Appreciate it. I’ll toast one to ya soon !
Hey chumley, I’d love to see your dunkel recipe!
Denny, I am trying a new dunkel recipe out, based on the link to the Weyermann site that Jeff Rankert posted in a dunkel thread here. Of course, I had to tweak it 
10 gallons, OG 1.055, 22 IBUs
60% Best Munich 1 (14 lbs.)
30% Gambrinus Vienna (7 lbs.)
8.5% Weyermann CaraRed (1.5 lbs - recipe called for CaraMunich III but I was all out)
1.5% Weyerman dehusked Carafa II (5 oz.)
Mashed in at 140° for 20 min, add boiling water to raise to 150° for 60 min, heat slowly to 158° for 20 min. Batch sparge.
22 IBUs Hallertauer Mittelfreuh pellets for 60 min (4 oz. of 4%)
Split between buckets of yeast cake – Wyeast 2575 Kolsch II and Wyeast 2352 Munich Lager II. Third and final use of these. (Yes I know one is an ale yeast…but it seems to ferment at 50°F better than the lager yeast).
I’ll let you know how these turn out.
Trying to convert grain bill percentages to pounds an ounces. Is there software?
Yes lots’ I like beersmith, others like other products. There are even some free on line ones but I am not familiar.
Important things to know, your efficiency first and foremost.
How many lb of grain would it take for you to get to 1.055 og? that many lbs * .60 gives you your munich… etc.
Brewed John Palmer’s Urak Hai Barley Wine on Monday. Had to Substitute WL Burton Ale yeast for the Wyeast Thames Valley. Made a 3.5 quart starter, recipe called for a gallon. Extract with grains. Process very smooth for my fourth batch of home brew. Recipe calls for 2-3 weeks in primary and 1-3 months in secondary. Cant wait to try it in January? How do I know which end of these time frames to be on? I’m not in a hurry as I have parts of my first 2 batches left, and a smoked porter in another fermenter, but just curious after that long in the secondary, what changes will i see from 1-3 months. Any info any one has will help this newbie greatly. Looks great in primary, lots of action, good krausen, lots of bubbling through blow off.
Got my Belgian Amber Strong Ale chilling right now, then I’m off to pick up some cider and honey for a Cyser.
Cider time ! I haven’t made any in 2 or 3 years. Picked up some at my LHBS yesterday and, being the early blend, it is pretty tart. So no malic acid for this one. The OG measured 1.044, and I’m not adding any extra sugar (usually don’t). I used WY 4766 this time since it was freshest. Can’t wait!
Got my asian blonde ale fermenting away at 78F with Sake yeast now…lag time was huge but it is very active now and the temp continues to go up pretty quickly.
Next up is my pumpkin/squash beer. This one is delayed because my wife really wants me to do it but won’t be able to have any until after the kid is born in mid november. The plan is to use some baked pumpkin as well as assorted squash (not sure which yet?) in the mash. Adding some orange zest and ginger to give it sort of a holiday feel as well…
You will know when it’s done by taste. I personally would leave it in primary the whole time but I’m crazy that way. If you do decide to transfer for secondary wait until the gravity stops dropping (two readings the same several days apart) then give it at least another 2 weeks on the yeast.
Thanx Morticai,
If I leave it in primary, should I switch to a regular airlock at some point or leave the blow off hose on it? As per his current recipe, he says 2-3 weeks in primary, then 1-3 months in secondary; if I leave it in primary the whole time, when should I be doing a first check for FG? The online copy of his book(an old edition) says to bottle condition for an additional 3 months before refrigerating and serving. The hard copy I have now, purchased last year, now states 1 month. I’m wondering what changed, or if he just decided it was good to go at that point. The old text says that it would continue to ferment in the bottles, even after being in primary and secondary for up to 16 weeks. Does that sound right? I just wanted to brew a barley wine, did not know I really would not get to taste it for potentially 29 weeks total(using old bottle conditioning of 3 months) As I originally stated, I’m not in a big hurry to get to it, but did want it as the winter warmer he was calling it. I guess patience will be the key.
Looking through my list of recipes I ran across “Pointon’s Proper English Style Dark Mild”. This was this years big brew day recipe. I had other commitments on that date and couldn’t brew. I always thought the recipe looked like a good one so I’m going to brew it up on Friday. A Wyeast 1968 London ESB starter is on the stir-plate as I type…
On the Airlock, it’s up to you. blow off tube takes more space but either way should be fine.
The thing to remember here is that you have to let the beer set the pace. Particularly with a big beer. Wait till things seem to be settled down (krausen has dropped) before taking your first reading. Three weeks would not be too long to wait (but if you want to get a taste at 2 weeks go ahead, I won’t tell). I suspect it will take at least that long to get to Final Gravity.
Ageing in secondary is suggested because there may be some differences in the way a beer ages in a large volume compared to a small volume. but it you want you can bottle sooner and age in the bottle longer.
It will probably be good after 1 month in the bottle, but it will get better and better. The other night I opened a bottle of 2011 Big Foot and it was just starting to come into it’s own (in my opinion).
I have a big Belgian aging in a keg since January. I’m going to tap it around Christmas. Hoping it’s awesome
American Centennial Red
A couple nights ago I kegged 10 gallons of a Saison Dupont clone I brewed just before this thread started. I’m going to wait to tap it for at least a couple weeks. I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait longer than that.
I tapped a Dupont- type Saison over the summer that went empty about as quickly as any of my kegs ever have (and I have a bunch of hop-crazy friends who schedule their lives around my IPA tappings). It was a really good saison.
It will actually be towards the end of next week but im going to be brewing up a wee heavy. Just did a 80 shilling. I slimmed some kruasan off the top of that and have a starter going that I’m building up. I’m using east coast yeast scottish heavy for these.
Brewed up my first beer since May. It was a Belgian Pale, with a lot of homegrown Brewer’s Gold, as well as some Caliente pellets. Pitched the Unibroue yeast, and is chugging away today. Also used some Jaggery for the fermentables.
That’s gonna be nice. Unibroue + Caliente is a fantastic pairing.