Brewing Activity March 2016

In about 15 min going to buy a 1 lb bag of 2015 Citra hop pellets, also found on Craigslist, for $15. I'll have to use these in the near future

 

Just bottled my Maple Porter. Trying decide if I want to do my Bourbon Barrel Porter next or my Smashing Pumpkin Ale. I know it is sort of out of season for that, but pumpkin ales just taste so good.

 

Kegged my Belgian IPA that received 12 oz of hops!!! Pretty sure it's a DIPA now. Also added 10 pounds of strawberries to my Belgian blonde that sat in a primary for 3 weeks for lack of time of being able to attend to it. I racked the beer to a bucket and added the strawberries and cacao nib tincture. I plan on letting it sit for a week or two and then keg. *hoping for no infection from the strawberries*.

 

So.... dry yeast is bad?

 

Nope not bad at all. I've been brewing for 14 months now and it's all I've ever used and every beer has been good to very good. Liquid just has more variety and options than dry yeast so it'll be nice to try out some new flavors in my beers

 

It's one of those things you will get varying opinions on, like whether or not to secondary. When I started brewing there wasn't much to choose from in dry yeast. I felt like my beer improved when I went to liquid and I haven't used dry yeast in years, at least not for beer. That's not to say dry yeast cant make a damn fine beer, I just prefer liquid.

 

Yea I must have done something right. Too bad I forgot to take my O.G. again!

 

Just kegged a robust porter. Fermented with 1968, FG 1.018, ABV 7.3%. Added tincture from 3 vanilla beans to the keg.
1968 is my new favorite yeast - can't wait for this to carb up.

 

Not a fan of either of those hops personally. I would probably go for azacca over rakau though might have a little more character

 

I did a smash with Azacca on my last brew. Azacca is like juicy fruit so you are in the right ballpark.

 

@Brewday They didnt sink to the bottom but they did settle to a point where they were all wet. I didnt want to sink them with a weighted bag because it would be so hard to get out of the carboy.

 

Finally getting around to brewing a baltic porter tonight…yeast starter and uncrushed grains have been lying in wait for a couple of weeks now. Will need to follow up shortly with an IPA since the special lady's stock of IPA is getting low and she's not as friendly when there is no IPA on tap...

 

haha…didn't know ventura did small-batch brewing like a half-barrel...

 

Just pulled my first sample of my ipa at ten days out and wow! Straight tropical pineapple juice. I guess using galaxy and mosaic hops will do that. Used Vermont Ale yeast for the first time and it fermented like a beast!



Also, for the first time I dissassembled the faucet on my kegerator, and holy ballz! There was a lot of crap in there. Pretty gross. Got the kegerator from a friend and I am pretty certain he never cleaned it....shudder

 

Checked the gravity on my DIPA last night... OG was 1.073, FG is expected to be 1.014 using S-04. As of last night (4 days into fermentation) it was at 1.015... Still working a bit, so I expect it to drop below the 1.014 which is awesome... I was after around 8% ABV.

Taste was really nice hop-wise... Def got some pine and "dank" character (hops used was Columbus, Centennial, Simcoe and Citra). Very yeasty, but that is expected given those little soldiers are still at work.

Bitterness was not as intense as I expected for having nearly 3oz of bittering Columbus used... Theoretical was just shy of 200 IBU. Likely once carbed and the yeast drops out will seem more-so... I have 7oz of dry hop ready to go in about another week (3oz Simcoe, 2.5oz Centennial and 1.5oz Citra).

 

Brewed up 10 gallons of IPA with Azacca and Columbus. 18 oz of hops from 15min on. Ferment with USO5.

 

Brewing a RIS tomorrow. Using glacier hops for bittering and 2oz of cascade at flame out. Will age for 4 months then add bourbon soaked oak and vanilla beans that will have been soaking for 4 months in Makers Mark. I'm thinking of just adding the liquid and not the oak chips. 2 weeks before bottling I'll add 2 oz of cacao nibs soaked in vodka. I hope it turns out well. I've never used oak before.

 

Currently my mash is going for today's brew, a Munich Helles. Picture below shows the insulated mash tun (foreground) and the strike-water tun (background). Cheers!

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