What's Brewing & Doing - October Edition

4oz total in a keg. Very potent hops.

 

Bottling my first Dubbel this afternoon. Very happy with the hydro sample. Used 3787 for the first time and it is a beast! OG 1.069, FG 1.012 after 3 weeks at 72.

 

I am currently (yes, currently) in the process of kegging my NE IPA. London III Ale yeast. Amarillo, Cascade, Citra for finishing. Amarillo, Centennial, and Simcoe in dry hop. Bitterness a bit harsh at the moment, but very fruity flavor and aroma -- mostly pineapple at this point. Picture below.

All my homegrown hops (Cascade) have been picked, dried, and vacuum sealed. I got about 26 ounces this year. Down a bit, but more than plenty.

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Just blottled a NE-style IPA with Conan yeast on this damp New England Saturday. Citra and Galaxy. Interestingly, last weekend, when it had only 3 oz dry hops, it was surprisingly clear. I then added another 4 oz and a week later it's appropriately cloudy.

 

Double brew day today. Milk stout destined for coffee beans and another GD hoppy beer. Tired hands inspired grain bill, sach trois, and a boat load of Citra/mosaic/galaxy/chinook/centennial.

These hoppy beers are fun to brew, but I may have to look for a second job to support this addiction.

 

Big day tomorrow. Brewing a 10 gallon split batch Belgain dark/dubbel recipe. Half will get wlp 545 and half will go on a 3rd generation Brevis, Brett, JP dreg yeast cake.

The 2nd gen beer, currently on the sour yeast cake will get transfered to two 3 gallon carboys, one with 5 pounds of blueberries and one with 5 pounds of tart MI cherries.

I have not made time for many brewing related activities this year, because the birth of my 1st child. The last time I brewed in July, I made an IPA that took 1st place in a small local competition today.

 

Just kegged up a batch of my dry hopped saison. If it cools down enough, I'll probably be making an IPA later this month. If it stays hot, it'll be time to make my 3rd saison of the last few months. First two were dry hopped with Mosaic and then Mandarina Bavaria. Thinking either hibiscus, Nelson or Citra.

 

Kegged my Two Hearted clone today and doing 3oz in the dry hop (lost 1oz somewhere, I'm sure it'll turn up). Going to let it sit out at room temp for a week unless someone says "wth you doing that for?", then going to try gelatin to clarify again but do a better job of it this time. I'm going to have to dump a brew to get the keg in the keezer. Got a Belgian Dubbel I'm just not thrilled with so maybe it'll be the goner.

 

Welp, finally getting the coconut cold brew from Mostra in SD, CA on Tuesday so I will be kegging my 30.5% abv imp stout on that. It's been aging on bourbon barrel oak with cacao nibs and vanilla beans for a few weeks and is tasting ridiculously decadent. Can't want to get that coconut and coffee flavor in it.

Talk about a labor of love...this brew has 10+ hours of hands-on time involved between the brewing, sugar additions, etc. Not to mention the 3 months of conditioning so far...

 

Just finished brewing my Jalepeno cream Ale. Homebrew club is doing a vegetable/fruit beer competition amoung members. Figured most people will be doing a pumpkin like beer.

Jalepeno's soaking in vodka, added them in the last 10 min of the boil. Roasted the peppers prior to soaking to try and reduce that vegetables flavor.



Boil just started with first wort hops coming up.



I always try to drink a glass of my last batch when it's all said and done. Hit all my gravity targets and the wort is a nice sweet and spicy. Pretty pumped to see how this turns out.

 

Bottled a big OG 1.1 Belgian amber brewed with WLP545, had the ingredients show up for an Orval clone, and locally bought the ingredients for a nut brown pumpkin ale.

 

Brewed an experimental 2 gallon barley wine and a Hefeweizen yesterday. I also racked my badass pumpkin ale to a secondary for some more spice addition and some conditioning prior to kegging in a week or two. I had a long and tiring weekend!!

 

Brewed a 1.038 bitter yesterday. Wyeast 1968. It had been a while since I brewed a style without some sort of unusual additions/experimentation.

 

Well, trying to get all my brewing in before it gets too cold. I decided last year to take winter's off from brewing since it was unbearable last season. So, I need to fill those fermenters! Here's my lineup:

IN KEGS:
Holy Moses Pale Ale
Hop Salvation IPA

IN FERMENTERS:
Honey Bourbon Imperial Oatmeal Stout
All Of My Favorite Things DIPA

STILL TO BREW:
Autumn In New England Smoked Oktoberfest
Home For The Holidays Christmas Ale
Spruced Winter Lager
Old Faithful Old Ale
Spring Irish Red

Ambitious, before the real cold comes, but gotta keep those kegs full during cold season! Cheers!

 

I'm waiting for my LBHS to open on Thursday so I can buy some o-rings.

My Benderish brown-ale type thing is also drinking really nice now, after 3 or 4 weeks in the keg. It was initially thin and tasteless but it's now much improved.

 

So much brewing to do...got my Catty APA in primary right now...hoping to be dry hopping it by this weekend.

On the planner over the next two weeks I'm suppose to be brewing 3, maybe 4 beers for a good friend's 40th
-Dubbel split 3 ways for yeast (3787 vs Lallemand Abbaye vs. Fermentis Abbaye)
-DIPA split 4 ways for yeast (Conan vs. 1272 vs Mt Hood vs 1098) (hbs didn't have 1318)
-Irish dry stout
-Snickerdoodle beer (going for lots of Victory malt, cinnamon & diacetyl)

 

I'm finished brewing for a while, but I've got a bunch of packaging to take care of in the near future:

80 shilling - This one is taking a dog's age to finish fermenting and it's driving me crazy. 1.017 a few days ago, after a solid month in the bucket. It might be done, but I'm bottling half the batch and I don't want to rush it, even if I'm getting a little antsy. I guess I'll check the gravity one last time today or tomorrow and probably package.

Dubbel - This one was down to 1.013 (potentially final) after two weeks of vigorous fermenting. Hydrometer sample wasn't very inspiring, but it's still young, so I'll give it some time. Will probably check this one at the same time as the 80/- and bottle this week if it's done.

APA IPA - Probably ready for dry hops, it's been fermenting for a week and seems to have slowed down a lot. I'll give the DH a week and then keg it. Between the massive amounts of hops, the CO2 transfer and the kegging, I'm hopeful that this will be a total hop bomb.

 

Tonight we're bottling a 7.5%, 85 IBU IPA that's been sitting on Riwaka hops and 5lbs of grapefruit peel for the last week. Still need a name for it...

 

Brewing up a Brett IPA on Sunday morning while grilling and watching football.

Also dialed in a recipe for a Blonde w/ Brett & Peaches for next weekend. It's going to be a good month!

I also have an idea for a pumpkin stout (next year). I'm not sure if it will come out how I envision it, though.

I want to do a smoked stout with pumpkin and spices (spices being cinnamon, candied ginger, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg). I see it being a creamy, roasty stout with a nice cinnamon/ginger kick at the end. Not sure if it will work that way but I know the pumpkin will make the body somewhat creamy. Maybe throw some vanilla in there as well? Any suggestions?

 

I ended up brewing an Equinox / Cascade beer. First time using Equinox. They smelled like lemon, lime and cantaloupe in the bag. Much more intense than Cascade. Cedar notes were noticed at pitching time. No green pepper so far.