What are you brewing?

[Edcculus]

Ha!, well I did forget to use the fermcap during actual fermentation. My carboy is spewing krausen like no tomorrow. It is a life saver during the boil though.

[MattyV]

I've got two batches about ready to bottle:
A hoppy wheat fermented with T-58, the Amarillo hops smell wonderful
A lingonberry wheat (for SWMBO) which was thrown together on a bit of a lark

[natural320]

almost time to keg up my helles, and I will be reusing that yeast to make a chocolate porter! 1st time trying it out, so I am excited for a, hopefully, tasty result.

[rtb178]

First beer brewed. Witbier turned out a bit darker than I had hoped; I read about late extract additions only after brewing. It ended up making a bit less than I had hoped for -- around 35-40 bottles instead of 45-50. But I'll give it a week, taste one, see how it goes, and then wait another week before chilling.

Next up: finding a round cooler to make into a mash tun.

[JPDyson]

First beer brewed. Witbier turned out a bit darker than I had hoped; I read about late extract additions only after brewing. It ended up making a bit less than I had hoped for -- around 35-40 bottles instead of 45-50. But I'll give it a week, taste one, see how it goes, and then wait another week before chilling.

Next up: finding a round cooler to make into a mash tun.

Two things - one, my first witbier looked a lot darker than commercial offerings, but tasted really great. It was a bit sweet but certainly drinkable after a week. As for the cooler, check your local Lowe's or Home Depot. I do half-batches, so I got a 5gal cooler for $20 at Lowe's (I presume they're cheaper because they have Lowe's branding plastered on the side). If you're doing full batches, the 10gal ones are still pretty affordable compared to buying them elsewhere. I went with all stainless fittings via BargainFittings.com and everything went well (no connection, just a happy customer).

[rtb178]

Two things - one, my first witbier looked a lot darker than commercial offerings, but tasted really great. It was a bit sweet but certainly drinkable after a week. As for the cooler, check your local Lowe's or Home Depot. I do half-batches, so I got a 5gal cooler for $20 at Lowe's (I presume they're cheaper because they have Lowe's branding plastered on the side). If you're doing full batches, the 10gal ones are still pretty affordable compared to buying them elsewhere. I went with all stainless fittings via BargainFittings.com and everything went well (no connection, just a happy customer).

Hey, thanks for this. I think the beer will be fine--hope I didn't end up overcarbing the beer, because I used the whole priming sugar packet. I've got a towel over the beers, so if they do decide to explode, at least there wont be shrapnel.

Overall, the process was more painless than I expected. I'm looking forward to the next one.

[rtb178]

Tried a bottle of the wit a week after bottling. It's heavily carbonated (I should've used a priming sugar calculator, rather than dumping the whole bag of sugar into the boiling water), but I hope it'll settle down over the next few weeks. Not bad; it's defintely beer, so that will work.

[JPDyson]

Tried a bottle of the wit a week after bottling. It's heavily carbonated (I should've used a priming sugar calculator, rather than dumping the whole bag of sugar into the boiling water), but I hope it'll settle down over the next few weeks. Not bad; it's defintely beer, so that will work.

Cheers! I would recommend investing in BeerSmith 2; once you learn your way around it, it's super handy for any and all calculations. You can get by with freebies, like Mr Malty or random online calculators, but I like BeerSmith as a recipe holder and all that.

[YetiDave]

I keep meaning to try my hand at all grain brewing, maybe some time in the next few months. For now I'm still on the various meads and wines. My supply of apple wine from last autumn has taken a decent hammering recently, can't wait to get more on the go!

[rtb178]

Decided to have another crack. This time, an IPA. Late DME addition and a hop whirlpool will hopefully add a good amount of aroma and hops without too much malt sweetness. This time, I poured the wort through a (sanitized!) strainer, which I hear will increase clarity. Will dry hop in three weeks.

[delamain]

I've got to bottle an American stout in the morning... I used a healthy dose of Bravo hops; it was my first time and I'm curious to see if they make an impact.

Next up is an India Black Ale (aka Black IPA) where the hops are yet to be determined. After that I have enough Simcoe hops to do some late-hopped IPAs and after that I'm going to do some hoppy American Browns!

[rtb178]

I've got to bottle an American stout in the morning... I used a healthy dose of Bravo hops; it was my first time and I'm curious to see if they make an impact.

Next up is an India Black Ale (aka Black IPA) where the hops are yet to be determined. After that I have enough Simcoe hops to do some late-hopped IPAs and after that I'm going to do some hoppy American Browns!

Way to have some Simcoe. I haven't been able to find any at all around here.

I grabbed a six pack of my dark witbier tonight, and saw that there were hairline cracks in two of my bottles. oops! Thankfully, nothing blew.

I think I'll be getting a beer program for the next one.

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

I just did a RyePA :D Tettnanger hops for a 90 minboil, Chinook at 60, 30 and 5. I don't think I'm going to dry-hop it. I should have 6gallons at 6.5% if thing ferment like it should. Used US-05 and it fermented long and strong. I needed to have it on the blowoff tube for four days.

[YetiDave]

I just opened a bottle of my green tea and pine mead (quite early on, it's only 5 months old) and it's really good, I may have to make more! It's just 4lbs of honey per gallon brought to the boil with one green tea bag, a few young pine shoots (left in the primary for 1 month) 1 tsp of nutrient and wine yeast. I honestly don't know if the pine made any difference to the flavour or not but this sure tastes good

[AACJ]

Started bewing a West Coast Pale Ale on November 23rd. I added a little more hops than the recipe asked for (along with another bag of malt extact). Got GREAT fermentation on the 24th, when I left for work last evening, it was still going strong. Now the worst part, waiting! I figure I should be able break into it around Christmas time.

[ZZ Hop]

Cheers! I would recommend investing in BeerSmith 2; once you learn your way around it, it's super handy for any and all calculations. You can get by with freebies, like Mr Malty or random online calculators, but I like BeerSmith as a recipe holder and all that.

I have to agree. I lasted about a year using different online calculators, but finally purchasing BeerSmith was definitely worth the investment. I especially like the brew day print outs that lay everything out step by step.

[AACJ]

I have to agree. I lasted about a year using different online calculators, but finally purchasing BeerSmith was definitely worth the investment. I especially like the brew day print outs that lay everything out step by step.

I'm now very interested in this beersmith2 program. Is it strictly desktop or is there an android app? I can't check right now because I am at work.

[ZZ Hop]

I'm now very interested in this beersmith2 program. Is it strictly desktop or is there an android app? I can't check right now because I am at work.

I've only tried the standard desktop version, but I know a mobile app does exist.

[retiredguns]

Just finished up some Muntons Old Ale. It's one of the best brews I've done so far. I had to try one before the rest went to the cellar for another month or so. Gonna ask for another batch of ingrediants for Christmas. I also have concord grape wine bubbling non-stop..

[AACJ]

Pics of the wine??? drool