Creamy

It's been a long time since I brewed a porter - dark and chocolatey, but not as roasty as a stout. Thought I'd go with the Fuller's yeast to give it some nice fruity aromas and a little lactose to drive home the chocolate milkshake impression. If only I had a stout faucet - a good porter on nitro is really wonderful... Some of the grain amounts are weird because I was cleaning out my inventory. The hops are set up so that it totals 2oz of pellets.

Batch #48
Beer Flavored Milkshake
Porter
--7lbs 2-Row (RAHR)
--2.25lb Ger. Pils
--8.25oz Crystal 75L
--6.25oz Brit Pale Chocolate
--6oz Brit Black Malt
--4oz Brit Roast Barley
--4oz Lactose
--8.4AAU Kent Goldings (60m)
--1.5AAU Kent Goldings (15m)
--.25oz Kent Goldings 6.1% AA (5m)
--.125oz Kent Goldings 6.1% AA (flameout)
--1/4 tsp supermoss (15min)
--1/8 tsp gypsum (mash water)
--WLP002, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: ~30

Mash in 20qts water at 156F, hold for 60m. Batch sparge with 3.6gal water at 170F ro collect 7.25gal wort. Boil for 90m (pilsner malt), ferment at 68-70F. I went with the larger infusion to try a thinner mash and see what it does.

More like Certifiable

The BJCP finally updated again, my test score and points are all there (dang, NOHC posted fast!) and I've ranked up to 'Certified'. Sweet. I'm just under halfway to 'National', too. Can probably reach 'Supreme Champion' by mid-April. That last one's made up.

My First Mead

Update 12/23 - Bottled. Only got about 3/4 gallon. It's pretty tasty, so we'll see how it ages. Easy to make, so I'll probably throw in another one soon, too.
--

Because why not. Based on what some people recommend as a mead to start with - Joe's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead. And because I had the itch and was lazy. Just like any recipe, I made changes and subs based on what I had and what seemed like a good idea.

Mead Batch #01
Joe's Ancient (1 gallon)
-3lbs Mesquite Honey
-1 large navel orange
-1/4 cup dried blueberries
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 clove, whole
-dash nutmeg from grinder
-1/8 tsp Fermaid K
-1 tsp bread yeast
OG: 1.110 (calculated)
FG: 1.019
ABV: 12%
Brought a half gallon of water with yeast nutrient to a boil. Washed and cut the orange, and jammed it into my fermenter. After water boiled for a little bit, tossed in berries, spices, and killed the heat. Added the honey while heating a quart of water in a tea kettle. Used the hot kettle water to rinse out my can of honey. Let it cool off a bit, and poured everything into the fermenter. Topped off to 1 gallon with the left over kettle water. As it turns out, 3lbs of honey is dang close to 1 qt in volume and with the orange this method got me just about on the nose for volume. Let the whole mess cool to room temperature and added the yeast. I know, it makes no sense, but I'm just going to trust Joe on this one. Fermented at ambient in the dark. Waiting for mead.

I'm actually sort of excited about this. It's a lot faster than brewing, and there are a few recipes I want to try - persimmon mead, t'ej (hopped, had some at GABF...dang good stuff), chocolate mead...maybe even one that's just mead. Damn. Now I have to go to the Renaissance Festival.

Halloween!

It's October, and there are pumpkins aplenty. Two pie pumpkins are used in this bottom of the grain bucket amber (hence the odd quantities on a couple of the grains). Spice should be fairly restrained. I'll likely add a little vanilla extract at kegging.

Batch #47
Pumpkin Beer
--8.5lbs 2-Row (RAHR)
--0.5lb Crystal 75L
--2oz Brit Pale Chocolate
--6.75oz Melanoidin
--7.62oz Crystal 40L
--1 fresh pumpkin, ~3lbs pre-cooked weight (15min)
--1 fresh pumpkin, ~3lbs pre-cooked weight (mash)
--1 oz Kent Goldings 6.1% AA (65min)
--1 oz Kent Goldings 6.1% AA (20min)
--1/4 tsp supermoss (15min)
--0.75 tsp pie spice (15min)
--1 tsp vanilla extract in keg
--1/4 tsp gypsum (mash water)
--Safale US-05 Ale Yeast, 11.5g
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.7%
IBU: ~30

Cut, cleaned, and cooked both pumpkins. Removed the skin, and mashed into a paste. Mashed one of the pumpkins and grains for 60m at 152F. Collected 7 gallons wort. Boiled for 65m (I've got my reasons...reheat time after adding pumpkin and such), adding rest of ingredients as indicated. Chilled and pitched yeast (without rehydrate).

The commish

Batch #46
Neil's White
Witbier
--4.5lbs Ger. Pils
--0.5lb White Wheat Malt
--4lbs Flaked Wheat
--1lb Flaked Oats
--5.2AAU Mt Hood(60m)
--5.2AAU Mt Hood(2m)
--1/4 oz orange peel
--1/8 oz crushed coriander seed
--1/4tsp Supermoss (15m)
--WLP400 Belgian Wit Yeast, 1L starter
OG: 1.038
FG:
ABV:
IBU: ~20

Mash at 152F for 60m. Mash out at 165F, recirc, and collect 6.5 gallons. Boil for 60m. I'd prefer to collect more wort and boil longer, but the wheat and oats absorbed more water than I expected. Spices at flameout. OG came out way low...I forgot to add calcium to the mash and the single infusion with all of that wheat probably wasn't the best plan. Crap.