January brewing and doings

Brewed a RIS in mid-December.
Partial mash- OG @ 1.110
- FG @ 1.032


Threw it on cocoa nibs in the secondary after I got back from my Christmas trip, and finally kegged it Saturday. Bottled last night. This beer is an absolute success flavor and feel-wise, although I'm not totally dick-pumped about its appearance (more like an imperial brown, but oh well )

 

Almost any (5 gal batch) stout requires >~ 3/4# unmalted Black Barley, to deem it a self-respecting stout and give it some ebony hues, imho cheers

 

Excellent color on that....looks great.

 

This is a sample of the Chocolate vanilla milk stout we will be bottling this Friday...

 

India Weiz

OG: 1.074

50% Wheat
40% Pils
5% Munich
5% Cara-Munich II

Magnum, 90 min (50 IBU)
2 g/L Citra & Columbus @ 15, 5, 1 & dry

WLP300

 

Plan is to brew my very first batch tomorrow evening. Going to brew an all grain (BIAB) 3 gallon split batch. 1.5 gallon will be a pale ale and the other 1.5 gallon will be a saison. Just hoping everything is drinkable in the end.

 

My club is emptying a 50 gallon bourbon barrel that is filled with Barley Wine. Looking forward to tasting the difference between the before and after!

 

I'll have to review my recipe notes from this batch.
I was definitely going to consult you people about a good method for adding some darkness to my next brew.

That being said:
-What should I expect as far as a flavor contribution from unmalted black barley?

I'm looking for mainly color, but additional roastieness, coffee, and/or chocolate flavors would be more than welcome... just don't want it to be to ashy and certainly not smoky (really dislike smoky beers)

 

My first ever lager is ready to drink. It's a pilsner. It's a little darker than an average pilsner because of some Vienna and Light Munich malt in the grain bill, but it's not quite as dark as this picture makes it look. It suits my personal tastes, but probably won't fair well in a competition because my fermentation temp was a little too high (kept it around 55) and my diacetyl rest was a little high/long (68* for about 3 days), which gave it more banana aroma and flavor than a Pilsner really should have. I love the smell and taste though

 

Whoops, hit reply by mistake first. Black malt will add roastiness and slight coffee but no chocolate imo along with a alittle bitterness. Can use debittered black also if available

 

There is nothing wrong with fermenting a lager at 55 degrees. your D rest at 68 is also acceptable as long as fermentation was almost complete. What was your yeast strain?

 

That's why I said Roast Barley (and not Black Patent or Rauch)...if you find even the Black Barley is bringing a little too much roastiness/phenolics try subbing in some Carafa Special (I,II, or III) cheers

 

Btw, used a lb of Rauch Malt in the Scotch Ale I'm currently boiling...can't even smell it...used a 1/4 lb Carafa I special to get the color I wanted.

 

shouldn't you use peated or non at all

 

WLP 800

 

This was not your fault. I am not sure what happened but I had the same issue with my last pilsner. WLP800 is my favorite strain for pilsners and I have brewed with this yeast over 20 times. The only thing that makes sense to me is the yeast was mis marked.

 

I'm not sure myself what happened either, but I honestly love the smell and flavor it has (banana's are one of my favorite fruits) so thankfully it was a happy accident this time. It's like a mix between a pilsner and a hefe now. I'll probably try it again sometime and see if i get something different

 

Brewing a maibock tomorrow at my LHBS. They were looking for someone to do a demo/class on all grain for new or extract brewers. I do BIAB so my demo will be on that as a way to jump to all grain with less of an investment in equipment. Should be fun.