RateBeer Forums: Homebrew

Berliner Weisse and#40;extractand#41;

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by durhambeer

I�ve only brewed two batches so far, so I�m still pretty new to this game. I�d like to tackle a Berliner Weisse next. Do any of you have a good (simple) recipe? This one seems pretty simple, but I�ve never heard of boiling a wort after pitching yeast...http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f72/berliner-weisse-268935/ Do you need to boil a beer with lacto to kill it???? Also, anyone brewed with Wyeast 3191? Worth waiting til July or should I just go ahead and brew with Lacto (and/or Brett)? Any and all advice appreciated.

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Dry hopping question

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by jsquire

So I brewed a Zombie Dust clone and dry hopped with 3 oz. of Citra. I�ve never dry hopped before. The recipe that I cobbled together had no mention of how long to leave in the secondary with the hop pellets. When do I rack it and bottle it? Brewed 4-28, dry hopped 5-13. Thanks for any input. Jeff

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Old ingredients?

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by dand645

I just found a bunch of hop pellets and DME sitting in my basement. They have both been there for about a year. Any possibility I should be able to use them, or should I not bother risking it?

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raspberry smell

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by Unclerudy

Just did a raspberry mead Sunday, and used raspberry puree and raspberry wine base. Two cans of the puree, one large oneof the base, and one gallon of orange blossom honey. It smells like a combo of raspberry and rotting sulfur. I used the montrachet dry yeast. Anyone ever get those off smells? I know yeast is stinky, but not like this. Opinions?

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Noob needs advice please

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by fitwitchik

Total noob here with only one batch (barleywine)under my belt. Used a kit & tweaked it with the help of an experienced brew friend. Would like to branch out from kit & use a "real" recipe that I could improvise a couple of changes. Or is it best to get another kit, tweak, & gain experience of the process of homebrewing. The thought of making a mash is slightly intimidating & prefer to stay with a liguid malt extract should I do use a recipe. Ideas/input/advice greatly appreciated.

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Pitching Wine Yeast

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by HornyDevil

Has anyone ever used wine yeast as their primary fermenter? If so, care to post your results? I know meadmakers tend to use wine species, but I�ve not heard of any brewers doing so and I�m curious as to why. From what I�ve seen, wine yeast seems to be poorly flocculent, so that may be one reason. Any others you guys know of?

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Inspirational Beers

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by HornyDevil

As I sit here watching a beer ferment that I just brewed which was inspired by Baladin Xyauyu Fume, I took the time to reflect back on the beers that inspired me to brew better beer. Beers like Russian River Pliny the Elder. Cantillon Iris. 3 Fonteinen Doesjel. Founders KBS. Deschutes The Abyss. Orval. Thomas Hardy�s. Saison Dupont. What beers inspire you, fellow Ratebeerians?

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Dandelion Saison

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by heykevin

Any advice here? All dandelions? Or a little bit of bittering hops? Some at 60/90 minutes and a bunch at 10 minutes? Any thoughts on how tightly to the flower to trim the green stuff? Cheers! Kevin

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Dupont+Westmalle and#40;Saisonand#41;

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by Saison36

After reading this months Zymurgy and the article on Blending Yeast Strains it had me left with a couple questions. Specifically about blending Dupont and Westmalle for a Saison. 1.Would you blend both the yeasts in a starter before fermentation? 2. Would you start fermenting with Dupont and then add Westmalle to finish things up in a timely manner? If so, how long do you let the Dupont go before adding the Westmalle? If anyone has had any experience in the blending of these two yeast i�d appreciate your input. Thanks, Ian

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Brewing This Weekend

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by pellegjr

Weather�s warming up, but still just enough of a chill in the air to keep it comfortable (at least here in Ohio). Who�s brewing this weekend? I�ll be doing my ginger wheat recipe this weekend and rye lager next weekend,

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Back at it again

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by stumpyiliz

I hung up my brewing apron years ago. Girlfriend bought me a new book and the big is back. I bought myself everything I need and am off to the brew store next weekend to start off with an all grain dipa. I was wondering if anyone had a 5 gal recipe that only uses Cascade and Columbus they would be willing to share? Hopefully with a dry hopping step. Cheers

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Wyeast 3522

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by acodell

I just bottled what I am calling a Blueberry Peach Belgian that is going to be fantastic. I used peaches and blueberries from my freezer, used hot wort to sterilize the fruit. cooled and then repitched Wyeast 3522 from a bigger Belgian. After primary fermentation this beer tasted amazing.I hope it conditions well. I highly recommend this yeast.

