What did you brew today?

[MickDundee]

It's Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!

Mash is on for my DIY Dog Santa Paws brew!

2nd brew with my Ace Boiler. On top of my lessons learned last time, I've discovered that the thermostat is unreliable so my Inkbird has taken over. I then overflowed the boiler pouring cold water in to reduce the temperature. Fingers crossed the beer is still ok with the hot mash!

 

[chuffer]

It's Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!

It certainly is, managed to get my xmas beer brewed on sat too!

Brew day went well, no major hickups apart from a really annoying auto-siphon that's more trouble that it's worth (I wanted to use it to transfer wort from kettle to FV in order to avoid transferring the cinnamon sticks and star anise that was in there).

My pH was a little low at 4.9 for some reason though I'm using a less than expensive digital reader that I'm not 100% trusting. I've had a low pH (according to this meter) before and the beer turned out fine anyway. though for future rubies/dark ales I might perhaps back off the amounts of CaCl and NaCl recommended by Murphy & Sons as I suspect the values suggested are probably better suited to porters and stouts.

The FV is in the brew fridge and it was bubbling away within 15hrs and smells absolutely bloody lovely

 

[sven945]

Only doing small batches so it's usually a 2.5l mash with a 4l sparge, temps were dropping a lot but I worked out if I put my cooker to the lowest setting it holds between 65c to 67c no prob, my last 2 brews temps and efficiencies have been good. Though the cool box has been modified as per guide on here ready for a bigger brew this weekend!

Smart idea! Though I'm not sure I could do the waiting required for brewing to get such a small result at the end of it. Glad you're making it work, and good luck with your bigger brews.

 

[AlanManley]

It's Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!

Mash is on for my DIY Dog Santa Paws brew!

2nd brew with my Ace Boiler. On top of my lessons learned last time, I've discovered that the thermostat is unreliable so my Inkbird has taken over. I then overflowed the boiler pouring cold water in to reduce the temperature. Fingers crossed the beer is still ok with the hot mash!

I'm planning a batch of this, hoping to Brew mid October after my current Stout and IPA are finished. Going to have a go at a Rye too. :)

 

[MickDundee]

I'm planning a batch of this, hoping to Brew mid October after my current Stout and IPA are finished. Going to have a go at a Rye too. :)

I hope it tastes better than it smells at the moment, my whole brew cupboard stinks of the smoked malt! AND I put less of the stuff in than the recipe stated! On the bright side it's fermenting rather vigorously - I could actually see massive CO2 bubbles rising to the surface from the outside of my FV! I forgot to take the SG though, and added more honey than the recipe asked so goodness knows how strong it'll be!

It's also stunk out my compost bin and I can't stand within a 6 foot radius of it without the smell knocking me out!

 

[AlanManley]

Not sure my wife will be up for a bad smell lingering... haha. I have enough trouble convincing her that the non-smelly beers don't smell too bad!

May have to organise somewhere to put it out of the way.

 

[IainM]

It was about time I did an AG of a traditional English style, so today I brewed a Hobgoblin clone. It smelt great, and the trial jar was very promising.

 

[BeerCat]

A small batch of Belgium Quad with loads of spices ready for Xmas. With any luck its gonna be 11%+.

 

[JabeerIni]

Tonight I'll brew a Pumpkin Ale (my first time adding spices to a brew).
I'll add a clove and a cinnamon stick at 12 min before the end of the boil.
I'll add baked pumpkin to the mash.
As bittering hops I'll use Simcoe and as flavour hops I'll use Ahtanum.
Everything looking good in my head at least LOL!
What do you think?
Any recommendations / advice regarding the spices or the pumpkin?

 

[BeerCat]

Tonight I'll brew a Pumpkin Ale (my first time adding spices to a brew).
I'll add a clove and a cinnamon stick at 12 min before the end of the boil.
I'll add baked pumpkin to the mash.
As bittering hops I'll use Simcoe and as flavour hops I'll use Ahtanum.
Everything looking good in my head at least LOL!
What do you think?
Any recommendations / advice regarding the spices or the pumpkin?

Spices 10mins from the end and the pumpkin is meant to be roasted for an hour then chopped up and added to the mash. Best of luck i am gonna try the Greg Hughes recipe as soon as i get my hands on a pumpkin.

 

[JapanBrew]

JabeerIni is getting al that! Dang cuz. A tear is forming. Damn allergies.

 

[JabeerIni]

Thanks for those useful tips mate! I was really insecure about the spice time additions, now it's all clear! Cheers n' beers!

 

[BeerCat]

Thanks for those useful tips mate! I was really insecure about the spice time additions, now it's all clear! Cheers n' beers!

Thought the name was familiar. I am already subscribed. :)

For drinks today i am about to open a bottle IPA from the bible. Really nice beer.

 

[chub1]

finished my second 5 litre AG attempt late morning, using up my crystal hops with a smidge of curacao peel in at the end to try and get some orange hints into it.
Looked for OG of 1.042, got with temp adjustment 1.043 so guess not bad.
looks as though it's already away:thumb:

 

[Slid]

A second variant on the Old Ale recipe from the Greg Hughes book today.

I went with 500g of Amber and 500g of Munich instead of the 1.8kg Munich and used a 1kg Brew Enhancer to replace the 650g of sugar.

Hops - Admiral 31g at 60, Challenger and Bramling Cross, both 25g at 15.

Sparged it out a bit as 8.6% seems a bit much to me, so got 26L in the FV. I don't do SG any more at the start, only at the end, but would expect circa 7.5%, depending on the finishing SG.

The Brewday went very well indeed, with no mess-ups and finished in plenty of time to watch the Gloucester vs Bath game. This, to be honest, was a long time in getting going.

 

[JabeerIni]

Thought the name was familiar. I am already subscribed. :)

For drinks today i am about to open a bottle IPA from the bible. Really nice beer.

Many many thanks for that! I'm close to getting 100 subscribers. Once I do, there will be some giveaways!

 

[JapanBrew]

JaBeer, I'm number 99!

 

[user 15657]

Fourth malt extract brew yesterday. Using Challenger as bittering from boil start, East Kent Golding and Bramling Cross and 450g of honey 10min from flame out, and EKG/ BC at 80C for 30min.

Used no seaping grains this time. 2kg of light malt extract and 1kg medium.

I was aiming for a lighter beer to be an alternative to the 9%+ Imperial stout hopped with scotch bonnets. Trying the BC to see what it's like and hoping the honey isn't lost in the hops.

Original Gravity was on target at 1.058.

 

[wfr42]

A simple pilgrim/pale malt smash

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61906&page=2

 

[BeerCat]

Fourth malt extract brew yesterday. Using Challenger as bittering from boil start, East Kent Golding and Bramling Cross and 450g of honey 10min from flame out, and EKG/ BC at 80C for 30min.

Used no seaping grains this time. 2kg of light malt extract and 1kg medium.

I was aiming for a lighter beer to be an alternative to the 9%+ Imperial stout hopped with scotch bonnets. Trying the BC to see what it's like and hoping the honey isn't lost in the hops.

Original Gravity was on target at 1.058.

Respect, your a braver man than i with the scotch bonnets. :smile: