What're you brewing right now?

[atomeyes]

I added sour cherries to a portion of my Flanders Red blend in 2011. Definitely stands out as one of the best beers I have ever made.

I also make sour cherry mead. Very good stuff.

I use 2lbs/gallon.

I got 27L of 1.070 mead going yesterday. Once it ferments out in 2 weeks, it is going in a freshly dumped whiskey barrel.

Brewing a lambic on Tuesday night. It is getting tossed in a whiskey barrel that has no character left.

the flanders red i made in december (based on your recipe) is 7 months old. too young to get those cherries.

[J343MY]

I had a small sample of the durian saison today as i was bottling it. I'll reserve final judgment until it is carbonated and ready to drink, but tentatively I'm going to file brewing durian beers under things that are not good ideas.

at least you tried.
now you have what i call "guest beer". you know, beer that you can give to guests so they don't plunder your good stuff.



i received 6 lbs of sour cherries. washed and froze them. debating what to brew with it and whether to go light or dark. definitely going to go sour. any thoughts, anyone?

I'm hopeful that once the durian mellows, and the flavours meld a bit more that it will be nice. Right now it just kind of tastes just like eating a big chunk of durian and washing it down with a saison. also the aroma is really intensified when you stick your nose into the glass when you take a sip.

As for your cherries, its not really a sour, but what I would do is a belgian quad, secondary with brett L, and then spend a bit of time on the cherries.

[atomeyes]

I had a small sample of the durian saison today as i was bottling it. I'll reserve final judgment until it is carbonated and ready to drink, but tentatively I'm going to file brewing durian beers under things that are not good ideas.

at least you tried.
now you have what i call "guest beer". you know, beer that you can give to guests so they don't plunder your good stuff.



i received 6 lbs of sour cherries. washed and froze them. debating what to brew with it and whether to go light or dark. definitely going to go sour. any thoughts, anyone?

I'm hopeful that once the durian mellows, and the flavours meld a bit more that it will be nice. Right now it just kind of tastes just like eating a big chunk of durian and washing it down with a saison. also the aroma is really intensified when you stick your nose into the glass when you take a sip.

As for your cherries, its not really a sour, but what I would do is a belgian quad, secondary with brett L, and then spend a bit of time on the cherries.

actually, not a horrible idea. just nervous, though. my last attempt at a quad had a really poor yield (lots of trub left over).

edit: just remembered that i have some Supplication dregs mixed with some Oerbier Reserva dregs. will probably make a Supplication-inspired recipe, use an abbay yeast as the primary yeast, toss the dregs in as secondary, let it ride for 4 months, and rack to some oak and the sour cherries. will let it sit for anywhere from 2-6 months.

[matt7215]

My wife really wants to try the durian saison

depending on how it turns out, I might be giving a lot of bottles away...

having a bottle of the durian saison now, its very durian heavy, especially the aroma.

[J343MY]

My wife really wants to try the durian saison

depending on how it turns out, I might be giving a lot of bottles away...

having a bottle of the durian saison now, its very durian heavy, especially the aroma.

I apologize to everyone who has experienced this beer so far.

[markaberrant]

Made up 30L of 1.070 straight mead 3 weeks ago. Tossed it in a freshly emptied whiskey barrel last week. Probably give it a full month in the barrel, but will check on it next week.

Some portion of it will be aged on sour cherries, depends how it tastes on its own.

[atomeyes]

depending on how it turns out, I might be giving a lot of bottles away...

having a bottle of the durian saison now, its very durian heavy, especially the aroma.

I apologize to everyone who has experienced this beer so far.

you owe me, dude....

next thing you know, you'll be making a stinky tofu saison??

Monday or Tuesday, i'll take a stab at a Concecration-inspired beer. using abbey ale yeast for primary. racking to secondary and adding dregs from 2 Concecration bottles and Oerbier reserva. then, after 3 months, i'll rack it onto sour cherries and maybe some dried currants. will add some oak cubes soaked in cab sauv. i'll probably give it 6-8 months of total fermentation and see what happens.

[J343MY]

you owe me, dude....

next thing you know, you'll be making a stinky tofu saison??

Monday or Tuesday, i'll take a stab at a Concecration-inspired beer. using abbey ale yeast for primary. racking to secondary and adding dregs from 2 Concecration bottles and Oerbier reserva. then, after 3 months, i'll rack it onto sour cherries and maybe some dried currants. will add some oak cubes soaked in cab sauv. i'll probably give it 6-8 months of total fermentation and see what happens.

Stinky tofu saison is already in the works...

but today I brewed something a bit more normal, and made a wild blackberry saison.

[J343MY]

Currently taking advantage of a long weekend bonus brewday and making a sour stout.

[icemachine]

Brewing a saison using the Danstar Belle Saison yeast. Did the same recipe a couple months ago using the Wyeast Belgian Saison so it will be interesting to see the differences, if any.

Considering tossing half the batch on some sour cherries or other fruit during secondary

[atomeyes]

such a wonderful brew day!
barley crusher stopped working.
spent the morning calibrating my sightglass.
and then i burned my calf on my keezer. yayay!!!

this better taste like f'ing Supplication...