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Anyone have a good, dry cider recipe?

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by b3shine

Hi All, I�m a fairly green homebrewer who is looking for a nice, dry cider recipe. I haven�t done one, but my wife loves them, and I�d love to keg 5-10 gallons (in 1/6 barrels) for her/us. Any good recipes would be appreciated. Willing to spend a little extra to make it "pop". Thanks in advance for the feedback.

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Using Papaya

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by HornyDevil

Anyone have any input on using this fruit?

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Papaya

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by tomer

I�ve got and abundant amount of fresh papaya which i would like to make a beer with. I was thinking of adding it to a light pale ale or an IPA. Has anybody got any tips or ideas on using it in a beer?

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Hopville vs. Brewtoad

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by bitbucket

I have been using Hopville/Beer Calculus for years. Version 2 has been �in beta� for a year or more, and I thought the site had sort of run out out of steam. I looked at Brewtoad after I talked to the guys at when they were at the 2012 AHA Conference. It looked promising, but not all that impressive. Now it looks like the two sites are going to get folded into one: Dear Hopville Brewers, We are excited to announce that Brewtoad.com, an innovative homebrewing web and mobile application, acquired Hopville. Soon, you will be able to connect with over 40,000 brewers and explore over 150,000 recipes. In a couple weeks, your Hopville accounts and recipes will be available on Brewtoad. Please refer to the blog for complete details �http://blog.brewtoad.com. �All of Hopville�s key features, functionality and all recipes will be migrated to Brewtoad. The overall user-experience is going to be incredible.� - Hopville President Todd Gehman Brewtoad is committed to providing a seamless transition while maintaining all of Hopville�s core features and functionality, available free of charge. Your Hopville username, email, and password will remain the same. All of your recipes will still exist and be available. If your Hopville account uses the same email address as a Brewtoad account your recipes will be merged automatically. Click Here for additional details Brewtoad is under active development and we�re excited to continue rolling out new features and functionality to enhance the homebrewing experience. Stay tuned for additional updates� Cheers!

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AdamJackson - re: your brett beers

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by levifunk

Someone sent me this asking my thought: http://adam-jackson.net/beer/homebrewing-sampling-my-brett-beersneed-some-advice/ I went to reply on your page but it won�t let me, so copy/paste here: Sounds like you have a lacto infection on the first one. Brett L won�t create that much acidity. Pushing for a 13% Saison might have been a bit of a mistake. Not sure how far the French Saison yeast will take it, but the Brett L will have to pick up and do the rest. It will likely continue to eat away, but it moves at a slower and slower speed as ABV rises. Check it ever couple weeks and if the gravity is steady, then you�d be fine. Blueberries are very tannic by nature, so you have to expect a degree of that. Does it taste like you are eating just grape skins? There is a good thread here talking about that: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/psa-do-not-use-anthocyanin-rich-fermentables-sour-beers-353080/ Anthocyanins is high in blueberries.

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Amarillo Hops

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by acodell

Anyone have a good recipe that uses Amarillo Hops? I tried an American PAle Ale at a local brew club event that used exclusively Amarillo. I am very interested in brewing a summer ale that highlights the aroma of Amarillo.

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Whats Brewing?

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by Cobra

After many years of being away from brewing, I made a nice dry extract Barleywine today. It�s already perking away nicely, thanks to a huge starter.

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Brewhouse improvements

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by JulienHuxley

I just went on a very intense binge of aquisitions and DIYs for my brewhouse over the past two weeks. During that period I bought a 15 gallon stainless steel brew pot with accessories, converted my immersion chiller into a rubber hose counterflow chiller, built a keezer/lagering chamber and installed kegging equipment/kegged my first beer. Finally got to give everything a test run yesterday by brewing a svetly that is fermenting with dregs from a Uneticke bottle that I brought back from my recent trip to Czech Rep. The chiller works awesome, it is a little slow (3/8" copper tube x 25 ft long) but chills beer right down to about 45. I actually have to recirculate it other wise it is too cold. The pot with accessories is also a big improvement over my aluminum turkey fryer that had no valves. All in all I�m really satisfied, but now I want a better propane burner and maybe a pump to help with the chilling. What are your latest brewery improvements? What has been the most/least worthwhile upgrade as of late?

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Kvass

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by finn1918

I�ve recently started making some quick-and-easy traditional homebrew drinks, since I don�t currently have the time, resources, storage space, or drinking buddies for a 5 gallon batch of "real" homebrew. I�ve had some success with Sima (Finnish lemon-flavored quick mead) and have decided that Kvass is next on my list: http://natashaskitchen.com/2012/02/19/angelinas-easy-bread-kvas-recipe/ Anyone tried this before? It seems pretty simple, but I�m not sure how necessary it is to include so much yeast. My last batch of sima used 1/8 tsp, or about 1/15 as much as this recipe calls for. Also, any recommendations for different/better ingredients? No two recipes seem to agree on spices or bread to use, and I�ve heard it described as anywhere from coke-like to soggy bread-like in flavor. I�m thinking I�ll use black rye bread or pumpernickel to start with, and experiment from there. Any input appreciated!

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National Homebrew Competition

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by NobleSquirrel

So, results are up for the first round. Got my Sweet Tupelo Mead through with a first place at the Milwaukee Regional. Anybody else get anything through?

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The whole is more than the sum of its parts

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by HornyDevil

This is another concept that I�ve been toying with for a while. To me, genius is not taking exotic materials and/or ingredients and combining them to make something otherworldly. Genius is taking ordinary, everyday things and making them into something truly inspirational. It is the simplicity of the constituent ingredients that makes the finished product that much more awe-inspiring. This concept is something that I have begun to embrace in my brewing. I�m not sure if it is a backlash from the direction that many commercial brewers have taken or a yearning for traditional beer, but it has certainly produced a maturing of my own brewing philosophy and I like it. It simply strikes me as much easier to take a cornucopia of ingredients and come out with mediocre beer, than it is to take very few and end up with ambrosia.

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Best yeast for high gravity beers?

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by felipemr

I want to make a beer with 13% alcohol, wich yeast do you recomend for this one. Its An imperial Blonde Ale bottle conditioned Thanks

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Brewing Elegant Beer

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:01:44 EST

Posted by HornyDevil

I�ve been reading about wine quite a bit lately. Not necessarily to learn more about the beverage, although that IS a nice side-effect, but to open my mind to the idiosyncrasies that differentiate it from beer. As much as most beer geeks don�t want to admit it, wine is, very simply, a more complex beverage. Not saying that it is better, just more complex. The word that I keep running into when reading is elegant. A word not often used to describe beer. That made me ask myself why it isn�t used as an adjective for my favorite beverage and I came up with the following. Elegant, to me, means "superbly balanced yet entertainingly nuanced". Unfortunately I have found that in very few beers even though I have consumed quite a few. I guess it is because the craft beer movement is currently about overwhelming flavors and aromas. Big bitterness, roastiness, sourness, funkiness, and spirit character tend to be the characteristics most sought out by those "in the know" about beer and I am becoming more and more disappointed with this trend. We have waxed philosophic about beer�s return to balance, but it just hasn�t happened and I don�t think that it is going to for the foreseeable future. I find this to be unfortunate. Wine, on the other hand, is a beverage that I only enjoy once in a while. Don�t get me wrong, I know that wine can suffer from the same "over the top" characteristics that beers does, but I find it much easier to find a wine that I would describe as elegant. I strongly feel that it has to do with its longer maturation process, its higher alcohol content, its acidity, and its lack of carbonation (for the most part). Though I don�t often find this in a beer, I found these characteristics in the Baladin Xyauy� Fum� that I recently consumed and it began to bring things together for me. In lieu of suggesting that all beer be made this way (I wouldn�t dream of doing so), I simply wonder why more brewers aren�t trying to brew more perfectly balanced beer. I know that if I were to open a brewery that characteristic would be paramount and I would strive to make all of my beers as balanced and elegant as possible. All that said, and at the risk of getting long-winded, which beers do you think represent this characteristic and why?

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