homebrew anybody...

[Rollin with Rolland]

alright, i was just making up a batch of beer in hopes it would be ready for the WL BBQ in july (have to bring something to share), and had a couple questions. ALRIGHT...i know what everyone is thinking......homebrew...that stuff is nasty. i won't disagree with you, if your used to light american lagers (no problem with that...i love PBR), it can be nasty. then you have the batches that go bad.....i won't even drink that stuff!!:colors:

but in all seriousness...(is that really a word??) i just made a honey wheat, and am looking to throw in some fresh organic lemon (this should be a sweet summer brew) near the end of fermentation, but have never experimented with citrus yet. from what i gather, i should only put in the peels. Does anyone have any experience with this?? i mean, i can read plenty of recipes online, i was just looking for some first hand experience. any input would be great. Oh, and if you want to see how it turns out, maybe you should show up at the BBQ....

[dilbert]

I think most people use dried lemon peels. Make sure they are Clean... these are being added post fermentation, but you would still be increasing the risk of an infection. personally, being a serious hophead, I'd dryhop using whole hops with a citrus profile. It'll give you the aroma and nice flavor without extracting the alpha acids keeping your IBUs lower.

Check out my two favorite homebrew forums.

http://www.brewboard.com/
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/

[Rollin with Rolland]

excellent dilbert....

that's the kind of info i was looking for....you sound way more experienced than me...you may be seeing more brewing question from me...

thanks for the links....now i have another board to join!!!

well the batch is already started, so maybe peel the lemons and let them dry first....i was a little worried about the acid, that's why i read peels are actually better than juice i guess.....thanks again

[dilbert]

I'm way out of practice. My keg fridge is down to 1 out of 4 taps with beer left. I need to brew really bad, but I know as soon as I do it'll get warm and screw up my fermentation. I brew with a 10 gallon all grain Batch Sparge system. I use converted 15.5 gallon kegs on propane turkey fryer burners for my HLT and Boil kettle and I use a really big cooler for my mash tun. It's all gravity fed except for a venturi siphon that uses my cooling water to suck the hot wort through my counterflow chiller into the fermenters.


My favorite recipes:


Recipe: Gone Awry (Rye IPA)
Style: India Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 10.00 gal
Boil Size: 12.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.073 SG
Estimated Color: 12.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 64.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
22.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 67.7 %
6.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 18.5 %
2.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.7 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.1 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.1 %
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.50%] (60 min) Hops 39.0 IBU
2.00 oz Mt. Hood [5.70%] (70 min) (First Wort HopHops 18.7 IBU
1.00 oz Mt. Hood [5.70%] (30 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.50%] (Dry Hop 3 dHops -
3.00 oz Mt. Hood [5.70%] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale




Recipe: American Amber
Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 10.00 gal
Boil Size: 12.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 12.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
18.25 lb Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 80.2 %
2.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 11.0 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.4 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 4.4 %
1.75 oz Saaz [4.70%] (60 min) Hops 13.7 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [6.90%] (15 min) Hops 5.7 IBU
2 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale



Recipe: I'm Not Dead Yet (Dead Guy clone)
Style: Mailbock/Helles Bock
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 10.00 gal
Boil Size: 12.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 11.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 60.0 %
9.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 32.7 %
2.00 lb Carastan (Caramalt) (34.0 SRM) Grain 7.3 %
1.50 oz Saaz [6.80%] (45 min) Hops 14.4 IBU
1.00 oz Pearle [6.50%] (45 min) Hops 9.2 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [6.80%] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 oz Pearle [6.50%] (15 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
1.50 oz Saaz [6.80%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
2 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

[Rollin with Rolland]

wow....10oz. of hops for the IPA....i can tell you haven't brewed that one since last year....not that i'm counting beans, but at $5 an oz. that gets pretty pricey... (with the hops shortage and all)

thanks for the recipes....i like yourself am a huge hophead....gotta love the "tang"...

now how about some secret muskie "recipes"....when, what, and where.....:jocolor:

[dilbert]

Mmmmmmm....

[Rollin with Rolland]

HLT?? that's quite the setup....you must keg your brew....3, 8 or 15gal??

[dilbert]

HLT = Hot Liquer Tank (hot water!)

I use 5 gallon soda kegs....photos above. It takes 2 kegs per batch of beer.

[dilbert]

Last time I bought hops they were $1/oz or 6oz for $5

Lucky for me I have a stockpile in the freezer

[The Quadfather]

Dilbert.... Oh man,, that is one shweet set-up you've got there. It makes me think maybe that is another hobby I need to get into...
and don't think that those little wall label placks went unnoticed. You had all my favorite flavors, i.e. Oatmeal stout, porter, all the yummy ones. Looks like a lot of fun.

[Rollin with Rolland]

Last time I bought hops they were $1/oz or 6oz for $5

Lucky for me I have a stockpile in the freezer

yeah...lucky for YOU=p~ (i think that's a drool)


.well, i think you are getting a little bored with your setup dilbert, and after many hours of consideration you want to give it all to me, (and some to quadradomus to get started) free of charge. ok, i'll MAYBE give you a brew or two...:jocolor:

so, exactly how many years have you been brewing?? any general advice for someone just looking to get off kits and try their own recipes??

p.s. if you put me on some fish, i'll let you give me a beer...:shaking2:

[dilbert]

I guess I started brewing about 4 or 5 years ago, I'd have to check my brew logs to be sure though. The best thing I ever did for the quality of my beer was make the step to all-grain. Extract brews always just tasted a little "homebrewy". One thing that helps with extracts though is to use the late addition method, where you don't add the bulk of the extract until the end of your boil. All grain isn't nearly as scary or time consuming as I had thought. I use brewsmith software to take care of all the dough-in and sparge water volume and temperature calculations. Using that software it's fairly easy to hit your mash-in temps within a degree or two. Also, read the info at those brewing forums and ask questions. My favorite forum is the green one. Don't let people tell you that glass fermenters are better than food grade plastic buckets. I stopped using glass after I dropped a glass carboy with 5 gallons of idophor on the garage floor and it exploded sending shards of glass and idophor everywhere. I was lucky and didn’t get cut, but many homebrewers have gone to the ER because of broken glass carboys. I ended up using my racking bucket for a fermenter. That batch turned out great and I haven’t looked back. Get a free fridge on craigslist (that’s what I did). You can keep your bottles in it until you step up to kegging.

To summarize:
-As much as you can, make your own equipment (that’s half the fun)
-Go all grain (batch sparge baby!)
-Ask questions and read
-Use Brewsmith or Promash software (math is harder after a homebrew)
-Use plastic fermenters (and live to tell about it)
-Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew!

[Marc Martyn]

Dibert-

Looks like you have a good production system there. By any chance, can you use that as an alternative fuel for autos?:jocolor:

[dilbert]

Dibert-

Looks like you have a good production system there. By any chance, can you use that as an alternative fuel for autos?:jocolor:

Yes!

[dilbert]

Another way to deal with rising hop prices it to grow your own. Washington is a prime hop growing region!