What Homebrew are you drinking: March 2016

Went to a "men's night" where a bunch of young an old loggers get together for a great time. I went prepared with 3 IPAs, Belgian dark ale, coconut stout and a few hawian King brews. Another ex logger brought some of his IPA which had the best dank,citrus nose and taste I've experienced yet. A super night.

 

You may have mentioned this elsewhere but how much blueberry was added to get that much blueberry flavor? Also wild or farmed blueberries?

 

Did you crush the berries, or leave them whole?

 

Finally drinking my first-ever homebrew. Called it "Baby Derek's First Trike." American Pale Ale brewed with Columbus, Cascade and Centennial.

A little bitter on the back end and I think I added a bit too much priming sugar (it's a little heavy on the carbonation). But for a first attempt at homebrewing, I'm pleased with the results. And friends seem to largely enjoy it well enough. So I'm happy with it and excited to start my next batch!

 

My first coffee imperial stout. Worked on the base the last couple years but decided to add whole Sumatra beans from a local roaster this time. Also added Drew Beechum's cacao nib/vanilla extract. Im happy with the results. Coffee was strong the first couple weeks but has a nice balance now. Going to brew it again soon.

 

The Shiznit Hoppy Rye PA



After about 6 weeks in the bottle it's drinking really well and I'll definitely brew it again. Had some concerns about that clarity at first since I forgot to use any finings but it's remarkable how much a week in the fridge can clear a beer! Also got some great head retention with this batch.

Think I'll change up the hop schedule next time around: I used a combination of El Dorado and Amarillo for flavor/aroma and the Amarillo is coming through much more than the Dorado, which isn't a bad thing since Amarillo is a freaking awesome hop but I'd like to get the Dorado to shine a bit more. I'll also probably swap out the Columbus I used for bittering — it's a bit harsh and it took a few weeks for it to mellow out.

Cheers!

 

I'm throwing in the towel and officially calling my Vienna a dunkel and already enjoyed a glass, before switching to my simcoe/centennial/citra pale ale. Pretty good night.

 

That beer looks beautiful!

 

Drinking some crystal clear Schwarzbier. Definite miss on the style. Too toasty and chocolatey and didn't use Pilsner malt, but it drinks like a roasty dunkel and I like it. Little sidecar of NEIPA that is carbing up. Citra, Nelson, and Equinox. Really nice profile. Dank mango grape juice. Wish I didn't need to take out a small loan to land Nelson hops. Plays really well with Citra....and Equinox is really impressing me lately.

 

Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts IPA, ~1month in the keg. Much less hazy but it's definitely still there. Galaxy/Galena/Glacier/Green Bullet w/ WY1318 worked better than I expected. Hop aroma has faded considerably but it still has a moderately-strong aroma a couple inches from the glass. Still tastes yummy IMHO...need to finish it up soon as I need to keg next IPA waiting in the fermentor!

 

Thank you - that's a very appealing looking brew! May have to try brewing one.

 

A diacetyl bomb. Apparently I'm not leaving my beer on the primary long enough... learning sucks sometimes.

 

It might clear up with some time in the bottle at room temp. That happened to me with an oatmeal brown ale I brewed pretty recently. Forgot how much diacetyl British ale yeasts produce and neglected to do a diacetyl rest. I was frustrated for awhile but after 6 or 8 weeks of conditioning it cleared up and ended up being a really tasty brew.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words. I've still got about 10 bombers left. Will let them sit for another month or so before losing hope. They've been in the bottles for close to 6 weeks now @ 70*F.

 

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A simple single simcoe hop IPA. Lots of upfront nose & flavor with plenty of citrus & fruit flavor. Brewed a 5 gallon batch, .5 oz 60 minute addition; all other hop additions at whirlpool or dry hopped. 6.5oz of total hops.