Finally brewing this weekend!

It’s been a couple months since my last brew. I’ve tried to plan a couple brew days since then but vacations, parties, golf, and general life stuff got in the way (very rough life I lead :lol: ). So it appears the stars are aligning and I’ll be brewing this Sunday! A German Pilsner with my new sack of Best Malz Pilsner.

Anyone else got any brews planned for this weekend?

Unfortunately it will be another two weeks until I can brew again. I’m traveling to Winnipeg this coming weekend and then Indiana the following weekend. (And yes, I’ll be bring back all the 3 Floyds I can find!) Sunday, September 13 is scheduled, and we’ll be brewing the Smashing Pumpkin all grain with real pumpkin in the mash.

I have everything I need to brew an Octoberfest, Pumpkin ale and an IPA. Going to knock them out over the long weekend coming up :cheers:

Waiting on some caramunich for an Oktoberfest and some 2-row for a pale ale to be brewed this coming weekend. Hopefully it’ll be here tomorrow (Tuesday).

I brewed a batch of Belgian Houblonmonstre a few days ago, and will be doing my first Plinian Legacy on the 2nd.

I’ve done 6-7 batches now, and FINALLY got everything “right” two batches ago - cool. The last thing I had to remember was to gently stir every 9-12 bottles or so when bottling to keep the priming sugar suspended.

I have also discovered, one of my worst enemies is patience when conditioning - just have to slap myself sometimes when I catch myself reaching for that bottle when I know it’s not ready yet.

:cheers:

[quote=“mattnaik”]It’s been a couple months since my last brew. I’ve tried to plan a couple brew days since then but vacations, parties, golf, and general life stuff got in the way (very rough life I lead :lol: ). So it appears the stars are aligning and I’ll be brewing this Sunday! A German Pilsner with my new sack of Best Malz Pilsner.

Anyone else got any brews planned for this weekend?[/quote]

Sweet! This the first brew since you were troubleshooting your mash tun draining issue? If so, good luck!

No brewing for me for 3 or 4 weeks. I’m flying to India and Maldives for a couple weeks… doubt I come across any good beers out that way, but I’m sure as hell gonna look.

I do have 30 gallons fermenting though, so probably okay to take a break.

[quote=“Turkeygecko”][quote=“mattnaik”]It’s been a couple months since my last brew. I’ve tried to plan a couple brew days since then but vacations, parties, golf, and general life stuff got in the way (very rough life I lead :lol: ). So it appears the stars are aligning and I’ll be brewing this Sunday! A German Pilsner with my new sack of Best Malz Pilsner.

Anyone else got any brews planned for this weekend?[/quote]

Sweet! This the first brew since you were troubleshooting your mash tun draining issue? If so, good luck!
[/quote]

Yes! I widened my gap a little and bought some rice hulls so hopefully that will take the possibility of crush being too fine out of the equation. If it gets stuck again, I’ll have to assume its a plumbing issue.

Wednesday is my weekend. I’m brewing a Mocktoberfest. Same grain/hops bill as the Oktobefest I did a few weeks ago but fermenting with wy1007 german ale.

I have my first (Caribou Slobber) about ready to bottle and my second (Smashing Pumpkin Ale) seems to be stopping fermentation now. Going to bottle the first this weekend and take a gravity measurement on my pumpkin ale and see where I am at (after a little over two weeks in the primary).

I actually ordered a second primary 6 gallon carboy for another. I am trying to think of what I should brew next! :smiley:

I’ll be dry hopping my Kiwi Express this Sunday and starting my Milk Chocolate Stout. Bought some bourbon to soak the cocoa in and going to add a little vanilla extract to the secondary. Also bought 4oz of bakers chocolate to add right at the end for a little more chocolate flavor.

Pilsner sounds great right now, it’s 100* at 8PM here in Texas!

I’m going to try my first high gravity beer Saturday, a Fin Du Monde Clone. Hope it turns out good, I love that stuff.

Anything to be aware of with a high gravity beer that is out of the norm?

[quote=“scooberta”]Pilsner sounds great right now, it’s 100* at 8PM here in Texas!

I’m going to try my first high gravity beer Saturday, a Fin Du Monde Clone. Hope it turns out good, I love that stuff.

Anything to be aware of with a high gravity beer that is out of the norm
?[/quote]

Make sure you pitch plenty of yeast. :cheers:

Marty,

I’m using Wyeast 3787? Trappist yeast. How many packs do you think I will need?

I was going to use one to start and then another pack in the secondary. But I have no clue, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m just trying to following the rcipe out of the book “Clone Brews” to see how it turns out.

