January brewing and doings

Still a bit green but love the silky mouthfeel, nutty, chocolatey goodness.

 

Just brewed a Hefeweizen (predicted OG 1.051, actual 1.053 ) . First time brewing with so much wheat. Was a little different in smell and taste (and looks but hey Ima dark beer guy). Worst part was when my dog thought my new digital thermometer was a toy while I was chilling the wort and she made me drop it in the kettle.... Well at least it was a cheap one from Target.

 

I recently used a large dose of golden naked oats in a stout and loved it. I'll have to give it a try sometime in a brown ale.

 

Just tasted a carbonation sample one week after bottling (1/2 bottle left over) of a 100% Belma-Saison. Tasted it before dry-hopping, and was worried it was too bitter. Undaunted, I progressed with dry-hopping with 3 oz more Belma for one week.

Anyway, the bittering is great now, and there's this confusing but wonderful cantaloupe - bubblegum (WLP566) aroma up front. I think it will still be relatively refreshing and easy to drink several at one sitting.

My impression is that if you want to get the specific character of Belma, the dry hopping is where you'll bring it out.

Otherwise...

Brewed 10 gal of a Belgian Ale yesterday with:
17# Maris Otter
2# malted rye
1# carapils
2# Japanese Knotweed honey (fruity but tart) in a day or two
100% Centennial
2nd-gen WLP565 (see above)

This one will be totally different than the Belma experiment, but both looking like they will be delightful.

 

Thought about it, but am trying to form my base recipes that I will modify later. As it stands, when I was on a business trip, I found "dark wheat, SRM around 7" so I used a pound of that to bring the color up some.

 

Brewing an AG Maibock Pils,Cara, Light Munich, Hallertua, Hersbrucker.
Cheers

 

trying to perfect a Dry Stout

OG: 1.057

10% Flaked Barley
5% Amber
5% Roasted Barley
2,5% Pale Chocolate
2,5% Chocolate
2% Flaked Oat

Magnum, 60 min(40 IBU)
1 g/L Chinook, 1 min









nice

 

Not trying to be mean, but all saisons taste like that to me...

 

That doesn't make you a bad guy. I like everything except Blue Moon and Sirachi Ace.

 

Starters cookin...lookin forward to brewing on 10 gal keggle sys tomorrow for first time since October...hope nothing leaks

 

Brewed a one gallon batch of a Wit for a local homebrew contest. Forgot how simple one gallon stovetop brewing is; I may start brewing more one gallon experimental batches.

 

Bottled/kegged my hoppy brown ale yesterday. Tasting like a very solid beer

 

Kegged the cream ale last night that I gelatin’d a few days ago (at 34F or so). It really wasn’t all that clear, being the 3rd time now I have used gelatin with no real luck on clarity (first two attempts were on highly hopped beers though). However, the true test will be after a week or two in the keg to see if it clears up further. I don’t see why it shouldn’t be extremely bright and clear…. Good boil + break, whirlfloc, quick cooling and low hopped… Enough calcium (60-70ppm) and proper yeast pitch as well.

The flavor of the cream ale was very good though… Happy with it so far, excited to see how it is after more cold conditioning. Very light and crisp so far already. I really dig the WLP080 flavor profile. I think in summer I will do another cream ale that will incorporate a light dry hopping with something like Belma and Cascade. I think it could make for a really nice summer beer.

 

brewed 10 gals of a sessionable pale lager yesterday, splitting 5 gals with a neighbor.

 

Just added some cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and oak cubes to a milk stout. I found myself drinking lots of mexican chocolate style beers this winter, and wanted to try my hand at something along those lines.

 

Bottled the 5 gallon blend I made from my two holiday beers. 3 gals mole imperial stout to 2 gals dark sour. First time since August there hasn't been something fermenting or conditioning around the house.

 

I've been a busy beaver this month.
1/14 - Brewed 4 gallons of imperial stout
1/23 - Brewed 5 gallons of Rye Stout
1/28 - Brewed 3 gallons of English Brown Ale
All 3 are still in primary!