Where are the good beer makers?

[Atomic Wedgy]

FHG, how have you found that hop tea technique? I'm interested in it. Do you steep in a bag? How hot and how long do you steep? Have you got good results in the past like this?

[Atomic Wedgy]

A couple of years ago, I got into making my own brew. I was only using kits so I didn't delve into recipes. I really should get into it again. Any advice on brewing with recipes as opposed to kits?

Kits were good for me to learn the terminology and basic equipment. The only advice I would give you is read everything you can on http://www.homebrewtalk.com.

Watch everything you can on http://www.youtube.com/user/BrewingTV/videos?view=0 and http://www.youtube.com/user/basicbrewing/videos?view=0

Dont be afraid to ask questions. Questions are good.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

A couple of years ago, I got into making my own brew. I was only using kits so I didn't delve into recipes. I really should get into it again. Any advice on brewing with recipes as opposed to kits?

Well, the hooked-on-homebrew continuum looks something like this:

1. Beer kits
2. Extract brew
3. Extract with specialty grains
4. Extract with partial mash
5. All grain

I'd suggest you work your way up, as you need slightly more gear as you come down the scale. I'd say the biggest piece of advice is to find a good local brew store where you can source your supplies and ask questions.

Read www.howtobrew.com over and over. It's a great basic reference.

In short, most kits come pre-hopped. The next step is to hop your own using extract. After you've got a couple brews like that under your belt, you can start playing with the malt a little more, and that gets you on a very rewarding slippery slope.

I didn't know that about the late LME addition. Everything I've read is that boiling it longer will carmelize it more, which is partly why I did it that way.

I could be wrong, but as long as you get a hot break on it, your final beer should come out well.

FHG, how have you found that hop tea technique? I'm interested in it. Do you steep in a bag? How hot and how long do you steep? Have you got good results in the past like this?

The hop tea thing has worked out really well, especially for adding a bit more hop aroma without the hassle of wort loss that you'd get if you toss in a whack of hops on flameout. I've just been using a coffee press (clean!!), adding off-the-boil water (say 190ish F?), and steeping for 15 minutes or so. It gives nice aroma but also contributes to the flavour too, and it's a nice way to keep the mess down. More than anything, the heat extracts the flavours much better than a dry hop does, and the lack of time at heat prevents it from bittering.

[Atomic Wedgy]

I could be wrong, but as long as you get a hot break on it, your final beer should come out well.

I think the hot break happens when the manufacturer is creating the concentrated form of the wort. I'm going to read more about it tho... I hope I'm not missing something.

[Atomic Wedgy]

I might try that hop tea technique on the next beer. Sounds like an interesting way to go about it. Might even make myself a hop tea to drink as well.

[tgraveline]

Well this is a cool thread. I've researched making my own beer, but I really don't have the time or money or space to do it. I'll have to do it someday. I could always do a Mr. Beer thing sometime for fun.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Probably less than a hundred bucks and the amount of space that a guitar would take up and you are started. You can spend a hundred bucks on one night out. Join the dark side tgraveline.

[Atomic Wedgy]

I just tasted my latest beer. Its friggin awesome. hahahaha I mean it isn't done with the dry hop and its still really cloudy with fairly large hunks of shit floating around, but the taste is there. If I bought it at a pub, I would be happy. The one criticism I would have is that it needs more body and/or mouthfeel. Maybe that will come with time, but its the first beer that I have been happy with at this stage of the game. All the others tasted like shit and got way better. If this one gets proportionally better, I'm gonna be real happy. Fingers crossed I dont screw up the carbonation and/or bottling.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

That's such a great feeling, eh? The tastes of my Cascadian Dark Ale that I had before bottling were fantastic; flat, but fantastic. I'm really digging how much you can tell about a beer by tasting the wort, tasting a bit of the transfer from primary to secondary, and on bottling.

