The Bar Towel

cannondale wrote:

markaberrant wrote:

cannondale wrote: Just racked this to secondary. From an OG of 1.104 it's down to 1.024 and tastes incredible.

That is pretty impressive for S-04, sounds awesome!

I was very surprised and impressed as well, I rubbed my eyes a couple times to make sure I wasn't misreading the hydrometer. I used 2 packs rehydrated, and had mashed at 150 for 90 min. This should prove to be a very enjoyable keg to work through..

After a month in secondary, and a month carbonating/conditioning in the keg, this beast is now chilled and equilibrated in my keg fridge and ready for tapping tonight.

I've got that rye beer in the fridge. It's in it's 3rd fermentor, there's over an inch of yeast at the bottom of the carboy and it's STILL hazy!

This was about 20% malted rye. I suspect the yeast has completely settled and the rye is causing the haze. Do people use finings, or just live with the haze? Maybe I'll just leave it sit for a few weeks.

Derek wrote:I've got that rye beer in the fridge. It's in it's 3rd fermentor, there's over an inch of yeast at the bottom of the carboy and it's STILL hazy!

This was about 20% malted rye. I suspect the yeast has completely settled and the rye is causing the haze. Do people use finings, or just live with the haze? Maybe I'll just leave it sit for a few weeks.

Derek, I'm not sure whether the use of rye malt, all else being equal, necessarily leads to a cloudy beer. Back in December I brewed 10 gallons of IPA with 20% rye, split the wort and fermented half with WY1214, the other half with US-05. I recall that the WY1214 half took longer to clear, but eventually both did without the use of finings. I wish I could tell you exactly how long it took, but I don't recall thinking that either part took significantly longer than a typical ale fermented with those yeasts.

I have the US-05 part on tap now, and it is crystal clear.

I don't bother with finings. I think in general that US-05 is not as good a floculator as WY1056, but my beers eventual clear up nicely, even those with large portions of wheat.

Tossed my American Red in a keg last night with 2oz of Amarillo.

My smoked beer is partially carbonated. Wow, that Warminster smoked malt is very pale and very subtle - used 100%, yet the beer is straw coloured, and smoked character is subtle, but very nice.

Bottled up a cherry mead from a keg last weekend. Without a doubt, this is my best mead ever. It should be about 15% abv, and at just 4 months old, it is smooth as can be. Check out "staggered nutrient addition" it seems to make all the difference in the world when it comes to meads. 3-4 of my local brew friends have also gone this route this year, and all have been very impressed with the results thus far.

Brewing my annual DIPA on Sunday - going with a mix of Amarillo, Simcoe and Zeus.

Thanks, good to know. I haven't used finings in years, but this one looked like a orange milkshake.

I should try doing a mead someday. This episode is inspiring:
http://www.brewingtv.com/episodes/2010/ ... stock.html

Derek wrote:I should try doing a mead someday. This episode is inspiring:
http://www.brewingtv.com/episodes/2010/ ... stock.html

Mead is so bloody simple to make, and pretty much everyone who tries it, loves it. A lot of people in Regina make their own mead with local SK honey and fruits (sour cherries, saskatoons, raspberries, chokecherries, rhubarb, etc).

a sunday morning barley wine

double decocted maibock today.

jcc wrote:double decocted maibock today.

mmmmmmmm

maibock

My first homebrew, making an IPA.

Wish me luck.

Bottling day...

Got some new caps that didn't work so well with the wing-capper, and after 7 years it has finally died. Unfortunately I was only about half way in, and nothing was open on Sunday. So I blew the dust of my grandpa's old bench-top capper (it's gotta be 70 years old), and it finished the job.

The Gonzo-hopped mocha porter tastes insane right now... reminds me of the first Netherworld at Volo Cask days (very green).

Weather is finally getting nice, time to get back to brewing.

I'll kick off the brewing season this weekend with an 11 gallon split batch of IPA.

Fermentables: Pale, Vienna, CaraPils and C20
Hops: Centennial (bittering, flavour & aroma)
Yeast: US-05 (1st half) & Notty (2nd half)

I'm also going to prepare a batch of Apfelwein.

Fermentables: Apple Juice
Yeast: Lalvin EC-1118

Hefeweizen (11 gallons)

Fermentables: Wheat (59%), Pilsner (29%), Light Munich (10%), Aromatic (1%) & Caraaroma (1%) malts
Hops: Hallertau (bittering, flavouring & aroma)
Yeast: Wyeast 3068

I'm thinking of picking up a pound of centennial hops, how did your ipa turn out?

dutchcanuck wrote:I'm thinking of picking up a pound of centennial hops, how did your ipa turn out?

Delicious. I actually just had the first pint from the keg last night. I love centennial, and they really work great with the vienna malt. I may even push it and do a vienna/centennial SMaSH next IPA brew..

Are you thinking leaf or pellet?