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Archive for December, 2007

Using up some stored grain

Friday, December 28th, 2007

I have some grain that I’ve had stored for a while and I want to use it up tomorrow I ran this through beer tools and it looked ok but what do you all think? Here’s what I have up my sleave:

5 lbs 2 row pale
4 lbs Maris Otter pale
2 oz 60*L crystal
1 oz tetnang 60 min
1/2 oz Hallertau 15 min
1/2 oz tetnang 1 min

22 grams Saflager S-23

I also have a Wyeast Kolcsh yeast that I need to use but dont have anything to make a starter with, so I was going to go with the S-23

Thanks
B~

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Who’s brewing today?

Friday, December 28th, 2007

I finished up my work for the year yesterday so today is brew day! I will probably get one more besides this one in before the year is over.

Today I’m brewing up a blonde as the inventory took quite a hit on Christmas. The next batch will be my not yet world famous APA, as I recently received from fresh north west hops.

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Moving to all-grain: what size cooler?

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Hi guys,

I’ve finished two batches of extract brewing and I want to start all-grain brewing.

So I think what I absolutely need is:

Mash/lauter tun from water cooler, plus hose
8 gallon enamelware brewing pot (recommended from John Palmer’s site)
A wort chiller

(in addition to all my old extract equipment)

1) Is this right?

2) Do any of you use CPVC for your mash tun manifold construction, or is copper recommended?

3) Can I use an immersion heater to achieve various rests in the cooler mash tun?

4) If I use a 5 gallon cooler, will I be able to brew 5 gallon batches of tripels or imperial stouts?

Thanks!!!

- Brewnub

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Beer with sushi?

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Posted: by YankChef (19 hours ago)

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OOPS, mixed my base grains.

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

I just got 12lb of munich and 10lb of pilsner milled at my LHBS, but i forgot to ask them to seperate and they are now mixed together.

The plan was for a batch of doppelbock for the munich and a northern German pilsner for the pilsner.

I think my Doppelbock is still ok with this grain profile but can i still do my pilsner and lighten it up with some carapils? Or, will the pilsner come out too malt and dark from the munich?

i already have the WL833 for the bock and the pilsner strain also.

PS: anyone have any pics for a doppelbock or a pilsner? i seem to always find usefull advice post-brew day.

PPS: THANKS VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR INPUT. I post alot of questions these days and i hope im not becoming anoying. If so, let me know, and il slow down the posts.

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9 Courses, 1 Beer…Which One?

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Posted: by BuckSpin (23 hours ago)

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New kraut thread

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Posted: by HBang (25 minutes ago)

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And A Happy New Year…

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

The People’s Republic of Flying Dog is now in session. It’s happy hour at Flying Dog Brewery, so here is your latest dose of irreverence. Some email services will block the newsletter format.
2008 PreviewEveryone here at the Brewery survived the holiday visits from our families and we hope everyone out there in the People’s Republic […]

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2007 Brewery Upgrades

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Time for year in review… What were the big upgrades to everyone’s brewery this year?

I was pretty busy this year. I swapped the plate chiller for an IC, which I just upgraded to 2x size. I got my brew rig up and running. Replaced my boil kettle. I converted my HERMS from higher capacity LP from electric. That was probably the biggest one. I keep thinking of them… that can’t be good. I upgraded to Swag’s tri-clover clamps. Also, I motorized my mill w/ table.

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FLYING DOG TO SPONSOR SAVOR

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Flying Dog already brings you BeerDinners.com which is a complete resource for food and beer pairings as well as listings or beer dinners around the country. Now we join Savor, a new event from the Brewer’s Association who also brings you the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. Savor will be America’s […]

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Today in the Aspen Times…

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

George Stranahan points us to a  great comic strip in today’s Aspen Times.  Click HERE.

addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flyingdognews.com%2F2007%2F12%2F27%2Ftoday-in-the-aspen-times%2F’;
addthis_title = ‘Today+in+the+Aspen+Times…’;
addthis_pub = ‘’;

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Shipping fees - What gives?

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Within 1 week I ordered 31 pounds of assorted grain, LME, DME and hops from 2 different sources to Sioux City Iowa.
Shipping - Homebrew adventures $16.50, Northern Brewer “brew saver shipping” $7.99. The last time I ordered from Northern
Brewer the “brew saver” shipping which was $5.99 and is now $7.99 which I think is fair. What gives?

ehines

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A Funky Blonde named Ommegeddon

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

I finally drank the bottle of Ommegang Ommegeddon that I have had since this summer, and it knocked my socks off. Now that I can’t find anymore bottles, I would like my next beer to be a Ommegeddon inspired clone.

I don’t know much about this one, and haven’t found much. I know it is a strong bolnde ale with a dose of Brettanomyces and dry hopped.

