Well, it's been almost two weeks since I bottled up the batch, and curiosity got the better of me. Cracked one a little while ago. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was quite happy with the results. The BSG kit was a "pilsner", but very full-flavored. Carbonation level was perfect, IMO. I may have to try this again!
hey, it's been warm enough these last couple days (and I've been doing enough yard work in 80 deg weather) to warrant a few bottles of that "skeeter pee".
GOOD STUFF!!!!!
I put in the amount of lemon juice that the recipe called for and it ended up like a "light lemonade" that's alcoholic (not carbonated lemonade like "Mikes"). I'm good for about a liter before it's time for bed.
When (not "if") I make this again, I'm going to up the lemon juice a bit but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
(Hungary wife kind of likes it too, but half a beers worth makes her loopy)
Cheers!
SkeeterPee is wonderful on draft FYI
Too much to brag about lately. Lots of new stuff coming out like... now.
Tapped "Wunderbarrel" which is the bourbon barrel aged version of our Wunderland Strong Dark. It's like candy. Dangerously smooth, high alcohol (~11.5%) candy.
Saturday we're tapping "Derby Strong", an aggressie Quad brewed in collaboration with the local Roller Derby team. 10.6%. Just taste tested that for "quality control". It's good. Saturday will be a special tapping party for it.
In two weeks we'll release a Belgian Golden Strong that we still don't have a name for. But it will be good. This will be the first large batch I done using spices, but at an appropriate level, particularly for the style (think Delirium tremens with additional malt complexity).
If anyone's in the Columbus area, come out on Saturday from 4-7 for the tapping party on the Derby Strong.
While not freshly made, I finally got around to trying my Dandelion Wine I started 2 years back.
O.M.G. incredible! I need to go pick massive amounts of dandelions this week.
A dozen+ people have tried this and all were very surprised by the sweet, almost mead like taste.
I stuck with a Jack Keller Recipe using 3 quarts of the flowers per gallon. (remove all green parts).
3 qts dandelion flowers
1 lb golden raisins
1 gallon water
3 lbs granulated sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
yeast and nutrient
DUDE! I have been meaning to make dandelion wine for the last two years! I kind of lost motivation when I realized how many dandelions I really needed and then when someone told me they thought it was real "bitter".
how picky were you about getting all the "green" off?
I wasn't. Just no stems.
Started 4 more Gallons today. 12 quarts of flowers
Entered a homebrew league this year, but all the recipes have been on the light side. Today's ambition came into the giant rhubarb plants in yard. 21 lbs of them diced up and in the freezer now.
I'm thinking 15lbs or so will be wine and then try to figure out how to use the rest in a summer pale ale.
Grtechguy wrote: Entered a homebrew league this year, but all the recipes have been on the light side. Today's ambition came into the giant rhubarb plants in yard. 21 lbs of them diced up and in the freezer now. I'm thinking 15lbs or so will be wine and then try to figure out how to use the rest in a summer pale ale.
I love rhubarb! Always had it growing in the yard up north, but since moving to the tropics of central Virginia, I haven't been able to keep it alive (granted I only tried once). My perception is that it's a plant that needs a fairly cool climate. Is this correct? Anybody successfully grow rhubarb in Dixieland?
Mezzanine told me how to make rhubarb sauce... Our freezer hasn't been the same since! (goes great on toast, pork chops, or a spoon 
)
So I had some stuff gathering dust in the basement and I thought I'd see if I could make a beer from it:
I call it "Burning Old Overstock Beer Stuffs" ("Boobs" for short)
4-gallons water
3.3-lbs Breiss Pilsner LME
2-lbs Breiss Pilsner DME
2oz Magnum Hops (60 min)
2oz Cascade Hops (20 min)
1pkt Dry American Ale yeast
Bubble bubble toil and trouble.
So why the above? Why I'm glad you asked!
I think the LME and DME were leftovers from a friend's stock that somehow ended up at my house when he decided he didn't want to brew (probably part of an IPA recipe?).
The hops were gifted to me from the wife of a friend in the neighborhood when she was cleaning out their freezer (the vacuum packed bags were 2oz each so that's what went in).
