Just moved 18L of mixed-fermentation saison, which had 610g of orange blossom honey added after primary was finished, onto 6Kg of apricots and some white bordeaux (was going to add oak chips, but decided just to stick the wine in straight in the end). I think the OG (not including honey) was 1.044 and it’s now 1.000.
I’ll probably give it a month or so on the fruit, then a month or so in bottles.
Planning a fairly strong dark, sour beer in the next few weeks. Thinking about 9% ABV, grist a mix of mostly Maris Otter, Vienna, Munich and Special B, with a little dark candi syrup. Probably kettle-sour, then ferment with the De Dolle strain. Got some Rodenbach Character Rouge, Rodenbach Vintage 2011 and Struise Ypres, none of which, I think, are filtered or pasteurised. I’m hoping I can culture some beasties from these and add them to the beer. Probably finish it on oak chips soaked in some sort of red Bordeaux, and maybe stick some on morello cherries.
What are others up to? |
I have 20 l of Berliner Weisse that sitting around 38C to sour right now. Pitched a starter WLP677 (L. Delbruckeii) in it after boiling. It’s been sitting since Saturday but still isn’t that sour really so I’m contemplating what to do about it. Gravity is currently at 1011 kg/m^3. The idea is to add lots of tropical fruit (have to see what’s available though) to do something Florida Weisse-esque later on.
Otherwise, I have 40 l of Imperial Stout that we brewed almost 4 weeks ago. OG 1094 and currently sitting around at about 1032. Going to add some honey to it soon to increase the gravity about 10 points. We’ve brewed this recipe (with some minor changes) three times before and it comes out great (except the third batch which got infected). Will add bourbon and oak chips to some part of it and coffee to another later and might even do one or two versions more.
We will enter both beers in the Swedish Nationals later this spring. We have two more beers planned for this as well, one "modern" IPA (no caramel malt, lots of aroma hops etc) and some kind of oatmeal or perhaps sweet stout. |
Just brewed the sour half of a blonde sour beer & Brett cider hybrid type of thing. The blonde sour got about 0.6 lbs of grated ginger and once blended, the beer will also get lemon oil and Calvados. |
Lots of suff in fermenters.
- The Rye Saison needs to go on tap today to replace the APA keg that just blew.
- I’ve got a Tripel that is two or three weeks out from finishing.
- I’ve got a Chokecherry Wine (old, old family tradition) that should be ready in a couple of months.
- There is a Jadwiga mead clone that is coming along nicely but I don’t expect to bottle it for a year or so.
- And last but not least I’ve got part one of a Geuze in a carboy but it will be quite a while before that sees the light of day.
Next up in my brew schedule
- Flanders Red
- Oud Bruin
- Quadrupel
- Dubbel
I also put a Hoegaarden clone on tap about a week ago. Tasted great initially, but that all went to hell when I put it on tap. I had previously used the same line for a Birch Beer (rootbeer) and there was a strong licqorice taste that soaked into the beer line. I now have licqorice Hoegaraarden. Not so fabulous.
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Originally posted by bitbucket
I’ve got a Chokecherry Wine (old, old family tradition) that should be ready in a couple of months.
There is a Jadwiga mead clone that is coming along nicely but I don’t expect to bottle it for a year or so
Care to post recipes for these two? Very interested.
Originally posted by bitbucket
I now have licqorice Hoegaraarden.
That’s fucking gross. Sorry ’bout that.  |
Originally posted by HornyDevil
Originally posted by bitbucket
I’ve got a Chokecherry Wine (old, old family tradition) that should be ready in a couple of months.
There is a Jadwiga mead clone that is coming along nicely but I don’t expect to bottle it for a year or so
Care to post recipes for these two? Very interested.
For the chokecherry wine, I started out with five gallons of chokecherries. This really isn’t a huge amount because there is so much waste due to large pits and thick skins. I took about a quart of two of the fruit and simmered it for half an hour to pull some of the tartness and color out of the skins. Then I processed all the fruit in a an old mill like this one to separate out the pulp. Then I added 10 pounds of sugar and enough water to get to five gallons total. I did the boil because I found that the "uncooked" fruit pulp is sort of bland. All the tartness and most of the color is in the skins. I found that I got plenty of color from just a small amount of the fruit. And I didn’t want the wine to taste "cooked" so a small amount seemed like plenty. For the mead, I just brewed a high alcohol Polish mead and added fruit after the ferment had progressed for several months. The real key was to use buckwheat honey. I read all the cautions about buckwheat honey giving you a strong, barnyard flavor, and ignored them. Perhaps I got lucky with the particular buckwheat honey I got? It is German in origin. The flavor is spot on but the yeast needs to keep working to get the sweetness down and the alcohol up. |
Thanks for the info! Very interested in using chokecherries in the future and your process will certainly help. As to the buckwheat honey, I’ve literally used it in dozens of beers and I’ve never had any type of barnyard flavor or aroma. All I get is sweetness and molasses. Love that stuff. |
Right now I have a honey porter and a Mosaic pale ale on tap.
