Home Brewing time

[biggenius29]

If a brewer uses the pelletized store bought ones, how does volume compare with fresh?

You are suposed to add a little bit more for the bittering addition if you use leaf, but most homebrewers dont. For the flavor and aroma addition you just use ounce for ounce.

What variety are those?
Also, if you dont brew why grow hops?

 

[Czech]

Cascades I believe. A friend gave me a plant a few years back to cover a trellis, that it did. The trellis now looks like cousin it!

 

[gpcollen1]

Bit of a beer geek and spend a ton on good brew but have never brewed a thing. Have the equipment and basic understanding to get started. Going to get going this winter. Really looking to brew a nice porter and a mild or bitter. I long for some of those low ABV and very drinkable brews. Most of the beers these days keep on creeping up in alcohol. Been drinking some Victory Hop Wallop and Bells Two hearted recently. Both are delicious but the ABV is up there.

If you want to trade me those Cascade for some local beer let me know Gotz! I am in CT but shop in NY and PA too. Where are you at?

 

[Czech]

MN, but can ship if you want! Let me know, I'll pick the rest this weekend. I rather thet go to good use, and tea is not the best use I can think of....

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Well, popped open a bottle of my first batch ever last night...a pale ale that has been sitting in my basement for a few weeks. Carbonation is good, and flavor is excellent. Best thing of it was, nothing on the Tv, so just lit a fire, read a good book, and watched the flames. Looking forward to winter, and perhaps a batch of stout for next weekend.

 

[PitPat]

Do any of you current or former homebrewers know of a good recipe for a Dogfishhead 90 minute IPA clone?
Unfortunately the laws in the state where I live don't allow it to be sold (but you can buy a bottle of everclear in the grocery store), so I'd really like to try to brew something similar.

 

[BurningIsLove]

I know you guys told me not to dry hops in the sun, but is this ok? House smells great imho! Supervised drying of course, no fires unless.

Too funny, GotzTheHotz....I used my stove surface for drying as well, except that I use the ole window screen technique on top. Obviously, stove not burning at the time. If you still have those fine lookin fresh hops available, I will happily take them off your hands and give them a nice home in a brew pot.

I just harvested my crop, got about 1lb of cascade hops altogether. The Kent Goldings did OK, but the chinooks & fuggles got RAVAGED by Japanese beetles this year. Dunno why the beetles dont have a taste for Cascades, almost zero damage to the leaves.

Got two batches bubbling away in primary fermenters right now. the first is Hophead IPA recipe that I've modified over the years w/ some extra malts to give it a deep red color. hence the tag I hang on the beer tap sez Hophead Redhead and has a picture of a red headed supermodel. The other is a pumpkin ale mostly from a kit since I lost a great recipe I used last year. Both batches got generous handfuls of fresh cascade hops from the garden.

Also on top and ready to drink now is a 1 year aged hard cider that's been hiding in my cool basement since last apple season. If anyone is ever in the neighborhood of Billerica and wants to swing by for a pint or seven, my door is always open.

 

[njtomatoguy]

Do any of you current or former homebrewers know of a good recipe for a Dogfishhead 90 minute IPA clone?
Unfortunately the laws in the state where I live don't allow it to be sold (but you can buy a bottle of everclear in the grocery store), so I'd really like to try to brew something similar.

Try homebrewtalk.com. Check out the recipe section.

I am a paid member there. NJTomatoguy over there also.

 

[Todd]

Sorry I'm late on this thread, somehow I missed it. I've been brewing since 1989. Through the years I graduated to all grain and kegging all my beers. Lately I haven't brewed any beers but experimenting in meads. I have about a case of wildflower sweet honey mead that is 6 months old that tastes outstanding. Also have a raspberry mead in the keg and a blackberry in the fermenter. All three are over 12% alc. Next month I'll probably get going on a mostly all Munich malt Bock beer and maybe a couple ales.

 

[BurningIsLove]

Yep, I also graduated to kegging vs. bottle washing/priming sugar. Picked up a fridge that fits 2 cornelius (soda) kegs & Co2 systems (tank/regulator/lines) with a dual tap head. Very nice setup, I love it. On occasion if I have more than 5 gallons after secondary fermentation, I'll add the remainder to a sterilized growler w/ priming sugar. Those are nice since they are easy to clean & portable.

Mix of all grain batches & hybrid batches, depending on how much time I have and how much of a mess I'm willing to clean up. I find that the 'cooler' method works well for all-grain mashing. How do others do it? For hybrid batches w/ only 2-3 lbs of grain and a bunch of malt extract, I just do the ole add cracked grains to steeping bag into cold water, bring up to appropriate temp (around 155), steep for 20, then remove the grains and boil as normal.

One of my buddies has been doing mead for a few years. He found a "lost" case of mead in his basement when cleaning it out for a move, several years aged. It was PHENOMENAL. I need to 'lose' a few batches of cider for long term aging. Was going to pick up some oak barrels and try this on a small scale.

 

[Todd]

I use the 5gl round Rubbermaid coolers for my all grain batches. It can hold as much as 12lb of grain and keeps the mash temp holding for a long time. Then I use a s/s half barrel with the top cut off for my boil.

I also have a spare beer fridge with tap and a couple 1 liter growlers which make transporting tap beer a breeze. I can get 4 ea 5gl kegs in there.

 

[BurningIsLove]

Niiiice. I have keg fridge envy. I'm gonna be in a position shortly w/ 3 ready to drink kegs, but only two spaces in the fridge.

I use the new coolers w/ wheels on them for my mashing. Same idea as your circular ones, keeping the mash temp constant, easy to drain off the liquid, simple sparaging,etc. Obviously for anyone who wants to use this method and is looking for a cooler, you need one w/ a drain.

 

[Gooserider]

I've been brewing for several years now. Did some beers with a mix of malt syrup and grains, but don't do any more now since I've adopted a low carb lifestyle... (I have several cases of cleaned and de-labeled beer bottles sitting in a closet, 12oz longnecks mostly, some Sam Adams, some other brands, wouldn't mind selling or trading for blue 750ml wine bottles or?)

My primary interest these days is meads, which I make from scratch - starting by getting the honey out of my hives, then adding various other flavors. Typically get around 14% estimated ABV - I don't use preservatives, just keep feeding the batch until the yeast dies out... I typically have 50-60 gallons going at any given time, though I've slowed down a bit this year since I've had two years in a row of lousy honey harvests (long story, NOT the hive collapse disorder!)

I have neighbors with blackberry and raspberry vines in their yard that I pick from. I've planted some other berries in my garden patch, but haven't gotten any yield to speak of yet. We've had a time or two that I've gone to "you-pick" type places for other fruit (I've got a batch of blueberry melomel in secondary right now) and I do a batch of apple cyser almost every year, w/ unpastuerized cider from a local orchard.

IMHO there is nothing to match a good mead, except perhaps a fine single malt, and I'm told by friends that I do good ones...

Gooserider