Homebrewing

[pipingfool]

Mate you sound like a pro, you defo should get back into it!

I'll be sure to post pictures of the brew!

I'm no pro, that's for sure. I just used to be very into it and it was my main activity on weekends when my kids were much younger and didn't really do much. Now they are teenagers and always have something going on during the weekends.

I've been planning to get back into it for a while, but I sold off my system a few years ago, so I'll have to piece it back together. There are a few changes that I would like to make. Main one is my fermenters were way too big for the amount of beer I could brew/consume.

My favorite beer to make is a German Maibock. If you already know what it is, then ignore the next few lines. LOL.

It's basically the bookend to an Octoberfest/Marzen. Germans brewing used to be based on the seasons, so in the Summer months, Pilsners were preferred because they were lighter, hoppier and crisp. Perfect for the warm months.

As you move to Fall, you get Octoberfest and some Bocks that are much more malt-forward and less hoppy. Wintertime brings the Doppelbocks with their higher alcohol and sweeter finish and dark malts to keep you warm.

As Spring approaches, the Maibock comes into play. It is amber and malty, like an Octoberfest, but it is hoppier to give it a crisper feel so it can transition to the Pilsners of Summer.

I used to do a triple decoction mash (a major pain in the ass) which gave it this caramel malt mouthfeel. Usually came in around 7% abv, so it was very drinkable and nice change of pace to a traditional Pilsner in the Florida heat.

I did win a few medals in a couple of statewide competitions here. Won gold for my Belgian IPA, and bronze for my Imperial Stout.

Hope you stick with it. It is a great hobby and you can experiment with just about anything and create some great beverages.

@cosmicfolklore - your ginger beer sounds amazing! I may have to try that since I don't need any boiling/mash equipment.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm no pro, that's for sure. I just used to be very into it and it was my main activity on weekends when my kids were much younger and didn't really do much. Now they are teenagers and always have something going on during the weekends.

I've been planning to get back into it for a while, but I sold off my system a few years ago, so I'll have to piece it back together. There are a few changes that I would like to make. Main one is my fermenters were way too big for the amount of beer I could brew/consume.

My favorite beer to make is a German Maibock. If you already know what it is, then ignore the next few lines. LOL.

It's basically the bookend to an Octoberfest/Marzen. Germans brewing used to be based on the seasons, so in the Summer months, Pilsners were preferred because they were lighter, hoppier and crisp. Perfect for the warm months.

As you move to Fall, you get Octoberfest and some Bocks that are much more malt-forward and less hoppy. Wintertime brings the Doppelbocks with their higher alcohol and sweeter finish and dark malts to keep you warm.

As Spring approaches, the Maibock comes into play. It is amber and malty, like an Octoberfest, but it is hoppier to give it a crisper feel so it can transition to the Pilsners of Summer.

I used to do a triple decoction mash (a major pain in the ass) which gave it this caramel malt mouthfeel. Usually came in around 7% abv, so it was very drinkable and nice change of pace to a traditional Pilsner in the Florida heat.

I did win a few medals in a couple of statewide competitions here. Won gold for my Belgian IPA, and bronze for my Imperial Stout.

Hope you stick with it. It is a great hobby and you can experiment with just about anything and create some great beverages.

@cosmicfolklore - your ginger beer sounds amazing! I may have to try that since I don't need any boiling/mash equipment.

Yoi will still want to boil it to make a ginger tea first. Then, you have to heat the bottles to pasteurize them to stop the yeast.
some people are scared of heating the bottles, but I’ve done it enough times that I just chunk ‘em in and go at it. I’ve never had a bottle break. But, I also use empty Grolsch bottles that can take it.

 

[craiginthecorn]

But it is also a high-flocculation strain, so the beers made with it are usually very clear, which Blue Moon is not. Only thing I can think of is that they skipped the Protein Rest during the mash so that the residual proteins in the wheat made the beer cloudy.

I think you're correct on this point. Keith Villa, the creator of Blue Moon, said in a podcast that I referenced earlier that the haze was mostly proteins and carbohydrates and very little yeast. He was not willing to offer specifics about the mash steps, but said that there were at least three. Based upon other comments, I'm guessing that one of them was at 60C.

I'm surprised that Ringwood would be a very clean strain, but there are a couple well-regarded American craft breweries which use Ringwood almost exclusively. My assumption has always been that it's more like a typical fruity English strain. I use London Ale III for my British Bitters.

I've been brewing since 1985, with one fairly lengthy hiatus. My systems are much smaller to fit my needs. I use a couple PicoBrew Z1s for my many small 12L batches and for my 20L batches, I use a Grainfather G40. For fermentation, I use a Spike Flex+ and a Spike CF5 conical, plus occasionally a Blichmann Cornical. I can use my glycol chiller on the two Spike fermenters, but not the Blichmann, which is why it gets relegated mostly to brewing and fermenting my cask ales. Yes, brewing AND fermenting. That's the magic of the PicoBrew system which uses the fermenter as both an HLT and kettle.

 

[pipingfool]

I think you're correct on this point. Keith Villa, the creator of Blue Moon, said in a podcast that I referenced earlier that the haze was mostly proteins and carbohydrates and very little yeast. He was not willing to offer specifics about the mash steps, but said that there were at least three. Based upon other comments, I'm guessing that one of them was at 60C.

I'm surprised that Ringwood would be a very clean strain, but there are a couple well-regarded American craft breweries which use Ringwood almost exclusively. My assumption has always been that it's more like a typical fruity English strain. I use London Ale III for my British Bitters.

I've been brewing since 1985, with one fairly lengthy hiatus. My systems are much smaller to fit my needs. I use a couple PicoBrew Z1s for my many small 12L batches and for my 20L batches, I use a Grainfather G40. For fermentation, I use a Spike Flex+ and a Spike CF5 conical, plus occasionally a Blichmann Cornical. I can use my glycol chiller on the two Spike fermenters, but not the Blichmann, which is why it gets relegated mostly to brewing and fermenting my cask ales. Yes, brewing AND fermenting. That's the magic of the PicoBrew system which uses the fermenter as both an HLT and kettle.

Sounds like a couple of awesome systems. Home brewing has come such a long way over the years. Part of the fun was having to custom build everything, but sometimes it’s nice just to have someone else figure out the trial and error portion and just have a piece of equipment that works as intended. I am certainly planning on getting back into it.

Well, when I said “clean” regarding Ringwood, I meant “clean” relatively speaking as opposed to a typical Weissbier strain. It’s still fruity, don’t get me wrong, but of course not the big clove/banana notes. But the fruitiness can be dialed back a bit if you ferment at the lower end of the spectrum. You can also balance some of that fruitiness with some of the more citrusy and tropical hop varieties, so yeah, I can some American breweries using it in their big bold IPAs.

 

[Eastmon]

Been thinking about getting back into it. I brewed mean IPAs a few years back, rivaled anything I could buy. Reading these replies is getting me excited

 

[karam]

Brown sugar, ginger, lemon, and I use a black tea for tannins, and then pitch the yeast. I would have to look up which one I use. I think it was 72B. Then, when I bottle them, I add two or three juniper berries, and a few blades of rosemary. I just bottle before the yeast has finished, and then pasteurize them to stop the CO2 build up... to give them carbonization. It's really easy.

When I did this for the first time, I gave my girls one, not knowing what the abv was... I didn't have a herculometer back then, and I had to seal with two drunk little girls.

Cheers, I have been too chicken to try to bottle a live fermentation. I did a white sugar wash once but it tasted really flat, guess brown sugar might just give a bit extra.