With 2019 underway, do you have any plans for this year relative to your homebrewing? Trying new styles, for example? Mastering recipes you already have done? Will it be full of IPA’s or barrel aged sours? New techniques? How will 2019 be any different from 2018, if at all? Reflecting back on 2018, I have done more lager than ever and I don’t see that slowing down. I expect in 2019 I will be brewing lagers more than ales at this point. My IPA brewing will continue to dwindle as I continue to just get burned out with them (NE IPA’s in particular). I see me shifting back to more west coast style IPA’s when I do brew them. They just continue to sit on tap longer and longer when on, while I tend to drink up everything else quite a bit faster. Not that they are bad, they are actually really damn good, but I just don’t crave the style as a whole like I did (even commercial examples). I do have quite a freezer full of amazing hops though, so they won’t stop completely. Likely just do a bunch of session-strength ones, which the g/f loves. New style wise, I’d love to knock out a Steam Beer this year, finally. It’s been on my to-do for a while now, but other things just took priority for one reason or another. In Spring I’d also like to do a Wit for the first time. Aside from those, likely just continue on heavy handed into German-focused lagers. How about everyone else?
I'm making the move to kegging, so that'll be the big focus for me at least early on in the year. I normally brew two batches at a time - a ~5 gallon and a ~2 gallon. I'm planning to brew primarily hoppy pale ales as the 5 gallon batches to fill the kegs, and focus on maltier styles in the 2 gallon batches to fill up a pipeline of bottles that I've accumulated and will drink through at a slower pace. Right now I have an oat IPA and an imperial red ale in the fermenters. Looking forward to packaging them in about a week or so.
@invertalon we’re on the same path. I find myself using 1056 in more hoppy beers these days and will probably be slowly moving down that road with more and more IPAs. Maybe not switching back to classic hops as there are so many awesome new fruit forward varieties but trying to brew a few more “cleaner” or dare I say “clearer” hop focused beers. I fell deep down the traditional lager rabbit hole in 2018 and don’t foresee myself finding a way out anytime soon. Interested in going down the more “rustic” path of using some alternate grains in a few low ABV lagers. See if I can come up with some sort of Landbier recipe that I like. Hopefully bottling and blending my first sour beers that I brewed in the spring of 2018 and working to find a mixed culture that I like and stick to it. Continuing to dial in a Kolsch recipe. Getting my electric 1/2 barrel system online. Bought it almost two years ago and it’s just been collecting dust until I have more space in my house. Hopefully starting in June that’ll be the case.
Brewing more hoppy beers with a abv below 5. Still going to make imperials, but in 3 gallon batches. Just can't handle the high test as good as I use to.
I long for the day when the style related posts here are not mostly about IPAs. But I'm not holding my breath.
I got a Mash & Boil at the end of 2018 so I am brewing solely 5 gallon batches on that. Trying to make my entire brewing process simpler. I sparge with the handheld sink sprayer in the kitchen. No pumps. Now fermenting in buckets again so I can use a soft cloth and wipe the fermenter clean. I like it because it allows me to spend less time on process and cleaning than before and still make really great beer and spend time with my family. So far this year I have been hitting the lagers harder than I ever have in the past. I want to spend more time on sessionable, balanced, well made, beer tasting beer. Already did a Rauchbier, got a hoppy Pilz fermenting at the moment, Baltic Porter and Smoked Helles on deck. I want clean, crisp, clear, drinkable beers... no milkshakes, no protein drinks, no yeast slurries. I will always make IPAs, but I am shooting for the same thing, well made, balanced, crisp, clear, sessionable IPAs that taste like beer.
Been out of the game too long. Had two nearly empty kegs sitting in my kegerator for almost 9 months. Finally took those out, dumped, cleaned and now going through all equipment for a fresh cleaning session. (somehow my air dried 300 micron hop filters grew small spots of black mold!) Just ordered some Strata hops and also sitting on about 150lbs of Valley Malt. Need to finish my fridge/fermenter project and get crackin'.
Out with my 7 gallon starter kettle and small burner. On to my upgraded kettle, a 15 gal Spike (v3 close out sale!) and KAB4 burner. Planning on right sized batches for hoppy types and bigger batches of non-hoppy types. I also purchased a pH meter. Really diving into water treatment... not just believing my spreadsheets. As for actual beer plans, I'm going to start getting into pilsners. Traditional but I also want to try something along the lines of NZ pils. My dad is also a huge amber fan so I'll be giving that a go as well. I'll continue my quest for my perfect IPA and stout as well.