So here is what I am thinking for starters:

5 Gallons OG=1.070 25 IBU

8 lbs Belgian 2-row Pale
2 lbs white wheat
1 lbs clear candi sugar
1/4 lbs Belgian Arromatic
1/4 Carapils
1 oz. Styrian Goldings Whole 60 min
1 oz. Czech Sazz 15 min
1 oz. Styrian Goldings Dry Hop

WLP-510 Bastagone
Wyeast 3112 Brett Bruxellensis

Some of my big questions are:

1) Is 3112 the proper strain of Brett to use for this beer?
2) Are my Hop sellection and grain bill appropriate for Ommegeddon?
3) Should I up the candi sugar and reduce the base malt to get the real dry finish of Ommegeddon?

Any feedback would be very benneficial….

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Beer Drinking Vessels

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

How do you guys normally drink your beer? Straight out of the bottle? In a glass? In a mug?

Myself, I’m partial to Pilsner glasses like this one: (Minus the Blue Moon)

I never really got into the “mug o’ beer” thing. That might be due to my beer-related ignorance and newbish-ness, but I definitely prefer a glass over straight-from-bottle or in a mug.

So, how do you guys drink?

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I’m propane illiterate

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

I just bought a 60 qt SS pot to do full volume boils of 10 gallon batches. I need to now get a propane burner. It seems the Bayou Classic SQ14 with 10psi regulator is pretty popular. It puts out 55,000 btu I believe. Would that work well for a 12ish gallon boil? Also, the sq14 has a 16″x16″ cooking area and my pot is 15 3/4″ in diameter. Do I need a bigger cooking area?

If this wouldn’t work well can anyone make a suggestion? I would like to be able to get one for $50 or less.

edit: spelling

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If it Ain’t Scottish It’s Crap

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

I’ve been brewing for about four years now but I’d never made a Scottish ale until recently. I decided to make one finally this year for our Christmas party and I’m drinking it now. It’s Jamil’s recipe bumped up to the 70/~ range, I’m sure you can find it on the interwebs.

What a great beer! Wonderfully flavorful and not difficult at all to make. If you haven’t made a Scottish, try it.

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Newbie Questions

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

Hey there. I recently received a Mr. Beer homebrew kit. In a little bit I will be bottling my first batch for carbonation. (Fingers crossed) smile.gif
The Mr. Beer kit really generalizes everything. There is a can of wort, a yeast packet, and something they call “booster” that contains dextrose and maltodextrins. All I have to do is add water, heat and dissolve the booster, add to the wort, then add yeast and ferment. And while this is all well and good to get me started….I am very quickly realizing that I want to be at the level of most of you here are at: discussing hop/yeast strains, specific gravity and such. So I have alot of questions as it seems that alot of the discussion here seems to be a bit advanced. And with your help I hope to be the brewer I know I want to be. So anyways here goes:

Dear BrewBoard,

Preparation:
1. My homekit has a pack of sanitizer that is basically “just add water”. What can you recommend to sanitize my equipment in the future?
2. I understand how important keeping everything sanitized is. But do you have any tips or lessons learned so that I might avoid any common pitfalls?

Malts:
1. I have no idea where I would get malted cereal grains. I mean, are we talking frosted mini wheats here? Is there an online resource where you order them? Do you make your own from ingredients found at the supermarket?
2. How do I know when the malts have germinated properly? Are there any guidelines to modifying the malts?
2. How do I know how much to get? What is the ratio of quantity of malts to quantity of beer produced? How does the quantity of malt affect the outcome of the beer?
3. What is the relationship between malts/drying method/and modification? Are there some general guidlines?

Hops:
1. What are hops exactly?
2. Where do I get hops?
3. I understand that there are two different kinds of hops (aroma hops and bittering hops) but how do I know which is which?

Yeast:
I think there are enough threads here that I can find stuff on my own.

The Overall Process

Creating Wort
So once I have found my malts what next? I understand that malts need to transformed into malt extract but I do not understand what that exactly entails or what I would need for it.
Then I add hops and other various ingredients (honey, blueberries, etc.) and I boil them all together. How do I know what the ratio of malt to hops is to be? How do I know how long to boil it together? Do you have any tips/suggestions/resources you can recommend?

Fermentation
I am interested in higher alcohol content beers. I understand that there is a balancing act when it comes to adding fermentable sugars but how do I know? And, I am sure this is one of those experience things but do you have any suggestions?

And I guess this is it for now. I hope to tap the wealth of knowledge here and someday soon I will be able to join the monthly beer pass. Happy brewing and thank you in advance. smile.gif

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Missing O.G.

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

I brewed my second batch of beer recently (Old Speckled Hen clone), and like my first batch, I missed my O.G. by quite a bit. It was 1.092, but it’s supposed to be 1.010 to 1.012. I think the problem is that I’m not getting a hot break since there’s no rising foam or apparent coagulation of proteins. My guess is it’s because I’m not getting a strong rolling boil either because my stove isn’t generating enough heat or my brew pot (5 gal) is too thin to distribute heat properly. Has anyone had this problem or one similar?

Thanks.

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9oz co2 tanks

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

saw this at target and thought it would be a nice portable system however I have some sorry.gif“s

Can I fill it using my 10lb tank?

Will 9oz be enough to keep a 5gal corny keg filled with c02 from full to empty?

