The day before yesterday I handed out bottles of Strong Ale at work. Today, the vice-president came to me and told me he loved it.
VP - Did you make that?
Snake- Yes I did and from my own recipe.
VP - That was awesome. I've never had a beer that strong taste that smooth. I can always taste it and it makes me want...
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VP - Did you make that?
Snake- Yes I did and from my own recipe.
VP - That was awesome. I've never had a beer that strong taste that smooth. I can always taste it and it makes me want...
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The Strong Ale has been sampled. It's not entirely carbed yet, but it's well enough for an evaluation. Dry and crisp, it packs a wallop but it's light enough in body to be drinkable. At 7.5% abv it really sneaks up on you. It tastes on par with a good malt lager like Sam Smith, but it lacks any sort of taste or smell of...
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deceptiviewfilm:
how's things...
mrginger:
how do I get some beer?
I racked my strawberry mead over tonight a bit early to try and kill off the attenuation a bit. The 5 lb of strawberries did a good job considering the overall weak profile they present. The aroma kills you really. It's as strong as any sort of strawberry soda, only it doesn't smell "fake". The flavor right now is a bit of an enigma. Peaches....
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emperornorton:
Sounds good...if you're interested in some advice for the bourbon vanilla...here's what has worked for me:
Get some cheap bourbon. Old Granddad is good and cheap (get the 100 proof). Get some oak cubes at your homebrew store (they're a winemaker's trick to get oakiness in tired barrels). Steam them for a couple of hours so they're not excessively oaky then put them in a little container and cover them with the bourbon. Let them sit at least a few weeks. Brewday take them out and sit them on a paper towel, let them dry off. Add them to primary after pitching the yeast. Most people will tell you to add it to secondary, but you'll get a wider range of flavors adding them to primary (different alcohol %s will extract different flavors). Also a lot of bourbon beers end up too overpowered, doing it a week in primary will really help limit it. If you want more you can always toss them in secondary.
For the vanilla, split a bean lengthwise and scrape out the insides. Toss everything into secondary. You may not need a whole bean depending on what the bourbon cubes do for you.
Get some cheap bourbon. Old Granddad is good and cheap (get the 100 proof). Get some oak cubes at your homebrew store (they're a winemaker's trick to get oakiness in tired barrels). Steam them for a couple of hours so they're not excessively oaky then put them in a little container and cover them with the bourbon. Let them sit at least a few weeks. Brewday take them out and sit them on a paper towel, let them dry off. Add them to primary after pitching the yeast. Most people will tell you to add it to secondary, but you'll get a wider range of flavors adding them to primary (different alcohol %s will extract different flavors). Also a lot of bourbon beers end up too overpowered, doing it a week in primary will really help limit it. If you want more you can always toss them in secondary.
For the vanilla, split a bean lengthwise and scrape out the insides. Toss everything into secondary. You may not need a whole bean depending on what the bourbon cubes do for you.
emperornorton:
Unless you can fill them at least halfway they won't hold liquids. Barrels are a pain in the ass to maintain. You'd probably be better chopping it up and adding the pieces to the fermenter, if possible cutting the inside part of the staves away from the outside and just adding that.
So my birthday was starting to suck fairly rapidly until I got to see M. I hadn't seen her in a long time because of life and being a long way away. This was the first time we've seen each other where we've both been single too, and the sparks were popping. We were having an awesome time just being together again, flirting like hell,...
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emperornorton:
Well that was an interesting brewday. My buddy and I made a Quelque Chose-esque beer (trying to unlock the secrets of making a mullable beer) and at the same time my girlfriend made her first beer (a mint chocolate imperial stout). I'll send you a link to the photo journal when we finish it.
emperornorton:
Eh you'll get all kinds of odd scents out of a fermenting beer, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
And yeah I'd just leave then weizenbock in primary, you want it cloudy.
And yeah I'd just leave then weizenbock in primary, you want it cloudy.
sillyokio:
Happy birfday. 
Today was a good brew day.
I performed a mini-mash with great results, overshooting my calculated SG by .04 points. I tried something new and added my grain at a temperature of 168 then set the kettle on my hot pad on high. I wrapped it in two thick towels and let it percolate for and hour. After ghetto sparging I ended up with some...
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I performed a mini-mash with great results, overshooting my calculated SG by .04 points. I tried something new and added my grain at a temperature of 168 then set the kettle on my hot pad on high. I wrapped it in two thick towels and let it percolate for and hour. After ghetto sparging I ended up with some...
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flux:
My favorite beer of the South besides the 'Dog?
Fucking Sweetwater 420.
Oh hell yes.
Fucking Sweetwater 420.
Oh hell yes.
emperornorton:
To emphazise the banana and kill the clove further, ferment it on the plus side of 70. Higher temps = bananas, lower = clove.
Oh and with your hop additions...there isn't a whole lot of difference between a 45 minute and a 60 minute. In fact I'm pretty convinced that there's more difference between an addition at 1 minute and one a minute or two after flameout than 45 and 60. But for a tripel you don't want much aroma hopping anyway.
I made a double IPA with 3 hop additions, and only one during the boil. First wort hops (hops put in the wort during the sparge and taken out at boiling), which provide good flavor and a very smooth bitterness, 60 minutes, and flameout. Ended up with great hop flavor and aroma. But not as much as I usually get out of a hoppy ale. For the hoppy porter, I went back to my original hopping program...my additions get closer as we get closer to the end.
First wort hops (instead of 30 minute addition during the boil), 60, 15, 10, 7, 4, 2, 1, then a triple addition a minute after flameout...for a straight IPA or DIPA I'd play with the numbers to get a couple more additions in there....like 15, 12, 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1, FO
There's so many different compounds in hops and so many are very volatile, so this way I get a good range of them in there and make a supremely hoppy beer and still keep it with lower bitterness to keep it balanced. At least that's my theory and it seems to be working.
Oh and with your hop additions...there isn't a whole lot of difference between a 45 minute and a 60 minute. In fact I'm pretty convinced that there's more difference between an addition at 1 minute and one a minute or two after flameout than 45 and 60. But for a tripel you don't want much aroma hopping anyway.
I made a double IPA with 3 hop additions, and only one during the boil. First wort hops (hops put in the wort during the sparge and taken out at boiling), which provide good flavor and a very smooth bitterness, 60 minutes, and flameout. Ended up with great hop flavor and aroma. But not as much as I usually get out of a hoppy ale. For the hoppy porter, I went back to my original hopping program...my additions get closer as we get closer to the end.
First wort hops (instead of 30 minute addition during the boil), 60, 15, 10, 7, 4, 2, 1, then a triple addition a minute after flameout...for a straight IPA or DIPA I'd play with the numbers to get a couple more additions in there....like 15, 12, 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1, FO
There's so many different compounds in hops and so many are very volatile, so this way I get a good range of them in there and make a supremely hoppy beer and still keep it with lower bitterness to keep it balanced. At least that's my theory and it seems to be working.
emperornorton:
Yeah, by the time the flavors come together it'll be winter, should work nicely.
Oh and Uerige is damn nice stuff.
Great thing about living around Philly is there's breweries that do amazing German styles, which I've really been getting into in the past year or so.
Oh and Uerige is damn nice stuff.
Great thing about living around Philly is there's breweries that do amazing German styles, which I've really been getting into in the past year or so.
Triple Imperiale, kebabs, and the sounds of summer. ahhh yes.
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aijin:
You wish you could hit that shit.
You wish you could hit that shit.
emperornorton:
Very nice! I like mesquite honey a lot.
I have to rack the hoppy porter, I haven't tasted it since I put it in the fermenter.
The girlfriend is going to be brewing her first batch soon, a chocolate chip mint imperial stout, and I've got a fine and dandy yeast cake ready for it...
I have to rack the hoppy porter, I haven't tasted it since I put it in the fermenter.
The girlfriend is going to be brewing her first batch soon, a chocolate chip mint imperial stout, and I've got a fine and dandy yeast cake ready for it...
The verdict is in. The Altbier is good. Suprisingly good. It has a very rich aroma with strong toffee-caramel notes slightly masking a notable floral noble hop aroma. It has a really nice malty profile with a mild grain fruitiness in the finish similar to a scotch ale only milder. The hop level is perfect. Not too bitter not too strong but it's there, just...
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emperornorton:
So I made my hoppy porter earlier in the week and it's fermenting nicely in a buddy's basement. I think it's going to be fucking amazing. I've been on a streak lately and this one feels good.
Oh and we're setting pretty concrete plans for the future brewpub, 5-7 years down the road. Shit's already lining up...
Oh and we're setting pretty concrete plans for the future brewpub, 5-7 years down the road. Shit's already lining up...
mrginger:
I can't remember the last time I had a beer with astounding mouthfeel. It may have been gulden draak a month ago. That drink you got there sounds gooood.
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walker:
Sacramento to Auburn, thats a hell of a drive (pain in the ass). Like sitting in a parking lot but you have a destination to get to
emperornorton:
Eww grolsch bottles.
I think I'm actually going to brew next week, it's been a while. I just need to find somewhere to put the fermenter. I have a couple of "oh my basement" offers, gotta check up on them.
Hoppy toasted oat chocolate porter.
It'll change the world.
I think I'm actually going to brew next week, it's been a while. I just need to find somewhere to put the fermenter. I have a couple of "oh my basement" offers, gotta check up on them.
Hoppy toasted oat chocolate porter.
It'll change the world.
And on each side
of the throne there
are four living creatures
filled with eyes
in front and behind.
of the throne there
are four living creatures
filled with eyes
in front and behind.
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emperornorton:
Dude, it's so EASY, you don't even have to bottle!
Which reminds me, I got a lot of shit that needs to be bottled...
Which reminds me, I got a lot of shit that needs to be bottled...
Please god please let me make it the night at work without feeling the need to kill.
And speaking of not appreciating non-hoppy beers, my hoppy porter is carbonated now and it's amazing.