I agree but their fun to make with all the different hops available. I'm doing one more ipa then opening my sack of barke to make two lagers and a blueberry sour. Also going to try a filter i attached to my speidel and experiment with different flavors. I have this weird thought to try pistachio.
I'm planning on increasing the variety of styles that I brew this year. In the past several months, I've brewed my first Tripel, Steam Beer (@invertalon), and Maibock - this one is currently carbing/lagering. I still like the IPAs and I have started to alternate between NE and West Coast styles, just to keep things interesting. Hopefully I'll have some Baltic Porter, Weizenbock, and Dunkel brew days soon. I'm also hoping to start buying and milling my own grain. I like my LBHS but I'm anxious to learn more about grains this year and experiment with different brands/styles.
- rebrew successful beers - continue to dial in my NEIPA - work towards brewing an acceptable Porter/Stout (gluten free is a bitch) - experiment with new grains (malted and unmalted) - continue to brew new styles - I'd really like to brew my first sour, but not sure if I'll get to it this year.
I aim to build a pulper and press so I can make ciders from the ground up. Otherwise, I need to brew more often. Once a month isn’t enough. Cheers!!!
I’m working on a flagship red. Version 1: 78% Vienna, 18% Red X. 3% C40. 1% Pale Chocolate. Mt Hood kettle / Willamette dry. Imperial Tartan. This beer is one week old today. Burst carbed at 30 psi 24 hours ago. Reduced to 12 and poured a couple for 2. Just a great tasting beer. Low bitterness (28). More character than just 2 row but not overly saturated with specialty types. And this yeast is so tasty and full of character. Though I might try the same grain/hop bill with a Kolsch yeast just to see ...
I've really cut back on my brewing activities. 2018 I brewed 1 batch. I'm putting my wife through grad school, have 2 kids, but hopefully once my wife graduates we will have more time open up for things like cleaning house, sleeping, and brewing beer. I came across a recipe in CB&B magazine for a beer called black cauldron that I want to take a shot at. Essentially it's a schwarzbier, but with a quarter pound of smoked malt added. It sounds great, so I hope to at least get that brewed up for this year.
I would love to try brewing a helles or Czech lager this year, or any lager for that matter. I’ve got kettle sours and Saisons down, since I’ve pretty much stuck with brewing these styles for the past few years now. Closest thing I’ve come to a lager-ish beer was fermented with lallemand munich in the low to mid 60s. Without causing too much of a ruckus, or threadjack, does anyone have a solid lager recipe that can still be fermented in the low 60s? I don’t have any sort of fermentation chamber available, other than my kegerator which is always taken up by a filled corny. I’ve heard there are some yeasts out there that can still produce that clean, lager-esque flavor without having to keep temps too low.
Brew an average of at least one batch per month. Figure out what to do with the excess I already have from brewing less than one batch per month. Fermentation temperature control. Make use of the kegs I have; secondary, closed-transfer, and get the kegerator up ‘n running. Get my well water tested, mess with adjustments. See if I can get This Recipe to approach being as enjoyable as the commercial version of the beer it claims to replicate (Reclaimed Rye by Creature Comforts). Tinker with adding leached and toasted white oak acorns to a beer. That’ll have to wait until October, after they fall from the tree in the area I’ll collect them. Make at least one lager. If successful, make more while attempting to get close to Vienna Lager by Devils Backbone. Honorable mention: work with Kveik yeast.
I’m with @GormBrewhouse and others that are going the session route. I’ll be working on building a portfolio of session strength beers including my piwo grodziskie recipe that Trzech Kumpli helped me formulate. I’d also like to start drying my own kveik and save money on yeast while also avoiding my tub of water ice pack fermentation method this summer. Speaking of kveik does anyone know where to get varieties other than hornindal and Voss?
@pweis909 posted about ordering from Mysterium/Sleight. They name 4 different kinds of Kveik in this link but their products page shows out of stock for all. I didn't see any sort of "notify me when back in stock" type option.
