The Beer Thread

[sweetcell]

yeah, i'd get on that plane too.  i think you'd have two upset ladies if you didn't, plus i hear that they have OK beer in germany

have a great time!  looking forward to hearing about your trip when you return.

[sweetcell]

a nice write-up on local craft breweries and the importance of offering free tastings to stimulate business.  they also mention 3 Stars & their upcoming homebrew supply shop (opens this friday!).

The tasting room is where it?s happening
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-tasting-room-is-where-its-happening/2012/05/25/gJQAi2qlpU_story.html

[stevewizzle]

brewed the first AG recipe today.  Kept it simple, american pale ale ( http://bit.ly/Jvi8vr).

bottom line: obsessed. felt like i traded in my old 1995 beater with 200k miles that barely started for a brand new 2012 benz. the equipment upgrades have been slowly coming together over the past few months (wort chiller, big brew pot, and finally a DIY mash tun), and finally got enough time this weekend to brew. 

Photo of the set up: https://p.twimg.com/At6bG3ZCAAAixRY.jpg:large

as far as first-time AG brewing goes, very happy with how things went.  spent a lot of time with the calculations, process, and making efficient use of time. Mash tun allowed for just a quick one-time batch sparge.  Nailed the target volumes, efficiency, and specific gravity.  the new 9-gal SS brew pot was great, reached a full-boil for 6.2 gal in about ~20 minutes.  only issue was with the wort chiller... took 40 minutes to bring down to temperature.  maybe should have spent a bit more and got a larger coil chiller.

overall time: 5.5 hrs

will dry-hop w/ 1oz citra, should be ready to drink in 4 weeks.

[stevewizzle]

troegs flying mouflan = my favorite beer this year

a deliciously malty and well-hopped barleywine.  had it on draft at churchkey. currently looking to acquire all i can get my hands on.

troegs nugget nectar on-tap at jack rose.  $2 off every day 5-7:30, great deal

[stevewizzle]

so this is what my weekend is going to look like:


 
in case the above pic doesn't come through: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9wd5kJ-ZnEHNqOO4929Tk6CBesnamw2UU71IOs51TRo?feat=directlink (and if the image does show up, sorry for making you scroll to the right... didn't realize the image was that big)

i won't be drinking all of those (i want to cellar the stone IRS), but it's nice to know i have such great options.  the boulevard tripel, rahr's and the cali-belgique were dragged back from texas (thanks for losing my luggage, American Airlines).  the southern tier and the celebrator (!!!) were bought at the rockville pike World Market this evening - what a delightful surprise!  all that crap behind the beers is ingredients that i'll be using to brew a few batches this weekend (a breakfast stout, a belgian blond and a single malt/single hop experimental brew.  the glass on the far left contains my rye IPA - the official sponsor of this weekend's brew-a-thon.

it's gonna be an awesome weekend

Stone IRS is great. Celebrator is as well, not a better doppelbock out there.  Or if there is, please let me know.

Styrian bobek and some serious adjuncts and grains!  Was the styrian the experimental brew? Never heard of that hop.

Also I like that i see the quaker oats man in that picture.

[hutch]

is it just me or are beer prices increasing?

they also seem to be outstripping wine price increases..


safeway says the regular price for a cases of corona is now $32.97.


beer institute CPI does not seem to back up what I think i'm seeing.. maybe i'm just wrong but i remember a few years ago a six pack of just about anything seem to be about $2 less.. anyways, here is the Beer Institute CPI

http://www.beerinstitute.org/statistics.asp?bid=198

[sweetcell]

brewed the first AG recipe today.  Kept it simple, american pale ale ( http://bit.ly/Jvi8vr).

bottom line: obsessed. felt like i traded in my old 1995 beater with 200k miles that barely started for a brand new 2012 benz. the equipment upgrades have been slowly coming together over the past few months (wort chiller, big brew pot, and finally a DIY mash tun), and finally got enough time this weekend to brew. 