The IPA I've got in the secondary smells amazing (you huff the airlock too, admit it!). Looking forward to getting that one in the bottle. It's got a combination of fresh, dry, and pellet hops so it should have some good character.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Well, AW you inspired me with your tasting. I cracked open a bottle of the CDA last night (waaay early - been in the bottle a little under 2 weeks) and I'm quite pleased with the result. It still tasted a bit green, but it's malty and rich and dark and hoppy. More hop aromas than bitterness, which I suppose is what I should have expected given that I only had a 2-3 gallon boil and diluted afterwards. It's a really nice dark ale - if you want to add a bit of colour/richness to a beer, black patent malt is really good.

[Atomic Wedgy]

I'm freaking out!!!!! The wait is killing me!!!! I dont even get to bottle it until the weekend, but I feel this unrelenting desire to taste the beer. It whispers to me when I walk by to the garage....

It is for this reason that I have decided to buy another fermenter. That way I can brew more and have a new beer to taste every 2.5 weeks instead of every 5. This will also double the rate at which I learn.

By the way, this is the single most addictive thing I have ever done and I have a checkered past....

[fantasyhockeygeek]

It's criminal how much fun it is, eh AW? You'd think that making beer would be something you do for the beer or to save money, but holy crap is it simply a lot of fun to be creative.

I had 3 carboys going back when I was in university before the hobby got put on hold. Now I'm using one and I too have been considering moving to two...

[Atomic Wedgy]

ITS BREWDAY THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

I'm going out to buy the ingredients on Friday. Brewday is Sunday. I haven't made a final decision on what to do yet. I'll tell you one thing tho, it's probably gonna have a lot of hops in it. Seems that everything I buy from the shop is heavily hopped, so i figure that in order to stop me from going to the ber store, I should brew a heavily hopped beer. Most likely similar to the last one.

On this next one, even tho I haven't tasted the finished product yet, I think I want to improve on the mouthfeel. It seemed a wee bit thin when tasting it. I actually drank an entire glass of it the night I bottled it. It was decent beer. Very full on. I think the flavors will come together a bit more with a little time in the bottle. I'm fairly impatient tho. That batch will take a beating over the Xmas period.

Which is why I need to start my next batch asap! There are 24 bottles (750ml) and its almost 7% alcohol, so it should last me a little while. Any interesting techniques or ingredients that folks want to share with me? I'm feeling a bit crazy and I'm very susceptible to suggestion right now.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

You've already identified the element you want to play with: hops! You want a hoppy beer, so that seems like a fun place to start. What kind of hop flavour profile are you after?

Citrus? Orange vs lemon vs grapefruit?
Piney?
Tropical fruit? Passionfruit vs lychee vs mango vs others?
Grapes?
Floral?
Earthy?

All of the above? Loads of ways to get there. Choose the hoptastic profile you want, then pick malts that'll support it well! Can't wait to hear what you do...

[fantasyhockeygeek]

You point out I've been remiss in mentioning my brew on the weekend: a Centennial Blonde Ale. I was aiming for light and refreshing.

5 lbs light DME
1 lb 2-row
0.5 lb vienna
0.5 lb cara pils

Centennial hops only:
0.5 oz @ 25
0.5 oz @ 15
0.5 oz @ 10
0.5 oz @ 5

Was aiming for an OG of 1.040 but it came in short at 1.036... likely due to a poor sparge of the grains, so I've got something to work on for next time.

Used Safale S05, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than Wyeast 1056 and from what I can tell should do a similar job. This should be out of the primary within a few days, as there isn't that much sugar for the little yeasties to chew on!

Should end up being a nice light blonde ale with balanced bitterness and some nice fresh hop flavours. Looking forward to it.

Next on the docket is a clone of Dechutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale. Pretty much just pale extract with a bit of 2-row to make it taste better, carapils for body, and crystal 60-80 for colour... hop schedule is all cascade, even for bittering. Mirror Pond is such a great ale, so I'm looking forward to seeing how I do with "Reflecting Pool"...