Jim

[quote=“scooberta”]Marty,

I’m using Wyeast 3787? Trappist yeast. How many packs do you think I will need?

I was going to use one to start and then another pack in the secondary. But I have no clue, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m just trying to following the rcipe out of the book “Clone Brews” to see how it turns out.

Jim[/quote]

What’s your starting gravity? I’d say with 3787, anything below about 1.060 will be good to go, as long as your yeast is pretty fresh. Over that, I’d consider two packs of yeast, or a starter. 3787 is a pretty aggressive yeast though, and I actually did sort of what you describe a while back with a tripel, I only had one pack of 3787 with a (I think) 1.075 OG and nothing to make a starter with, so I pitched the pack and ordered another one, which I pitched the third day of fermentation. It worked out pretty well. I do think if you’re going to do this it should be during the first three days, four at most, because the fermentation process will have already established a lot of the character of your beer by that time.

[quote=“65SS427”][quote=“scooberta”]Marty,

I’m using Wyeast 3787? Trappist yeast. How many packs do you think I will need?

I was going to use one to start and then another pack in the secondary. But I have no clue, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m just trying to following the rcipe out of the book “Clone Brews” to see how it turns out.

Jim[/quote]

What’s your starting gravity? I’d say with 3787, anything below about 1.060 will be good to go, as long as your yeast is pretty fresh. Over that, I’d consider two packs of yeast, or a starter. 3787 is a pretty aggressive yeast though, and I actually did sort of what you describe a while back with a tripel, I only had one pack of 3787 with a (I think) 1.075 OG and nothing to make a starter with, so I pitched the pack and ordered another one, which I pitched the third day of fermentation. It worked out pretty well. I do think if you’re going to do this it should be during the first three days, four at most, because the fermentation process will have already established a lot of the character of your beer by that time.[/quote]

Thanks Marty, I’ll pitch two packs in. I bought three packs because I wasn’t sure how many I will need. The OG should be around 1.084, way higher than my past brews so I really appreciate the advice.

Jim

[quote=“mattnaik”]It’s been a couple months since my last brew. I’ve tried to plan a couple brew days since then but vacations, parties, golf, and general life stuff got in the way (very rough life I lead :lol: ). So it appears the stars are aligning and I’ll be brewing this Sunday! A German Pilsner with my new sack of Best Malz Pilsner.

Anyone else got any brews planned for this weekend?[/quote]
I broke my brewing fast the weekend before last (first brew session since May), so I’ll wait till these are finished before I harvest the yeast and reuse on the next brews. Planning to use the yeast cake from my Scottish /s70 to brew Denny’s Wee Shroomy recipe. Chanterelles are in season here, piled high at the market stalls. Got take advantage of that, and I always try to have something strong and different on tap for the holiday season.

[quote=“scooberta”][quote=“65SS427”][quote=“scooberta”]Marty,

I’m using Wyeast 3787? Trappist yeast. How many packs do you think I will need?

I was going to use one to start and then another pack in the secondary. But I have no clue, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m just trying to following the rcipe out of the book “Clone Brews” to see how it turns out.

Jim[/quote]

What’s your starting gravity? I’d say with 3787, anything below about 1.060 will be good to go, as long as your yeast is pretty fresh. Over that, I’d consider two packs of yeast, or a starter. 3787 is a pretty aggressive yeast though, and I actually did sort of what you describe a while back with a tripel, I only had one pack of 3787 with a (I think) 1.075 OG and nothing to make a starter with, so I pitched the pack and ordered another one, which I pitched the third day of fermentation. It worked out pretty well. I do think if you’re going to do this it should be during the first three days, four at most, because the fermentation process will have already established a lot of the character of your beer by that time.[/quote]

Thanks Marty, I’ll pitch two packs in. I bought three packs because I wasn’t sure how many I will need. The OG should be around 1.084, way higher than my past brews so I really appreciate the advice.

Jim[/quote]

Make sure to use a blow-off hose! :cheers:

Make sure to use a blow-off hose! :cheers: [/quote]

Thanks, that’s sounds like a great idea!

Would you guys keg or bottle a Belgium Tripel and also how long to condition?
I was planning on conditioning for four months but I don’t really know what the norm is for a beer of this size.

Jim

3787 is a great strain. I get best results if I ferm temp at 66-67 deg primary then 70-74 secondary, plus I have had them ferm for a month before completion. If you go too high on temp you can get those bad hot alcohol back ground flavors that I think ruin the beer. Just make sure they are done.

Thanks Old Guy, that’s a great plan to follow. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for the tips guys

Jim