Brewing activities January 2016

Brewed up an RIS today. Going from something similar to Founders RIS. Big and roasty with a firm bitter backbone. Came in at 1.102. Slated for an event in October. I plan to condition it in the keg for a few months then add in some coffee and vanilla to smooth out the edges. I have 3 mexican vanilla beans soaking in Town Branch bourbon that I'll let concentrate for at least 6 months. I also have some pieces of white oak (2 toasted and 2 charred) that I have soaking in bourbon as well. When she's done she'll be called " Blacque Jacque Shellacque". It was a nice change of pace from all the IPA's I have been doing.

 

Transferred my Chocolate Porter into secondary. I added 4 oz of cocoa nibs and 1 vanilla bean that I had soaked in about 6 oz of Woodford Reserve bourbon for 5 days. Added it all into the carboy.

 

Made a single tier stand today!! Getting ready for my electrical panel to come in so I can wire it and mount it!!

 

It's Feb. 1st but since I bottled yesterday I will post here.

Just finished up my first home brewing experience. Really enjoyed it. I played it fairly safe and went with a known Founders BS clone recipe, and had a local home brew store supply me with the grains ready to go and the malt extract. I altered the recipe a bit with the coffee and chocolate and also added some whiskey/bourbon that was steeped in coffee beans for 24 hours.

The sample I had at bottling was pretty good. No off flavors. My neighbor who is an experienced home brewer thought that it was going to turn out really good in about a month or so. Hopefully he's right.

 

Kegged the smoked brown last Friday and tried a sample last night. I think 4 pounds of the smoked malt was just about right for what I was looking for. Super smokey, but mellow. Almost like a Rauchbier. I've used cherry wood in the past for smoking but the apple is much smoother.

 

The straight jackets are a nice touch

 

Sounds tasty. When and where do we queue to get some ?

 

It's a very good beer, even at a month old. If I was to tweak the recipe, I would back the late hop addition down to 2 oz and add some biscuit malt to the grain bill.

 

Blondes.