What are you doing with homebrew today?

[GFHomebrew]

I should be brewing and bottling or kegging today, but currently feeling like an ice block and I'm not going to leave my spot in the sun till I defrosted!
Plus my poor dog is not feeling great. He got deknackered yesterday and is sulking today

Oh gee I don't blame him

 

[Zambi]

Change of plan.
I ran out of CO2.
Note to self: don't trust anyone else to put the tapping head on the keg....
So bottling it us till I can fill up my CO2 cylinder

 

[GFHomebrew]

Just mashed in on my "brown ale"

Smells like roasty burnt chocolate I hope it turns out brown time will tell

Hour in second saccrification step she's looking brown!
NO RICE HULLS FREE BALLING THIS MASH

 

[Andi001]

Bottled my first BIAB today! Sample tasted pretty great, I’m excited to see how it turns out!

 

[GFHomebrew]

Bottled my first BIAB today! Sample tasted pretty great, I’m excited to see how it turns out!View attachment 25740 View attachment 25740

First of many let's hope!
Looks good.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Transferring Beach brew

Gunna rack my brown ale onto the yeast cake tomorrow.

 

[Zambi]

I bottled beach brew 2 the lazy way.
Via spigot in 1 ltr pet bottles.
(Dis)advantage is that I have to drink 1 litre at the time

 

[Brewdomestix]

Dry hopped the British Golden Ale on Day 4 with slight increase of Cascade from previous batch which suggested plenty of wiggle room. SG already at 1.014 (expecting an FG couple of digits either side of 1.008). Reading again on Day 6 when I will have a taste to try and judge how many Amarillo pellets to add. I haven't added the hops separately before when using a combination. This is a small 2.5 gallon batch so not too risky an experiment - more of a learning curve thing. I added a teaspoon of hop enhancement on brew day but couldn't detect anything significantly different by it today.

 

[RoadRoach]

I bottled beach brew 2 the lazy way.
Via spigot in 1 ltr pet bottles.
(Dis)advantage is that I have to drink 1 litre at the time

Ok, I see Dis in parentheses. Was wondering what you were calling a problem.

 

[Zambi]

Change of plan.
I ran out of CO2.
Note to self: don't trust anyone else to put the tapping head on the keg....
So bottling it us till I can fill up my CO2 cylinder

Another note to self:
Don't measure pressure on the CO2 cylinder with the tap closed

Generally my gauge stays under pressure. But that day it didn't and blew off CO2 and went to zero
I just suddenly realised that is what could have happened.
Checked...
And yes, I still got CO2

And note 1 still stands as well as the connections were not thight

 

[Brewdomestix]

Thinking, planning, testing, learning and seeing myself in the grand scheme of things.

SG of Golden Ale steadied out nicely at 1.012 two days after first of two split dry hop additions. Still some activity in there.

Significant untypical tasting notes or developing level of awareness: 1) still plenty of room to play with on the bitterness side, subtle to moderate presence with the Cascade so almost doubled addition of Amarillo pellets from previous batch (27 pellets altogether both hops combined compared with total of 18 last time out). 2) incredibly full soft mouthfeel and complementary dryness (nearest comparison IME being with that of a red wine but that doesn't describe it appropriately enough). Can't wait to compare the taste again in two days. This beer is intriguing.

One thing going through my head: tasting is at approx 20 degrees C and seems more suited than when I have served this beer style chilled at both 3 and 6 months maturation even though I was happy with the finished article. I decided to rethink the original intended destination of aluminium (1 gallon) mini-kegs which I got specifically for beers that require refrigeration.

I reviewed and made minor alterations on the tap of the recently problematic 2 gallon plastic keg I was considering de-commissioning/stripping for spare parts and it seems alright. I now intend to transfer to that keg once primary fermentation is finished as it is suitable for room temperature beers only. I preferred the previous batch at 3 months to 6 months so it doesn't need to be in there relatively long. And I have enough back up vessels should it play up again which would be the final time. Overall that keg has been good value for money, I just want to get more life out of it to make up for the duds which gave me so many headaches. Still have one other good keg of that design so might finally consider to have got a fair deal overall by the time I open this one up. Neither dwelling on it nor becoming complacent - brewing will continue regardless of distractions or setbacks as it simply must!

Plastic be my friend,
plastic be my foe.
Whatever will be
will be,the latter
you just have to go.

I am wanting a quick maturing beer for my regular shortlist once I have sampled all those I have brewed or planned to brew (just a few new ones to try out) and right now 'Bure Gold' Golden Ale is the leading contender with circumstances including current availability enabling a vehicle for maintaining an indefinite turnover. I am used to having to review situations so that wouldn't be anything new. The remaining .5 gallon is going in PET bottles which I am happy to report have so far behaved perfectly. Glass bottles keep things a little cooler in both store and fridge so primarily now for lagers; pilsners; IPAs; wheats.

Basically things seem to be aligning nicely and I am getting more organised in the process. I'd be telling fibs if I claimed matters were the other way around

 

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

Cold crashing 2 brews. A NEIPA and a pale ale

 

[GFHomebrew]

Thinking, planning, testing, learning and seeing myself in the grand scheme of things.

SG of Golden Ale steadied out nicely at 1.012 two days after first of two split dry hop additions. Still some activity in there.

Significant untypical tasting notes or developing level of awareness: 1) still plenty of room to play with on the bitterness side, subtle to moderate presence with the Cascade so almost doubled addition of Amarillo pellets from previous batch (27 pellets altogether both hops combined compared with total of 18 last time out). 2) incredibly full soft mouthfeel and complementary dryness (nearest comparison IME being with that of a red wine but that doesn't describe it appropriately enough). Can't wait to compare the taste again in two days. This beer is intriguing.

One thing going through my head: tasting is at approx 20 degrees C and seems more suited than when I have served this beer style chilled at both 3 and 6 months maturation even though I was happy with the finished article. I decided to rethink the original intended destination of aluminium (1 gallon) mini-kegs which I got specifically for beers that require refrigeration.

I reviewed and made minor alterations on the tap of the recently problematic 2 gallon plastic keg I was considering de-commissioning/stripping for spare parts and it seems alright. I now intend to transfer to that keg once primary fermentation is finished as it is suitable for room temperature beers only. I preferred the previous batch at 3 months to 6 months so it doesn't need to be in there relatively long. And I have enough back up vessels should it play up again which would be the final time. Overall that keg has been good value for money, I just want to get more life out of it to make up for the duds which gave me so many headaches. Still have one other good keg of that design so might finally consider to have got a fair deal overall by the time I open this one up. Neither dwelling on it nor becoming complacent - brewing will continue regardless of distractions or setbacks as it simply must!

Plastic be my friend,
plastic be my foe.
Whatever will be
will be,the latter
you just have to go.

I am wanting a quick maturing beer for my regular shortlist once I have sampled all those I have brewed or planned to brew (just a few new ones to try out) and right now 'Bure Gold' Golden Ale is the leading contender with circumstances including current availability enabling a vehicle for maintaining an indefinite turnover. I am used to having to review situations so that wouldn't be anything new. The remaining .5 gallon is going in PET bottles which I am happy to report have so far behaved perfectly. Glass bottles keep things a little cooler in both store and fridge so primarily now for lagers; pilsners; IPAs; wheats.

Basically things seem to be aligning nicely and I am getting more organised in the process. I'd be telling fibs if I claimed matters were the other way around

If your thinking of brewing a Blondie why not give the current Brewersfriend Quarterly brew ago from @Zefram it'd be a pretty straightforward Extract brew with a dash of honey and citrus?

 

[Brewdomestix]

@Trialben Thanks for that suggestion. I aren't usually into fruit in beer (plus I make plenty of cider and wine anyway) but enjoyed a couple of Ghost Ship IPA mini-kegs last year so noted in diary to take a look tomorrow. I don't want to put back my bonfire toffee stout again so it might be more a case of passive observer with an attempt on this one (or indeed another) at a later date - the honey part is where you've grabbed my interest - I just picked up one of three new varieties I spotted in aldi this last week. Not ruling it out yet, all things allowing.

 

[GFHomebrew]

@Trialben Thanks for that suggestion. I aren't usually into fruit in beer (plus I make plenty of cider and wine anyway) but enjoyed a couple of Ghost Ship IPA mini-kegs last year so noted in diary to take a look tomorrow. I don't want to put back my bonfire toffee stout again so it might be more a case of passive observer with an attempt on this one (or indeed another) at a later date - the honey part is where you've grabbed my interest - I just picked up one of three new varieties I spotted in aldi this last week. Not ruling it out yet, all things allowing.

Hey you do you man! I thought I caught a wiff of indecision in your post on what to brew .

 

[Brewdomestix]

Hey you do you man! I thought I caught a wiff of indecision in your post on what to brew .

No problem at all. I wasn't looking for a new beerstyle to try but I certainly aren't against doing that. I found the posts re: Bunyip interesting so am aware of the quarterly brew.

I am trying to create a list of (currently) 8 periodical brews through the year plus one for Christmas. It doesn't mean I will make exactly the same beer exactly the same time every year. I already had light and dark phases without being particularly organised about it. Now I have been grouping beer styles together. I also like the idea of the quarterly brew which might be a great way of me both getting more involved and organised at the same time plus learning something new. Still at the tail end of getting back up to speed following the flood damage in January but beer has helped enormously. Very much a work in progress but I need structure in my life rather than chaos. Ideally need to be settling into place with an eye on regular orders of supplies. 2022 was mainly about trying new beerstyles but it has taken longer as I have also been repeating some of my regulars.

Anyway it turns out to be excellent timing right here because today's SG reading/tasting has thrown up an interesting question I feel like I may have already answered hence not starting up a separate thread. After adding Amarillo hops to Golden Ale following Cascade there is a broader hoppy but less bitterness overall - with an as yet unidentified specific fruit presence. Assuming firstly this has developed in two days via the addition of the Amarillo or that it brings it out in the Cascade etc: is this why craft brewers started adding actual physical fruit to further exploit such effects? Just seems a natural progression to me. It is not a prominent/overpowering flavour (yet) but very noticeable. I don't think it is citrussy, more like melon, yellow plum, less so pineapple or apricot but in that general area of yellow fruit. Like I said, intriguing stuff. Highest proportion of hops I have ever added but it absorbs them and gently smiles back

Couple of hours to kill so no time like the present to go and do that reading up.

 

[Hawkbox]

Going to do a raspberry blonde ale today for the wife. I learned not to leave my strike water and brew bag alone for a week in the grainfather, woof that was not a great smell. Like week old dishwater.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Going to do a raspberry blonde ale today for the wife. I learned not to leave my strike water and brew bag alone for a week in the grainfather, woof that was not a great smell. Like week old dishwater.

I also found that out the hard way

 

[Brewdomestix]

Kegged, bottled and labelled the golden ale. Fruit element of taste has now faded back out. Massive hoppy presence but has remained no more than moderate re: bitterness.

 

[Zambi]

I'll be buying grains today