I figured the DME+LME quantity probably wasn't good for much alcohol in a 5-gallon batch so I reduced the size to 4gal to see if I could keep it around 5%
aaaaand the dry american ale yeast just seemed like a cheap option to get this thing to ferment (and it's the only ingredient I had to buy ).
Starting abv is just a touch over 1.040
So yeah, I can't wait to see how my Boobs turn out 
I was just gifted 25+ of pale chocolate male and close to 10 lbs of regular chocolate malts. No idea how I'm going to use it all.
Hungary Bill wrote: So yeah, I can't wait to see how my Boobs turn out
The amount of hops for a 4% beer sounds, intense.
Grtechguy wrote: I was just gifted 25+ of pale chocolate male and close to 10 lbs of regular chocolate malts. No idea how I'm going to use it all.
Make Boobs!
(sorry, I have the humor of a 5-year-old. This may go on for a while)
For lovers of huge Hop beers...Any of you guys ever make Jamaican Pale Ale? Hint: you don't use Hops but it's still a beer for Hopheads. It is interesting.
NOHOME wrote: For lovers of huge Hop beers...Any of you guys ever make Jamaican Pale Ale? Hint: you don't use Hops but it's still a beer for Hopheads. It is interesting.
elaborate?
I tried some campden tablets in my last 5-gal of skeeter pee (to knock the yeast out). Apparently they woke up 
On the bad side, I lost two bottles. On the good side, slightly higher alcohol %? Hiccup! (I'm periodically releasing the pressure in the remaining bottles)
In other news, I'm fermenting a 3-gal batch of blueberry hooch.
I've never used a no-boil recipe before, and given my recent experience with the campden tables, I hope this turns out.
Cheehic er, Cheers! hic
Well, it's time. Here's what my boobs look like 
Tastes great! It is a little hoppy, but not quite IPA territory (not north-west IPA territory at least. This place churns out some bitter hoppy crap sometimes...)
Not bad for a throw together batch. 
Since the judging has been completed.
BJCP 27G (PreProhibition Porter). I earned 35.5 points and won our division with this.
3 oz regular molasses
0.5oz cluster at 60
0.75oz cluster at 15
North American Lager yeast
Mashed high - 155.
Only I would reduce the final hops to 0.25oz overall. That's what I got marked down mostly (hops to powerful). 2nd my carbonation level was off.
This was my first lagered porter and I will most likely brew it again.
Well...this is happening.
We had a big homebrew club day and there was some....leftovers.
Recipe is from a friend who is in process of opening a brewery. Basically..it's what was left and it will still be beer.
Let's bring this thread back from the dead...
In reply to Grtechguy :
How'd this batch turn out?
One big word of advice I give to home brewers is to cut out all the intermediate hop additions during the boil. Add all your bittering hops at the start of boil (I add mine at 209*). Add all your aroma hops at flameout. Skip everything else.
Contrary to popular wisdom, 5, 10, and 15 minute additions add little to no aroma, and almost full bittering (I've made pale ale with only a whirlpool addition). Hop oils are very volatile and evaporate very quickly when boiled. The best way to extract the maximum late-pallet hop flavor perception (as opposed to out-of-the-glass aroma) is through contact times of at least 1 hour in wort that is hot but not boiling. If you are chilling it by passing it through an external heat exchanger you can include the first - eh, call it 3/4 - of knock out as part of that contact time.
The Stupid BarleyWine? It should come with a warning label.
My neighbor had a couple bottles, went home did his dishes, cleaned the kitchen and has no memory of it.
Absolutely wonderful beer.
Wow! Sounds like my kind of stuff!
Sooooooo: I LOVE beer. I got an “advanced” home brewer kit like a year ago(?) as a gift, and still haven’t used it.
Any good reading/youtube videos y’all can recommend? Are the hops that came with the kit still any good a year later? (Insert cringey-face emoji)
In reply to poopshovel again :
Here is way more info than you will need on homebrewing: http://howtobrew.com/book/introduction
If the hops are in a sealed container and have been stored cold, they should be fine. If not, they have likely lost a lot of their aroma and begun to smell cheesy. So, it depends on the beer style and what step you're using them for. They will probably be just fine to use for your bittering addition at the beginning of the boil but may only be about 80% strength. They would not be as good for an aroma addition at the end of the boil. That is a bigger problem if you're doing something like an IPA than if you're doing something like an English brown.
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