Brewing Activities (April edition)

Right back at ya Doctor.

Brother is back, so the series continues next week with a centenial IPA, triple C hop pale and some kinda stout in as many days.
Spring is in the air.

 

I kegged my Oberon clone yesterday. Curious to see how it comes out when carbonated, because it tasted a bit apricoty which was an unusual flavor for me. Possibly esthery as I didn't use temperature control on the fermenter.

I'm considering trying a kettle sour this coming weekend. Haven't decided yet.

 

All winter I've been drinking my stores while getting the nursery ready (between excessive work traveling) for our first, due in May. My April is going to be about rebuilding inventory to be ready for all the visitors. Plan is a couple easy drinkers and something extra special, haven't really thought it all out yet to be honest. Not really counting on May or June to be productive brewing-wise.

First batch of April was a BIAB American Blonde, never done one before. Going for the beauty in simplicity idea, that's how it's designed anyway.

 

I'm starting April with a bang... 80 gals of IPA yesterday.

 

Super, the summer heat will be no problem for you

 

Looks April is going to be saison month for me. I have 2 planned- the first will be a Brett rye saison, going with Brett B and WLP565. The second will be a low gravity wheat saison/ grisette, using the same WLP565, hopped with Mandarina Bavaria and Hallertau.

 

R.I.S., second attempt, thanks for the advice from the forum

 

Brewed for the first time in a few months over the weekend. NEIPA with Citra, Amarillo and Azacca. Dry hopped tonight.

 

So last night I finally got my Festbier crashed down to lagering temps. As this one was keg conditioned with priming sugar as I missed the spund timing, it seemed to have taken almost two weeks to stop off-gassing or whatever, even though the spund pressure built up in just two days. Perhaps a little too much priming sugar… But now it’s sitting at a cozy 32F at the proper CO2 pressure for the next few weeks.


Then my German Pils is about to be crashed in the next few days... This one didn't have any priming sugar, caught the spund on this one. Likewise, still seems to be off-gassing additional pressure after about a week since kegging (kegged with 3 points from FG or so). But it should be done soon and then it will be crashed to 32F as well.


Both of those beers I will tap early May with a Hefeweizen I am brewing at the end of the month. Really excited for those beers to be put on tap all at the same time! My kind of tap list… Been planning this out for a while, so my current beers are running out with no replacements (My Dunkel and Berliner kicked Sunday…), so I will be able to tap all at once for our Spring-toberfest party with a few friends and half liter steins!


It’s weird having all my beer run out on tap, but as the kegs roll out of the keezer it gives me the space to do a nice bleach/clean inside as the floor has gotten a bit nasty. Plus, been clearing out more of my store-bought beer recently as well which is nice!

 

What's your plan on that one? First extract I ever brewed was a Hef, and I'm really tempted to make my next batch a Hef, but haven't gotten into recipe building yet.

 

For this one, I am actually going to give the recipe posted by TheBeerery here a whirl, except pitching WLP300 vs 3068.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hefe-weissbier-bavarian-style.561388/

I have done two before (both attempts done when I had far less experience) so I am really excited to try the style again. My first two were good, but my processes and everything are so much better now than they used to be. I plan to actually brew it on April 28th and tap one week later, utilizing the spund technique to carbonate/finish the beer quickly at the end of fermentation which should be quick.

 

Working on building an automated grant at the moment to control the pump off and on so that I don't have to baby the valves throughout the entire mash process on my E-HERMS system! I also purchased some extra hardware to add to my boil kettle and HLT. I will do my best to post pictures after i have completed my modifications. I've been out of the game on documenting my brews on here but I hope to do a better job this coming summer.

 

Finally tapped the Wild Wheat that's been sitting in a corny keg for the last 7 months. I replaced the keg lid to find some nice looking skin on the surface. Some sort of brett/pedio was doing its thing in there.

This beer was the closest I've come to a 'backyard ale'. I used a caught wild yeast, and homegrown chinook hops. Local malts was as close as I could get!

Taste is surprisingly clean and tart. Overripe pineapple on the nose. Some THP is present, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I'm pleased this wasn't a dumper, and it will be a refreshing beer to have on tap.

 

I was going to brew a barleywine, but starting to lean more towards a Bock or something...

 

Putting together a recipe for a Belgian Witbier. Going to use green cardamom and lemongrass instead of the traditional coriander and orange peel. I think it will be a tasty beer. Probably going to brew it this weekend.

 

Kegging Amarillo wheat.

 

was planning on brewing a hefe tomorrow. but considering it snowed today and apparently my ingredients still haven't shipped yet that appears to be postponed.

 

Brewing a saison today using ECY03. This is the second time I'm using this yeast and I'm pretty stoked on it. The wild sacch isolate in this blend is reportedly from Fantome.

10# Pils, 2# Spelt Malt. Saaz throughout.