In ze carboy I have what will be an "imperial peanut butter porter." 1.098 OG and going to add PB2 in the keg to taste.
Tuesday I am brewing what Mrs. Owl has deemed "hodge podge." I ordered 6lb of Maris Otter and I’m just tossing all random leftover malts I have sitting around into the mash and all random leftover hops into the boil. It’s a tradition I learned from my older brother to just get rid of leftover random increments of malts and such. Based on the iPad app I use, it’s going to be pretty dark. |
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Originally posted by HornyDevil
Thanks for the info! Very interested in using chokecherries in the future and your process will certainly help. As to the buckwheat honey, I’ve literally used it in dozens of beers and I’ve never had any type of barnyard flavor or aroma. All I get is sweetness and molasses. Love that stuff.
No problem. I would like to have provided more info, but I experienced a hard drive failure between the time I started brewing these and today, so the specifics have kinda vanished. |
Originally posted by GarethYoung
Planning a fairly strong dark, sour beer in the next few weeks. Thinking about 9% ABV, grist a mix of mostly Maris Otter, Vienna, Munich and Special B, with a little dark candi syrup. Probably kettle-sour, then ferment with the De Dolle strain. Got some Rodenbach Character Rouge, Rodenbach Vintage 2011 and Struise Ypres, none of which, I think, are filtered or pasteurised. I’m hoping I can culture some beasties from these and add them to the beer. Probably finish it on oak chips soaked in some sort of red Bordeaux, and maybe stick some on morello cherries.
That sounds like goodness on top of goodness with a side of goodness. I’m a big fan of all of those malts, those brewers, and cherries. |
Brewing that hodge podge today. It’s going to be very dark, methinks... here is all the random shit in it:
Typical Style Characteristics
Style: Specialty Beer
O.G. 0.000 - 0.000
F.G. 0.000 - 0.000
ABV 0.0 - 0.0
IBU 0 - 0
SRM 0 - 0°L
Color
Calculated & Measured Statistics
Calculated O.G. 1.064 (80% Efficiency)
Calculated F.G. 1.015 (76% Yeast Attenuation)
Measured O.G. 0.000 (0% Actual Efficiency)
Measured F.G. 0.000 (0% Actual Attenuation)
ABV 6.6%
IBU 98.0
SRM 60.5°L
Color
Malt Bill
Malt Name Weight PPG SRM Type
Maris Otter– 4°L 6.00 lbs 1.038 4.00 Mashed Grain
Chocolate Malt - 412°L 1.38 lbs 1.034 413.00 Mashed Grain
Munich Malt - 10L 0.75 lbs 1.035 10.00 Mashed Grain
Wheat, Pale - 1.5°L 0.59 lbs 1.037 1.50 Mashed Grain
2-Row Malt - 1.75°L 0.50 lbs 1.038 1.80 Mashed Grain
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L 0.50 lbs 1.034 80.00 Mashed Grain
Black Malt, Debittered– 550°L 0.50 lbs 1.025 550.00 Mashed Grain
Flaked Wheat– 2°L 0.50 lbs 1.036 2.00 Mashed Grain
Black Malt - 500°L 0.38 lbs 1.025 500.00 Mashed Grain
Mash Rest Profile
Rest Temperature Time Type Details
Saccharification (Medium Body) 152°F 60 min Initial Strike Mash-in with 13.9 qts of water at 165°F
Fly sparge with 18.6 qts of water at 170°F
Hop Bill
Hop Name Time Added Weight AA% Type
Newport 60 min 2.00 oz 12.0% Pellet Hop
Citra 10 min 1.00 oz 14.2% Pellet Hop
Azacca 5 min 1.00 oz 14.8% Pellet Hop
Azacca 0 min 1.00 oz 14.8% Pellet Hop
Styrian Golding (dry hop) 2 days 1.00 oz 3.4% Pellet Hop
Yeast Details
Yeast Strain Quantity Attenuation Flocculation
WLP001 White Labs California Ale 76 Medium
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