything (entered 10 unique beers at the last BJCP event). Popular beers with my friends get brewed more often, agave wheat and pumpkin being the most requested.

That being said I just finished up co-brewing 60 gal of RIS for a bourbon barrel I acquired a couple months ago.

 

Last winter we brewed 70 gallons of lagers. That was about all we had space for.

 

I brew alot of different styles, but what I seem to enjoy the most are lagers. I brew alot of Schwarzbier, Munich Helles, and Vienna Lager. I brew plenty of ales as well, but glancing over my notes from last year I brewed about 88 gallons of beer, 58 of which were lagers

 

I like a lot of variety so my brewing reflects it. I like to brew standard English ales like bitters, stouts and porters. I also love German Pilsners, bocks and hefes. Smoked beers with home smoked malts are almost always on tap. Belgian stuff like strong dark, brett, and sour beers are also usually on hand. Lately I've even been brewing a few American style IPA's. About the only beers I won't brew on a regular basis would be a DIPA and a barleywine. I haven't brewed my imperial stout since 2009, but it may be time to fight that battle again soon.

 

I really like brewing English style dark milds and session bitters. However they only ever turn out decent, never great.

I also like brewing IPAs with tons of hops.

 

I'm still working my way through the styles with an IPA/DIPA pretty much in between each of them.

 

I brew quite a few bocks and wheats. 5 gallon batchs partial mash with grains.

 

I brew canned malt extracts and change styles a lot. Mostly I stick with Cooper's or Brew Canada for brands. I usually only brew beer for the summer and switch to wine for the winter. I used to do a lot of mead before the cost of honey went so high. I'm going on about 10 years of brewing by now I think.

 

Since I'm still on extract and partial mash, I prefer IPAs because they seem to be the most "forgiving."

When I switch to all-grain next year, I plan to start with some pale ales/IPAs, primarily for simplicity while I'm learning the process.

lots of hops seems to cover flaws well...

 

I like a lot of variety just like rocdoc1. My homebrewing over the past year:

· Four batches of IPA: two all Centennial hopped, one Simcoe/Amarillo and one Simcoe/Citra
· Two batches of a Dubbel (my ‘house’ Belgian Ale)
· Two batches of Classic American Pilsner
· Two batches of Oatmeal Stout
· Two batches of Saison
· One Belgian Ale with Brett (that batch was very funky!)
· One Belgian Porter
· One Dusseldorf Sticke Alt
· One Bohemian Pilsner
· One American Porter
· One English Bitter Ale
· One Belgian Wit

Variety is the spice of life!

Cheers!

 

At this point I spend most of my time exploring yeasts I haven't used and styles I haven't brewed much. However I have a few "house beers" that I keep going back to - Kolsch, Robust Porter, a sort of Westy Blonde-type BPA, and a West Coast Blaster-type American amber. Only brewed a couple but I'm thinking Dusseldorf Alt will join this list. Also need to slow down my 35-45 batch per year pace and make more fermentation fridge room for my favorite lagers. Love German Pils, but they take a while and drink fast!

cheers--
--Michael

 

I know I've said it once, but I brew the things I can't buy - and I buy the things I can't brew as well as commercial brewery.

I've made some crazy stuff before, like a beer that was 35% chocolate wheat malt, which also had 3lbs of pureed dates. It was damn tasty and definitely not something I could go buy off the shelf... but IPAs I hardly ever brew since there are so many good ones out there that are readily available.

I have an imperial nut brown w/ toasted pecans & maple syrup fermenting now, and a rum & coffee imperial stout planned for the winter.