Where are the good beer makers?
 

Change of pace to the other thread: who's brewing and what has them excited? Share a recipe, or just talk shop! :)

Kinda sad this thread hasn't taken off. I don't brew personally, but have lots of friends that do. I was kinda hoping to share some recipes from some brewmasters with them.

I'm sad too... now that I've got a batch fermenting I'm trying to figure out what to brew up next and have yet to be inspired.

The as-yet-unnamed IPA brewed on the weekend looked like this:

10 lb pale extract
0.5 lb munich 10L
0.5 lb crystal 60L

1.5 oz Zeus @ 60
1 oz Cascade (fresh) @ 15
1 oz Simcoe @ 0, carried over into primary
1 oz Williamette @ 0, carried over into primary

Primary should be 3-6 days, followed by a solid two weeks in the secondary. I'll be adding a dry hop of 1 oz Centennial and 1 oz Cascade with the secondary; I'm tossing around the idea of steeping it to get a bit more of the flavour extracted than dry hopping typically does.

OG = 1.064
Est FG = 1.015
Est ABV = 6.3%

The hope is that it's going to be dry but not palette-destroying, have solid depth of various hop flavours, and not be too high in alcohol. I'm weary of one-note, high alcohol hopbombs and want to find some balance.

Anybody else got any recent successes/recipes to share?

Homebrewers Unite!
 

Hi beer nerds, I'm hoping this thread can turn into a Dobber resource for good beer recipes and/or brewing knowledge and/or brewing stories.

This is my most recent brewing story, originally posted in the good beer thread. Nothing seemed to go right that day.

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Tried my first brew with specialty grains on the weekend. Got all my ingredients portioned out and ready to go. I sanitized all my equipment and started to heat up some water. Put the grains in my bag and it ripped a hole in the side. Granted the bag was probably to small. The wife sewed it shut for me and i continued. After steeping the grains, I got the water to a boil, did not my hop additions, etc, etc... I was using yeast nutrient for the first time. I had no idea how much to add and didn't research it before it was time to add. I asked the wife to measure out the right amount by reading the instructions on the pack. She informed me it was wine nutrient. I said that was ok, the guy at the LHBS picked the stuff out so it must be the right kind. She measured out 25g for a 5.5 gallon batch as per the instructions.

So, with that measured out and waiting to be added, I'm pouring the wort in. Its really hot and I splash myself, then spill a bit on the floor. No biggie. I throw in the yeast nutrient and then throw in the yeast. Now I just have to measure the temp..... AAAAARGHHH! Why did I add the yeast before cooling it?!?! Quickly go to set up an icebath, but there is no ice. Quick drive to the shop for ice and by the time I get back, there is a HUGE amount of sediment on the bottom of the fermenter. I mean huge, it cant be from the grains or hops, b/c its way to much. Anyways, I can't deal with that righ tnow as I have to cool this as quickly as possible to help the yeast. Measure the temp and its 34 degrees. Not too bad and certainly not hot enough to kill the yeast.

It takes me about an hour to get it down to the right temp. The sink is waist high and I'm pulling the fermenter out of the ice bath and placing it on the floor. Its heavy... On the way down, the spigot get caught in a clothes basket and falls to the floor. Wort is going everywhere. I'm pretty sure I let out an involuntary girl scream. I grabbed the spigot as quickly as I could and managed to screw it back in. I lost about 400ml on the floor. So I can now check to see what the deal is with this yeast nutrient as I cannot believe how much sediment there is on the bottom of the fermenter. Turns out that a teaspoon or even half a teaspoon would have been enough. We added what looked to be about 5 tablespoons. DOH! It wont spoil the brew, but it is going to leave a bunch of shit at the bottom of the fermenter. I have been bottling stright outta my primary fermenter so this now poses a problem. Might have to siphon to a bottling bucket for the first time.


Enjoy...

Hey AW, looks like you and I had the same good idea within a couple days.

http://forums.dobbersports.com/showthread.php?t=140570

Moderators, can you merge the two threads?

Could the mods please merge this thread and this one http://forums.dobbersports.com/showthread.php?t=140646

I just brewed a 8Wired Hopwired IPA clone. Used specialty grains for the first time and found it to be a delightful addition to the brew day. I will be repeating on the next brew. Also on the next brew I will try a partial mash. I dont have all the equipment for an AG recipe, but I think I could easily some BIAB methods on a small scale. I believe this will improve my beer a lot.

I also just used some paint strainers for the first time in the dry hop. The holes were too big in the bags I was using. It didn't filter as well as I wanted. The paint strainer bags look like just the thing tho.

And you didn't post the recipe, AW? Boooooo! :)

Specialty grains make such a huge difference over just extract, eh? The flavor you get is so much cleaner... without doing something like that you can end up with some stale flavor from the extract, unless the place you're buying extract is turning it over daily!

Any other brews caught your eye lately? I'm not sure what's next on the docket.

Whoops! My bad...

8Wired Hopwired IPA Clone:

All the fermentables and hops are completely NZ product. Specialty grains are imported.

10oz Weyermann 's Light Munich
5oz American Crystal 20L
5oz Muntons Caramalt
steeped @ 155 for 30 mins
batch sparged @ 165 for 20 mins

14g Pacific Jade @ 60
14g Pacific Jade @ 20
28g Motueka @ 10
28g Nelson Sauvin @ 10
10lbs of Black Rock Light LME (NZ) mixed in at flameout
28g Wai-iti @ flame out (hold for 30 mins)
14g Nelson Sauvin @ flame out (hold for 30 mins)
14g Motueka @ flame out (hold for 30 mins)
40g Nelson Sauvin dry hop for 10 days
40g Motueka dry hop for 10 days.

It fermented for a week, then I added the dry hop yesterday. I'll pull the hops out in 9 days and then let it sit until the weekend after that.
Total time in the primary will be 3 weeks.

21 litres (give or take as a bunch was spilled on the floor during the spigot clothes basket incident...)
OG 1.065
Estimated FG: 1.016
92 IBU
6.5% ABV
Nottingham yeast

I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THIS IS READY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe a small amount of chocolate malt? 2oz? It would give it a bit of depth hopefully without darkening it too much.