Photo of the set up: https://p.twimg.com/At6bG3ZCAAAixRY.jpg:large

as far as first-time AG brewing goes, very happy with how things went.  spent a lot of time with the calculations, process, and making efficient use of time. Mash tun allowed for just a quick one-time batch sparge.  Nailed the target volumes, efficiency, and specific gravity.  the new 9-gal SS brew pot was great, reached a full-boil for 6.2 gal in about ~20 minutes.  only issue was with the wort chiller... took 40 minutes to bring down to temperature.  maybe should have spent a bit more and got a larger coil chiller.

overall time: 5.5 hrs

will dry-hop w/ 1oz citra, should be ready to drink in 4 weeks.

woohoo, congrats on the all-grain!  nice time, too - i'm still working on getting it under 6 hours.  and mega-congrats on hitting the numbers.  i always come close but i don't have a defined process for getting there... so maybe i've just been lucky so far.  as long as i'm within 5 points, i'm happy.

question: i see that you add malto-dextrine to your recipes, including pale ales.  do you like your pale ales thicker?  when i think MD, i think of stouts, belgian dubbels, etc.  a pale ale with a heavy mouthfeel seems bizarre to me but i won't knock it until i've tried it.

AG is definitely a one-way door.  i don't see ever going back to extract.  plus, you can make doggie treats with the spent grain

[sweetcell]

Stone IRS is great. Celebrator is as well, not a better doppelbock out there.  Or if there is, please let me know.

Styrian bobek and some serious adjuncts and grains!  Was the styrian the experimental brew? Never heard of that hop.

Also I like that i see the quaker oats man in that picture.

celebrator is a meal in a glass.  bottles should be served with a bread knife and some butter!  so tasty, can't believe i found some in such a random place.

the bobek was an impulse buy, when i needed a little more to get free shipping on an order.  they're noble'ish, slightly spicy... a low-cost saaz substitute, IMO.  i'm using them in my belgians.  the "experimental" brew is my optic/amarillo SMaSH.  biggest part of the experiment, for me, is to play it so simply.  i'm always throwing the kitchen sink in there, so it was an exercise in discipline to keep it to a single malt and a single hop.  seems so... unnatural.

i got in trouble with the quaker oats man when i brewed my breakfast stout.  namely, i forgot to invite him to the mash party.  so while everything else was mashed and ready to boil, there i was scrounging grains from other recipes (to be replaced with extract) so i could make a mini-mash on the side in a smaller pot for the oats.  way to not stick with the plan... but that's OK.  something always goes wrong on brewday, for me.  i have yet to have a clean, stress-free experience.  today's brewing of a belgian blond was probably the best (i.e. f*ck-up free) brewday i've ever had.

[sweetcell]

Photo of the set up: https://p.twimg.com/At6bG3ZCAAAixRY.jpg:large

forgot to ask: that's the "before" pic, right?  dunno about you, but by the time i get to the "after" pic it looks like a bomb went off in my kitchen.

[stevewizzle]

woohoo, congrats on the all-grain!  nice time, too - i'm still working on getting it under 6 hours.  and mega-congrats on hitting the numbers.  i always come close but i don't have a defined process for getting there... so maybe i've just been lucky so far.  as long as i'm within 5 points, i'm happy.

thanks! definitely a one-way door.  I look forward to making some seriously ambitious brews. I brew with my roommate, so that helps with the time.  Hopefully it wasn't first-time luck, and we continuously nail the numbers. 

question: i see that you add malto-dextrine to your recipes, including pale ales.  do you like your pale ales thicker?  when i think MD, i think of stouts, belgian dubbels, etc.  a pale ale with a heavy mouthfeel seems bizarre to me but i won't knock it until i've tried it.

you know... this may end up being an issue since our target was more of a summer beer.  it went wonderful with the IPA we made, and we enjoyed the additional head retention.  the head retention was the goal and really why we added it, but in retrospect, we could have used something else which wouldn't have bulked up the body. 

the bobek was an impulse buy, when i needed a little more to get free shipping on an order.  they're noble'ish, slightly spicy... a low-cost saaz substitute, IMO.  i'm using them in my belgians.  the "experimental" brew is my optic/amarillo SMaSH.  biggest part of the experiment, for me, is to play it so simply.  i'm always throwing the kitchen sink in there, so it was an exercise in discipline to keep it to a single malt and a single hop.  seems so... unnatural.