I’m picturing stapping this little tank to my 5 gal corny.

Thanks for the responses in advanced.

http://www.target.com/Brass-Eagle-9-oz-Ref…ball&page=1

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Yeast from last batch

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

The last batch of beer we brewed used the same yeast (Irish Ale Yeast) that the next batch we are brewing. I managed to grab a lot of yeast (and trub I’m sure) from the last batch of beer that we brewed, and plan to use that in the next brew. Now - this yeast has been sitting for almost 3 weeks in a flask. It is a fairly large amount of yeast. My 2 questions are :

1 - Do I need to get this yeast active by throwing some wort on top of it, or is it the cell number that matters? Being that I have so much, do I even need a starter?

2 - I used the yeast last time in an Oatmeal Stout (it was a 1.051 OG). The next batch we are making is an old ale with an expected OG of about 1.070. Will this yeast be sufficient just being pulled from the primary of the last batch, or should I have started new?

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Ray Daniels suggests “Cicerone”

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

I recently read Ray Daniel’s suggestion in the latest brew mag about a name for a beer guy that competes with Sommelier. Fine, great idea, quite ballsy for somebody to actually pick a name, but I have a lot of respect for Daniels after reading his book Designing Great beers.

I have to take issue with this suggestion though because of a few reasons:

#1) This is an Italian word and while there is beer in Italy, I’m not sure Italy is on the top of my list for beer history or great examples of beer. I’m Italian and it pains me to say it, but I was just there this year and the beer is slim pickin’s…..

#2) It sounds like we’re trying to “compete” and give this job a name that sounds more exclusive and elaborate. There’s no reason for this as the job should stand on it’s own. Using this term and it’s origin is playing “follower” to Sommelier’s, when we really want to play leader.

I’m not opposed to giving recognition and keeping this movement going, but this just doesn’t sit right with me.

Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

Maybe I just haven’t had enough to drink yet….

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The Holy Grail for Hopheads

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

I will be enjoying these tomorrow night!

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Hops in the kettle

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

Up to this point I’ve only brewed with pellets in a nylon bag but I just oredered some whole hops and am trying to figure out what’s the best way to set up my keggle. I don’t have a ball valve installed, but that is the first thing that I’ll be doing to the keggle, but my real question is what do the rest of you do when you use whole hops? Do you just toss them in, or bag them and do you use a bazooka T or false bottom when draining the wort?

Trying to decide how to set up my keggle is a little confusing, but I guess that’s a good problem to have. smile.gif

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Making a Yeast Starter

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

Going to be making a Russian Imperial Stout. The receipe is from Jamil Zainasheff.

He says to use 3 liquid yeast packages, or make an appropriate starter. In that case it states that I would need two yeast packages in order to have the right amount for this beer.

I was only planning on using the one vial of American Ale Yeast to build my starter.

Can anyone comment or help me?

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My Next Brew Rig

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

OK, it’s a work in progress hehe.gif

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williamette

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

i dry hopped my beer in the secondary with 1 oz of wiliamette leaf for 8 days at 65 degrees and i am getting a really strong grassy taste form it. I believe i remember other people complain about this, so hear another complaint to the grassyness of dry hopping with williamette. sorry.gif

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Whole Hops… yuck.

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

I saw someone in another thread who got some bad leaf hops. I bought a pound in anticipation of hard times, and they look and smell really bad. This photo is from another site, but this is about what mine looked like, and how they were packaged:

Mine are Czech Saaz. They don’t smell anything like saaz. They actually smell like rotting vefetation. The alpha content is marked as 2.2%, rather than the 3.6% most pellets are marked. They stink… It doesn’t get any better when breaking a flower apart and crushing it.

Is this in anyway normal for loose hop flowers? Are, were these improperly stored?

Are these OK to use… and what should I expect as far as flavor and aroma go if I do use them?

$35 per pound, to top it off. sad.gif

Thanks for any insights. I’ve used pellets in the past, but I did buy a couple of ounces of Saaz flowers a long time ago and they were about the same quality, even though they were vacuum sealed in a heavy bag.

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KitchenAid Mill

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

So my girlfriend got me a kitchen aid mixer and a grain mill attachment for Christmas. I was psyched about the mixer (just a cool power toy to have in the kitchen) but iffy on the mill. I should have known better, but managed to let slip a comment along the lines of: “I’m not sure this is the best way for me to mill my grain” which brought about a few tears as she detected a little disappointment in my comment and tone of voice.
After doing some research it appears there are many better options to mill grain and it seems an awful lot of money to let the kitchenaid sit in a cabinet not getting a lot of use (I’d only use it for the grain attachment – although my girlfriend would be sure to use it). Should I break it to my girlfriend that there are better milling options or just suck it up? I think her hope was that it could also be used for something other than making beer. I was thinking we could compromise – keep the mixer, return the mill, and get a barley crusher instead devil.gif

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Beer Pairing for rib roast

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

Posted: by jaxon53 (2 hours ago)

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How did everyone’s holiday pairings go?

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

Posted: by KarlHungus (3 hours ago)

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