If the starter proves viable (slurry looks good, but haven’t tested attenuation and it’s an old pack), then a smoked porter tomorrow and hopefully a barley wine to age for next year on Monday or Tuesday.
Belgian Barleywine? Mind posting the recipe?
Kind of curious about that myself.
I just brewed my first lager, an Oktoberfest. However, my hydrometer broke, so I am not sure if what I have will be an Oktoberfest or a Vienna Lager. I’ve been getting 80-83% efficiency the last 5 brews (I should add that my past 5-10 brews have produced far, far better beer than my previous 2+ years of brewing, thanks in no small part to this and other forums), so I built a recipe that would be an Oktoberfest from 78-84% and would be a Vienna Lager from 70-78… whatever it is, I just hope it’s delicious. I put a lot of effort into this one, even customizing my water to be similar to Munich water. Also, I ended up with almost 9 gal of sweet wort, so I did a 110 min boil to get the volume down to 5.5 gal. I didn’t notice any activity this morning, but the fermometer reads that the carboy is at 48F. in about 10 days when I transfer, I will be lagering this beside last month’s altbier and probably taking a 2-month break from brewing.
awesome man. but FWIW, subtle grist changes are more what makes vienna distinct from oktoberfest, not just gravity. vienna is typically all or mostly all vienna, whereas fest is usually base of vienna with munich and pils added.
no brewing this weekend, but we’re doing a club brew next weekend - 70 gal in two days!
I knocked out a smallish Saison based off of the Farmhouse Ales’ recipe for a classic Saison today, and am off to judge the Palmetto Brewer’s Competition in the morning down in Columbia, SC. I guess it is fitting that I get to judge Belgian & French Ales in the morning considering I brewed a Saison today.
I am thinking of doing a home smoked Cherry wood Porter with the Denny’s yeast.
On the other hand, it is suddenly cold enough to brew a Pilsner! I use temp control on the fermenter, in the big fridge called the garage.
Sure, but it’s a brand new, never-before brewed recipe, so I don’t know how it will turn out. It’s just something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and I had a nice big slurry of White Labs 575 Belgian Blend, so I figured it was time. My inspiration was Scaldis, but I made no attempt to make a clone. The recipe is just my own ideas. The recipe for 5.5 gallons:
7’ Belgian Pale, 6’ Belgian Pils, 3.5’ Briess 6-row pale, 1/2’ Caravienne, 1/2’ Aromatic, mash at 149° for 90 minutes. 2’ clear candi sugar added, boil 90 minutes. 1.5 oz. Styrian Goldings pellets (5.2 aa) for 70 min., 1 oz Sterling whole (8.7 aa) each for 15, 5, and at knockout. Pitched the yeast at 62°, fermenter rose to 70° before starting to drop off. Over 1/2 gallon blew off in the first 18 hours (wow!). OG 1.106, FG TBD, calculated 42 ibu’s.
I am brewing Bohemian Pilsner.
I wanted to brew October fest but my German yeast took a runer.
Denny’s RIPA on Tuesday after work. I’m toying with mashing in before work but my guess is I won’t be that organized in the morning.
I planned on getting up at 5am…but it took me all day to finish.
Just now
ready to pitch my version of Dennys RIPA…All homegrown hops ;D
I brewed up an ordinary bitter on Saturday. I need a session beer to take a break between all the holiday ales out there. Unfortunately the brew room temperature crashed Saturday night (55F) and the 1028 yeast went to sleep. I moved the carboy closer to the chimney and it’s now bubbling away. Life is good.
Czar Willie’s Imperial Oatmeal Stout - basically a revved up version of my Weak-Kneed Willie’s Oatmeal Stout. Need to pick up my share of Denny’s BVIP from bluesman too.
I have little experience with Vienna lagers, other than occasionally having a Negra Modelo or a Bohemia at a taqueria in San Francisco’s Mission District that serves alcohol illegally after 2 am. I actually went to summer school in Vienna when I was 16 and only ever drank Pilsner there (along with tequila shots Wiener-style, with cinnamon-sprinkled Orange Slices rather than salt and lime).
Ordinary Bitter - can’t decide on volume though 15 or 30 gallons.
Mashed in on an ESB
25 gallons of what turned out to be Best bitter - over shot my gravity a bit.
On Monday (playin hooky) I am brewing a partigyle American Barleywine and ESB (with the second runnings). Then, after that an Old Ale.
Should be a long and exciting day!
You’re going to be pooped! ;D
NOTHING