RooflessKilla

Anyway, RANDALL, now that I've totally hijacked your thread I think we should start one on homebrewing. Ya see what happens when you ask a beer rookie question like "whats the best beer?" LoL! Ya get beer snobs like me crawling out of the woodworking posting all their beer porn pics.

Wow! That's a great looking beer! Love the name! Plus its my favorite Pat Benatar song! Maybe we can get a "send-a-sampler-six-pack" thing going. I'd be glad to send you some of ours in exchange for some of yours. We're about to start shooting a video podcast about homebrewing. I wanted to include a segment called "Mail Call" for tasting beers sent in by members and viewers. We did a double decoction Dopplebock (OG 1.107 ) on the 5th. It took all day. While we we doing that one we also did an easy drinking cream ale in another mash tun. Then we we ran 5 more gallons of wort off the spent grain from the Dopplebock and ended up with a 1.047 Maibock/Dunkel (whatever, it'll get drank). We used Wyeast Munich for it, I'm sure it's gonna be nice. In all, our brew club did about 30 gallons that day. It was awesome!

That's true. Bigger beers are harder to get good complete yeast attenuation. Have no fear, there are ways to insure you get a good fermentation. 1) Always prepare a yeast starter a couple days a head of time. This will ensure that you are pitching a fresh, healthy culture, use a stir plate if you have one (or get one from www.homebrewing.org $40). 2) Always make sure you pitch the proper amount of yeast cells. A stuck fermentation is usually the result of under-pitching yeast (over pitching isn't good either but that's a different topic) or, unhealthy yeast, which is actually under-pitching too. 3) Oxygenate your wort before you pitch the yeast using a fish aquarium air pump and diffuser stone or a drill attached aeration whip. 4) Always use a bit of yeast nutrient in your boil. 5) Most importantly, be sure to select the right match-up of yeast with the gravity of the beer. Certain yeast strains will only attenuate 60%-70%, while those strains would be fine for a beer that starts out at an original gravity (OG) of 1.035 and you want a final gravity (FG) of 1.005, you will need a higher attenuating yeast to ferment a big ol' Trip or a Quad, which would start out at around OG 1.075 for a small Tripel, and as high as OG 1.105 for a Quad (like the Doppelbock we did last weekend). These big beers requires the yeast to do a lot of work to ferment all the way down to around FG 1.008 to FG 1.014, as the style requires. Those numbers represent the density of the water including the dissolved sugars, whereas 1.000 = water; 1.035 would be be where a Bud or a Miller would begin. For this style, anything that is FG 1.015 or higher tends to taste too sweet because there isn;t enough hops bitterness to balance it. This is why attenuation is key in a brewing a Trip or Quad. I use White Labs Trappist, Abbey IV or Belgian Strong Ale yeast strains for my Belgians. Also, another trick for doing Trips and Quads is instead of adding whatever Belgian candy syrup your recipe calls for as a final additive in the boil kettle, wait and add it to the primary fermenter just as the fermentation is peaking. Anyway, there are apps that will make all this a lot more clear. Here's a few links App "Brewzor" About Yeast Attenuation and Flocculation White Labs Yeast - homebrewer's section Buy this software, it's only $28 and it's worth every cent of it. (beersmith2) Mr. Malty Yeast Pitching Calculator (online) A great forum for homebrewers (homebrewtalk.com) PS I'm AgingHopster

You brewed these?! Nice work! A friend and I are actually going to start a hobby of brewing our own in the next couple weeks. We are acquiring the gear and are hoping to start with something simple and delicious. It's partly because we both love good beer and partly because it's significantly cheaper to just make it yourself here (USA). I don't know where you live but here in the USA a descent imported beer can easily be $4-6 a bottle. (the good stuff) I hope we don't spoil our first batch. That would be a downer... Thanks you! This is mostly my son and my work but much of our brewing is done as a group with other members of the brew club I formed. Brewing is a lot easier than most people think! Plus you can make around (55) 12 oz. bottles for around $20 (once your are all set up) and it's better than the store-bought counterpart. Some of the bigger beers I like, such as aged Dopplebocks and Belgian Tripels cost as much as $8 a bottle (12 oz.) in the store, those beers cost about $.50 to make (plus a year to age). I fully recommend taking up the art of personal craft brewing. It's very rewarding, especially if you have some friends to spread out the equipment costs and help on brew/drink day. If you ever have any questions or run into any concerns, let me know, I'd be glad to help you if I can.

Brew your own! North German Altbier Hefewiezen! So delicious on a hot day! Beligain Tripel, one is as strong as three lite lagers. Breakfast Stout! Irish Red Ale My current favorite recipe, I broke the rules and added 6 oz. of homegrown Cascade hops at flame out for a super aroma Belgian Golden Strong Ale I call "Son of 11"

Good luck! Get back strong and fast!

RIP. Condolences.

WWJD?

Ahh yes, swing your kid, all the live long day through a perpetual cloud of petrochemicals. Helps build strong, callused lungs that can hold up to an average 15-20 extra years of cigarette smoking! Something you'd see on "squidbillys".

Hijacker yer sig is hilarious. What's that from?

Nice looking wax. Whats a gr. of that run out there in CA?

A great warrior dies. Another thing I love about the military is how you can see a solder's life in his/her service record, medals and citations. Take a moment and look at General Norman Schwarzkopf's http://en.wikipedia....chwarzkopf,_Jr.

Awweeee..... thats nice.

Welcome Blackdogs1! We've been playing together on XI for at least 2 years now and now we both get our tags around the same time! Sweet!

"One shot, one kill" my ass...how about one nade 30 kills!!!

I know this doesn't apply to all but it does to so many lol!

PANIC IN DETROIT! Johnny here's that pic I was telling you about. Must have been the same time of year, late March early April.

Welcome !

Thanks everyone. It's great to finally have some official recognition for being an idiot.

Remember, remember The fifth of November The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason Why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.

Such a GLORIOUS fermentation on that Scotch Ale! http://youtu.be/I4vW93quOBk

I did not make that up! You probably already know I'm a personal craft brewer, (in other words, a home brewing junkie). I'm also the founding member of the Black Bottom Brew Club and Biergarten in Detroit MI. Anyway, Saturday, Nov 3, is "National Teach a Friend to Brew Day". Home brew stores across the USA will most likely be doing some sort of demonstration or teaching event in the parking lot. So, if you are interested in learning the craft, I urge you to look up your local home brew supply and see if they are doing something on Saturday, it's a great time to learn the basics. Our brew club was invited to 3 different places to participate this year but unfortunately we can only go to one. If you are in the Detroit area and want to hang out brewing (and drinking) some great beer outside on Saturday, send me a PM and I'll give you directions to where we'll be setting up.

My condolences, thoughts and prayers.

Oorah! Semper Fi!

I can't actually say "welcome" cuz I'm not a member (yet). I will say CONGRATULATIONS!