What’s brewing this weekend?

Originally posted by GarethYoung
I mostly ignore the manufacturers recommendations (I don’t really know how to operate my smart tv, or my microwave, but my beers normally come out fine). Did you use 2 packs when you weren’t impressed by the character? Could it be overpitching?

I find I get plenty of character from it. A few people who tried the last one I made with it were really surprised that it was a dried yeast and commented on how good the saison character was. I also normally get down to 1.002-1.000 with it too.

I agree it’s probably not as distinctive as Dupont, but for that reason it takes other ingredients pretty well. It’s great if you’re going for a reasonably significant hop character, for instance. I have high hopes for the combination of it + El Dorado + Brett Trois.

Also brewing a Cream Ale. I should have done this a month ago.
50/50 Pils & 2-row, a pound of flaked corn, Hallertau and US-05. Cheap and simple stuff.

Tastes like beer.

Getting a few things brewed up this weekend-

-A hoppy wheat saison (a sorta rebrew of something from 2 years ago that I really enjoyed)

-A sorta-sour fermented with a culture that I stepped up from a Ladyslipper blossom. It’s fermenting the starter really nicely, but has shown really inconsistent souring in smaller cultures (hence, "sorta"). I’ll likely just use extract on this, and just focus on seeing what sort of character this culture brings to the table.

Also racking a BdG (planning on adding some rosemary and black pepper extract to this down the line), kegging up a citra saison and a low ABV dark belgian, adding preserved lemon and hibiscus to a berliner, and dry hopping another berliner.

A bit more brewing this weekend-

-A 100% Brett pale ale, hopped with lots of Citra and Mosaic

-A "Dark Strong Something" using the extract I got as part of a Northern Brewer deal (Buy one kit, get another 40% off). Essentially going to combine the two kits, use most of the hops, add some belgian candy syrup, and ferment with a mixed yeast cake I have laying around.

Strong IPA with all (and a lot of) Columbus hops. I’ve got some Caramunich leftover so I’m tossing it in with some carapils, too. Shooting for a Hog Heaven-like brew. US-05.

Notta. Have a kettle soured saison plugging away with 3711 and Brett B Trois that I hope to transfer onto dragonfruit if I can still find them in town in another week or so.

When I transfer onto fruit I’m going to dump an easy cider onto the cake for fun.

Just started the mash on a leftovers Belgian stout. Had to use up some things, so:

1.5kg Maris Otter
1Kg Oats
300g Special B
200g Chocolate Malt
100g Black Malt

10g El Dorado FWH

Fermenting with some De Dolle Yeast I’ve still go cultured up.

30% is a fairly nuts quantity of oats, but thems the ingredients I had lying around and I’m game for an experiment. I have no rice or oat husks, so sparging should be exciting (or very, very boring), though I’m batch sparging, which should help.

I’m listening to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA8yqZFQP5c

So maybe I’ll call it ’Black Widow’, if I stick labels on it, which I doubt.

Also drinking some homebrewed lager which is, frankly, infected.

What are you chaps up to?

Originally posted by drowland
Notta. Have a kettle soured saison plugging away with 3711 and Brett B Trois that I hope to transfer onto dragonfruit if I can still find them in town in another week or so.

When I transfer onto fruit I’m going to dump an easy cider onto the cake for fun.

Cool. I also bought some damsons, which are just in season in these parts, and some raspberries to split the batch of sour beer I’ve got going fermented with just the yeast and bugs I got from throwing some blueberries and an apricot in a small starter of wort and stepping it up over a month or two.

It’s only been fermenting for a month and it took less than three weeks to get pretty sour. Big bubbly, slightly oily-looking pellicle atop. Smelling great - really funky, but in a very fruity way. Pretty excited about it actually. Definitely reusing the bugs if its as good as I hope.

I’ll probably try to get some more local fruit to do 3/4 on 3 different fruits and 1/4 straight. Not sure what the other fruit will be. Sloes are coming in, but they’re not a million miles from damsons, so I might try something different. We get some great heritage variety apples from the apple museum thing in Kent, which should be arriving soon, so I could go mental and bake some in sugar with some cinnamon and do a sort of autumnal sour.

Nothing brewing this weekend, but did 10 gallons of IPA last week with a friend for a wedding in late October. Basic grain bill with Pacific Jade and Amarillo.

Finally got my Honey Tripel on tap and drinking nice and smooth.

Next month will be a light Saison with Belle Saison yeast and probably just Saaz, something quick to have on tap for Thanksgiving.