Finally brew the smoked stout that I've been meaning to do for a couple years Mess around some more with Kveik yeasts in various styles Saisons! Try out some other fermentations. Started a batch of lacto hot sauce last week. The old lady wants to try making some kombucha, so we'll see
I haven't brewed since may. Maybe I should try to fit one in next week. I mostly do IPAs, but I have collected some heavier glass bottles, corks and cages for something Belgian. I also want to see if I can do a nice ESB. Also, I want to do this: https://because-beer.com/diy-black-iron-pipe-draft-tower-final-build-list/
Building out a DIY garage brewery. I’m not really that handy, so it will look truly “built by hand”. Had been brewing stovetop for years. Went in on a 20 gallon system from Stout (20 gallon MLT, 20 gallon BK, 23 gallon SS conical), 20 gallon SS Brewtech Brite, three burner horizontal brew sculpture, x2 Riptide pumps, CFC, MM2 Mill, used upright freezer for fermentation/cold conditioning, 15 cu ft chest freezer converting now to 4 tap keezer, buying pairs of 1/6 bbl Sankey kegs until I max out at 8 sankey kegs, upgrading jockey box. Doing all of this in effort to pour at more events and to have more beer on hand for those events. Goal is to hit events hard 2019-2020 & be pitching to investors in the meantime, towards end of this year.
Continued exploration of the hobby, at my own pace. That probably means more split batch studies, altering hops, yeast, etc.
Finished the hot sauce last week. I dig it, but I definitely need a better blender and to use stabilizers (guar and xantham gums), cause the solids are floccing out
I used a ninja bullet for my sauce this year and ran it for about 6 minutes and it’s the smoothest sauce I’ve made. Still needs a shake before using though
I used to be a hot sauce junkie. Have waned a lot over the last few years. My older gut and butt can’t handle it. Never had one with lacto. Is this a thing now?
I'd like to get back into brewing. I did a few batches back in 2017?, but didn't after that. We ended up buying a house and I think I just lost touch with it although it should be much easier to do with a house. Not sure if this will happen since I don't drink enough to have a kegerator, but I'd like to brew an NEIPA with Galaxy hops and keg it.
Good thread. @invertalon Ya, I’m a hop head to the grave. I’ll still be perfecting my IPA’s this year. NEIPA/WC. I have some Saaz that I’m looking forward to brewing up a Czech pils with for a party. Would like to work on perfecting a good Czech pils this year along with my IPA’s. Also just purchased a SS Chronical. So looking forward to playing with my new toy.
I will (with the help of a very experienced homebrewer) be brewing my first batch very soon... I'm thinking a hoppy pils and then a marzen...
Also like to make my own sauces as well, but have not tried to make fermented ones. Just a mix of various chilies and other add-ins (fruit, spices, vinegar). Might have to look into trying to do a fermented sauce. A bit of an obsession, actually... Fridge is loaded with about 30 hot sauces at the moment, of which I use daily with almost everything... Tend to prefer the ghost pepper based sauces most, although reaper/scorpion sauces are nice as well. Smoked ghost chilies are even better!
Trying to keep it fairly simple at the moment. First one was Serrano, Poblano, and green Habanero, with a bit of ginger and garlic. Got the go ahead from the boss to use the company card and do it on company time for future stuff with an eye on production for the new modern Tex-Mex place and possible packaging for retail sale. The fermentation is super simple: chop up your stuff, put it in a container, cover with brine, and put an airlock on it. After it the pH stops lowering, blend it up. More or less... Simple doesn't mean easy. Also, Scotch Bonnet tend to be used heavily in my favorite sauces. I dig the fruit along with the heat.
Right... part of me is like... gotta nuke it... the other part of me is like... chocolate habaneros make an amazing sauce, lots of heat, and cocoa at the same time, goes well with a stout brine or Gose brine even. Gonna play with a lot of peppers this year once the garden blooms late Summer.
Had my first kid in 2018, so I only brewed 3 or 4 times last year. This year I'll have a one year old, so hoping to brew a little more. Purchased glycol chiller and another unitank last night, so I'm looking forward to using those. I really want to start brewing lagers as well.
My second ever batch is 12 days in the carboy right now. A Ommegang Hennepin clone with no orange but tons of toasted coconut. My first batch was a supposed to be a Weisbier but I didnt use Wiestephaner yeast so it tasted more like an American wit. That's fine but I love Wiestephaner Hefeweizen. Cant get enough. These batches were extract only. For this year I want to go full grain and make a hefe that will make the Germans thirst, and a saison to make the Belgians weep. I just need to get the kettle, mash tun, ect...