I wonder if Bobek or Saaz would go well in the saison we plan to brew.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get the fermentation temperature hot enough.  Only need it high during that first week... attenuation is best at 75 I'm told.  Open to ideas if you have any.

It does seem so unnatural.  But Mikeller did wonders with all of their experimentals.  Oh my was that SMaSH sorachi ace beer delicious.  I'm sure it will turn out fantastic, what was the target IBU?

forgot to ask: that's the "before" pic, right?  dunno about you, but by the time i get to the "after" pic it looks like a bomb went off in my kitchen.

Oh yeah, definitely a before pic.  Although sometimes we think this house was constructed with brewing in mind, because the setup is really top notch.  There's a concrete patio and garden hose right outside that back door.

[Venerable Bede]

Boulevard is coming to Maryland, DC, and Virginia in early June. Hallelujah! I love their Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale.

yeah, the tank 7 is great. 

i've got one these currently hanging out in my fridge:

[sweetcell]

thanks! definitely a one-way door.  I look forward to making some seriously ambitious brews. I brew with my roommate, so that helps with the time. 

having some help is awesome.  the missus helps me out on occasion, makes brew day go by a lot faster.  going all grain is like to moving from crayola markers to mixing oil paints.  i'm so loving it.

you know... this may end up being an issue since our target was more of a summer beer.  it went wonderful with the IPA we made, and we enjoyed the additional head retention.  the head retention was the goal and really why we added it, but in retrospect, we could have used something else which wouldn't have bulked up the body.

carapils/carafoam is something you might want to consider.  another option (could be used in conjuction with the previous) is to use some wheat, which has more protein than barley so it helps with head retention.

I wonder if Bobek or Saaz would go well in the saison we plan to brew.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get the fermentation temperature hot enough.  Only need it high during that first week... attenuation is best at 75 I'm told.  Open to ideas if you have any.

guess it would depend on what kind of saison you're going for.  saaz and the like are a tad spicey so they could reinforce that aspect of your saison, or you could try getting some other flavor in there with your hops.  i'm happy to trade if you want to try bobek, lemme know what ya got

getting temps to 75 shouldn't be too hard.  do it cheaply by turning off the AC during the day while you're out, then use  a brew belt or a FermWrap heater when you are around.  i have a brew belt on a timer that kept my carboys warm this past winter, worked quite well but i'd got with a fermwrap if i had to do it again.

I'm sure it will turn out fantastic, what was the target IBU?

34 IBUs on a 1.054, so on the hoppy side of balanced without going overboard.  i guess i could have gone stronger, but i already have an IPA on hand.  i wanted a good amount of the malt character to come through since i've never tried optic.  gonna dry-hop it of course. 

here's the output from last weekend's brew-a-thon:


 
having all 3 carboys full at the same time isn't something i plan on doing too often, so it was worthy of a picture.  because of the chocolate and cocoa nibs in the breakfast stout it created some really cool big bubbles:


 
yes, beer is alive!

[stevewizzle]

guess it would depend on what kind of saison you're going for.  saaz and the like are a tad spicey so they could reinforce that aspect of your saison, or you could try getting some other flavor in there with your hops.  i'm happy to trade if you want to try bobek, lemme know what ya got

here's what the saison ended up being: http://hopville.com/recipe/1405033/saison-recipes/let-the-pig-out-of-the-farmhouse ..  went with a more forgiving yeast. 

will work with carapils next time, thanks for the heads up.

awesome update!  if you need any help drinking any of those...

[stevewizzle]

I find it hard to believe no one has mentioned savor this week.  maybe it's that i'm finally attending (after being unable to go the past two). anyone else attending?

 there has been some cool events throughout the week so far.  sierra nevada tap takeover at CK, boulevard all over the city (tank 7 being highly regarded), good deals on pints, etc.  nice little overview of most events here: http://dcbeer.com/savorweek2012/ 

[fatskippy]

I'll be at Savor for the first time too. Churchkey was packed for the Deschutes event last night.  I figured it would be crowded but not to that extent. Are there any beers on the Savor list that are a must try?

http://dcbeer.com/2012/03/20/brewers-association-releases-savor-beer-list/