[grub]

barley crusher stopped working.

define "stopped working". and how long have you had it, and do you clean/oil it periodically? if it's truly broken, talk to the manufacturer - i had great luck when my initial one stopped working (the spindle would turn but the attached roller did not). They sent me a replacement free of charge that I dropped in (and offered to do the install if i wanted to ship the unit to them).

aside from that, the little rubber band that helps the second roller roll dies pretty quick, and sometimes the second roller "sticks" and doesn't spin. a gentle nudge from below gets it rolling again. I take mine completely apart and clean/oil it every year or two and oil it a couple of times a year when it starts to get finicky. I've also found that after many years and much grain running through it, the knurling is starting to wear down to the point where there's less grip to keep the second roller going. As a result, I've been double milling - once through looser than factory, then a second time at my usual tighter than factory setting. this combo runs pretty smooth and is easier than playing with it to restart it all the time if it sticks.

I've got my eye on a new 3 roller, just a question of taking the plunge and ordering it...and finding a new motor powerful enough to spin the beast.

[Derek]

Sour Cherry Saison.

A few weeks ago I picked up 12lbs of local sour cherries... rinsed, pitted & froze them.

I'll be using the Wyeast Belgian Saison as well.

I just ground the malt:
6# Vienna
5# Pils
1# Honey malt
0.5# Crystal 40

And I'll use 2 oz of some Hallertauer from last year.

That yeast really attenuates, so I'm hoping this gives me a bit of malt character to back up the tartness from the cherries.

I'll probably thaw the cherries, blend them up and add them when the primary fermentation starts to slow down... I'm not sure if I'll rack it to a secondary at that time, or let the yeast work on the cherries for a bit first.

[atomeyes]

barley crusher stopped working.

define "stopped working". and how long have you had it, and do you clean/oil it periodically? if it's truly broken, talk to the manufacturer - i had great luck when my initial one stopped working (the spindle would turn but the attached roller did not). They sent me a replacement free of charge that I dropped in (and offered to do the install if i wanted to ship the unit to them).

aside from that, the little rubber band that helps the second roller roll dies pretty quick, and sometimes the second roller "sticks" and doesn't spin. a gentle nudge from below gets it rolling again. I take mine completely apart and clean/oil it every year or two and oil it a couple of times a year when it starts to get finicky. I've also found that after many years and much grain running through it, the knurling is starting to wear down to the point where there's less grip to keep the second roller going. As a result, I've been double milling - once through looser than factory, then a second time at my usual tighter than factory setting. this combo runs pretty smooth and is easier than playing with it to restart it all the time if it sticks.

I've got my eye on a new 3 roller, just a question of taking the plunge and ordering it...and finding a new motor powerful enough to spin the beast.

it stopped working when i started my brew day (which was late) and when my water was heating up. i spent 20 min trying to fix it and got it to work but not crush to my prefered settings (the crush was too fine).

i couldn't get the adjustable roller to close the gap properly/adequately. grains were slipping through uncrushed. not sure how/why the roller slipped out of its previous settings.

i haven't taken it apart to investigate/do maintenance. i've only had it for a few months and, while it was used when i bought it, it wasn't used all that much.

i'll look at it this weekend and see if i can figure out what went wrong. the adjustable roller sticks at times when adjusting and i need pliers to move it (which shouldn't be necessary). what kind of lube do you use? WD40?

[grub]

it stopped working when i started my brew day (which was late) and when my water was heating up. i spent 20 min trying to fix it and got it to work but not crush to my prefered settings (the crush was too fine).

i couldn't get the adjustable roller to close the gap properly/adequately. grains were slipping through uncrushed. not sure how/why the roller slipped out of its previous settings.

i haven't taken it apart to investigate/do maintenance. i've only had it for a few months and, while it was used when i bought it, it wasn't used all that much.

i'll look at it this weekend and see if i can figure out what went wrong. the adjustable roller sticks at times when adjusting and i need pliers to move it (which shouldn't be necessary). what kind of lube do you use? WD40?

ah, sounds like it could use some TLC and it'll be okay then. I'd say your best bet is to take it apart and give it a thorough cleaning. you'd be surprised how much grain dust and gunk builds up in the nooks and crannys.

you want something food-safe for lube, so not WD40. I just use a little vegetable oil. If you're just oiling it (not taking it apart), i put a little in the cap and use a toothpick to drip it down where the end of the roller meets the body, spinning the whole time. repeat for the other 3 ends. you should notice it loosen up pretty quick, but i usually sit there and keep spinning until I know it's worked through pretty well. then wipe up any excess and run 2-4# of junk grain through it and discard to be sure you've got all the oil off (I have an old bag of grain that i keep around for this purpose).

if you're going for a full breakdown, which I'd recommend in your case, take it fully apart and clean everything, then oil up the joints as you put it back together and repeat the junk grain routine. that should lube up the adjustment pegs and let you get things rolling properly again.