What was your last batch?

[Altbier bitte]

We brewed what could be a unique beer the other day: a "Dunkel Weiss Wien" (?). It's a barleywine (a bit on the light side with OG ~ 1.086) made with German dark wheat and Munich malt. The long boil hop is Apollo ( an awesome super alpha/ dual purpose hop), with 10 OZ of Fuggle and 10 OZ of EKG (10 gallon batch) dumped in at 15 minutes. We were a tad short on rice hulls, so the sparge took forever, but it all worked out.
My buddy (his recipe) made the questionable decision of dumping Burton salts in the mash (not sure what he was thinking) and we subsequently had a low ph problem which led to an interesting discovery; a small (VERY small, so be careful) amount of 'pickling salt', Calcium hydroxide, is good for raising ph. The small bag we picked up at the grocery store is probably a lifetime supply. It all worked out, pitched a hyperactive starter of Danstar Windsor into it.
What have you guys brewed lately?

 

[JAMC]

I've got 34 bottles conditioning on the beer shelf at the moment. Its only my fourth batch, but I decided to use the recipe from my first batch as a starting point for this one.

The original was basically MO pale, a big dollop of crystal followed up with EKG and Fuggles. I used recultured yeast from a bottle of Chimay.

This time around I've tried to tone down the abv by cutting back the pale, but I've also experimented with a small quantity of melanoidin malt. I'm hoping to really get that rich malt flavour from it.

I also changed the hop profiles completely this time because the original batch was dominated by the malt/alcohol characteristics - if I'm honest it was quite underhopped at about 19 IBU and very barleywine-like. I used Pacific Gem as a bittering hop (FWH'd) with Motueka and EKG as aroma hops at the end of the boil. I went with Pacific Gem because it's supposed to give a blackberry/blackcurrant aroma, which I'm hoping will work well with the dark fruit flavours given off by the Chimay yeast. The hop schedule this time around works out at about 30 IBU.

I also chuck a fresh bay leaf into all my brews at the 30 minute mark. The savoury spice is subtle, but it seems to give more backbone to the hops.

We'll see how this one turns out in a couple of weeks time!

 

[Altbier bitte]

Sounds interesting JAMC. I have to admit I'm a little prejudiced against belgian beers, but a friend of mine made a saison recently I liked. It was hopped pretty heavily with Amarillo. I have found - and this might sound a little weird - that I like it better if I can keep my nose out of it while I drink it. It turns out that what I have thought of as an off flavor is really a smell. I definitely want to broaden my horizons, but I haven't tried a Chimay - is that kind of like a Saison? Btw, you'll get more of that blackcurrant flavor with a later addition of the Pac. Gem. Speaking of Southern hemisphere hops, have you tried Galaxy? We did an all Vienna malt pale ale with Galaxy, Citra and Amarillo, bittered with Magnum, using Nottinham yeast - I think it's the tastiest beer we've brewed. A Galaxy/Cascade pale (I think this one was half Vienna half 2-row, pitched with Wyeast Nothwest Ale) that will be carbed in a few days is more ordinary, but not bad. I'd love to find some Nelson Sauvin one of these days.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

I've been brewing for competition so I have a few in fermentors right now.
On tap I have the Bitch Slap (it in the recipe section) which is a huge punch in the mouth with the most hop flavor I've ever had. Definitly a sipper @9.1%
In the fermentors I have an Edmond Fitzgerald (robust porter) clone and a Blonde.
The competition info is here if anyone is interested.
http://beersnobs.org/cbwcomp/index.php?section=entry

I'll still be brewing an Pale ale ( hopefully this week) and an American Wheat three weeks out.
Cheers
Brian

 

[BrewHop]

I recently made a rye IPA, and a pale ale which are chilling and carbing in the keezer now. IN the fermenter is a Black Barleywine and an Old Ale which I am going to put into a 5gal oak barrel.

 

[JAMC]

It turns out that what I have thought of as an off flavor is really a smell. I definitely want to broaden my horizons, but I haven't tried a Chimay - is that kind of like a Saison?

Strange about the off flavour/smell thing - how would you describe the aroma you're averse to?

Chimay is very unlike a Saison, it's one of the classic trappist ales. Chimay Grand Reserve (aka "blue") is the one to try if you can get hold of it - it's very malty, chocolate-like and very strong! I've only tried a few saisons but I did like the ones I've tried. It's a style I want to learn more about.

Speaking of Southern hemisphere hops, have you tried Galaxy?

Not yet, but it's definitely on my list of hops to try.

 

[sbaclimber]

I am trying out different aroma hops, so I have 3 essentially identical IPAs going right at the moment.

Base recipe (20l):
5.5 kg Pale Ale
0.5 kg CaraHell
1 kg CaraPils/Foam
0.25 kg CaraRed
25g Nugget @60min

Aroma/Dry hops (15g @20min + 10g @14days in 2ndary):
Saphir (finished last week)
Perle (bottle conditioning)
Tettnanger (primary fermentation)

 

[Beer-lord]

I've got 2 fermenting. Both of commercial beers I've never even had before.
NB's Caribou Slobber (Moose Drool) which is halfway thru fermentation and I've copied some recipes I've found online for Dry Dock's Breakwater Pale Ale. These are both all grain.

I'm a huge hop head and make mostly IPA's but try to do something else every 3 or 4 brews. In my kegerator I have 5 gallons of 2 Hearted (clone) 2 1/2 gallons of Stone Pale Ale and my attempt at Arrogant Bastard. The first 2 are very close and good. But the AB, at first taste early on, wasn't even close. A nice, good IPA but nothing near AB.

Got a few more things planned soon. Tallgrass Oasis and a Red IPA I'm going to try.

 

[Cheers]

Beer Lord, I'm also an IPA fan! I will be kegging a Red IPA next weekend. U won't be dissapointed, nice color, great flavor! Kit purchased from AHB. I've brewed before and enjoyed it. Happy Brewing!

 

[LarryBrewer]

This summer citra kolsch turned out very drinkable and is almost gone now:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... xperiment-

I can't wait to brew again, looking at an Imperial IPA, a 3rd try at refining my lighter Total Domination IPA, and also doing a 10 gallon of some lighter beer.

I tried New Belgium's Red Hoptober on tap, man that is a really good beer! Maybe I'll work on cloning that. It is like an octoberfest, but deep red, and a bit on the herbal side of the hop balance, and respectably malty but not overwhelming.

 

[Altbier bitte]

Citra is the shizznit. It's got a touch of the C-hoppiness, but it's also got the broader tropical fruit to go with the citrus. It goes with just about anything. It's my number one priority stock up when the crop comes in. I figure 5 pounds ought to do it. I'm more Dusseldorf than Cologne, but that one looks tastier than a run of the mill Kolsch.

 

[babar79]

I've got a Hop Head Double IPA in the fridge now. Razzleberry Wheat in Secondary and brewed a Boston Ale last night. I will head to the brew shop tomorrow to grab ingredients for a pumpkin ale that I will brew this weekend.

I love brewing.....

 

[Lionheart]

Saturday a Tripel OG 1.090. Sunday a Brown Ale OG 1.065. Last week an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout OG 1.102. On deck Lawnmower IPA and Pumpkin Ale. :mrgreen: