Brewing Activities (2021)

That sounds awesome.

 

Just bottled a Westbrook IPA clone made with Verdant yeast. Very happy with the color, as it's very close to the original. Already getting some peach and pineapple from the FG sample. Also came in right at 7.1%, so good on that front too.

 

Feel like I can make a good assessment now as i’ve had a few bottles now. Shared a bottle with a friend without giving him any information on it and he picked out the maple syrup flavor right away so i’d call it a success. It does have a slight mushroom flavor and aroma but if you didn’t know it had mushroom in it I don’t think you’d pick out exactly what it was.

 

Based on your impression now would you use more, less or the same 2g per 2.5 gallons next time?

 

I’d use the same or maybe a little more just to see how extreme it can get

 

I know it's an old post but hopefully you see this @OddNotion

Where'd you get the hop doser?

 

Trying to drink as much Czech pils as I can in the coming weeks so the keg kicks and I can fill it with a cold crashed cream ale. Ugh life is tough!

 

I assembled it from separate pieces bought on Amazon. It's massive and likely doesn't need to be that big but it's what would fit best in terms of height in my current setup.

 

Brewing an NEIPA today, should be about 6% abv. Very similar to previous brews of the style and will be using Idaho 7, Lupomax Citra and Lupomax Mosaic. London 3 equivalent for the yeast.

Next time I brew the style I will be using Bootleg Biology NEEPAH. Anyone here have experience using that blend?

 

I am also kegging my Bourbon Barrel aged Barleywine and transferring my Porter into the barrel. I plan on adding coffee to the porter after it's time in the barrel.

 

Decided to try my little experiment. Mashed, with no sparge. Added hop extract and let it sit until it cooled to 130 then dumped the mash with grains into a bag/bucket and added 4 packs of free old 12/2018 mangrove m76 when it cooled into the 70s. I was surprised it was bubbling in the morning. I'll bottle and see what happens.

 

I’ve been wanting to buy this. I like imperial juice a lot so I’m skeptical to change

 

What temp do you store your barrel with the beer in it? I have mine in the garage right now and it doesn’t rise above 70° but will bring it in the house soon where it’s a constant 70° Is this acceptable? I also only had slightly over 5 gallons so I have some head space in the barrel and was worried about this as well.

 

This is my first barrel aged beer, I kept it in my garage for the past 2ish months. Temp swung between 40 and 60. I also had more headspace than I preferred because for the first time in years I had a boil over during my brew day. I tasted the beer a few times using a Vinnie nail and when it hit the flavor I was looking for I transferred the beer a few days later.

The porter is filling the barrel up the the bung. I assume this one will be in the 50 to 70 degree range before I transfer it. I will really need to think about what I want to do with this once summer hits as my garage gets way hotter than I would prefer to store beer at.

 

Anything in the normal fermentation temp range should be fine for the barrel. As long as your not aging long term a little head space shouldn't be an issue and with a 1st use 5 gallon you won't need a whole lot of time (4-8 weeks should work). For a "5 gallon" barrel you usually need 5.5 gallons of beer to fill it and sometimes more. It still drives me crazy every time I come up short!

 

@Eggman20 thank you for the info, I had read I’d need more but this is the brew I dropped the grain basket into the wort. So I came up short. I didn’t want to add water to get the volume because I was going for that high gravity and thick mouth coat. I was planning on sampling it around May. I was thinking 6 months but I will sample sooner now. Should I flush the headspace with CO2 after pulling the bung and sampling? @OddNotion that was my thoughts as my garage gets way past 100° in the summer. I was asking all this because I have fermentation chamber I can store the barrel at whatever temp but I wouldn’t be able to use it for fermenting.

 

WCIPA today w/ Topaz, Waimea, and whole cone Centennial. Been wanting to do this combo for a while. Pils/Two row base split per Beachwood brewing, and Scott Janish WCIPA #2 water profile.

 

For sure give it a taste sometime earlier than 6 month. More beer is touching oak than in a 53 gallon barrel so it will pick up oak much faster. It wouldn't hurt to flush with some CO2 if you can.