BeerBorg

Inkleg wrote:

Kealia wrote:I won't be aging it for 18-months, rather testing the kettle-souring process I used in the Berliner Weiss, using Omega Lacto.

Yeah totally missed this part.

Keep those damn cats off the computer and maybe you'll be able to see the WHOLE post

Brewed a spiced winter ale, similar to what I've done before a bunch of times. Should be good come January-February when I tend to like it after Nordic skiing.

I brewed a 5G Bastard Stepson Root Beer recipe from Midwest Supplies. This has a been a family/friends favorite beer recipe so this will make it the third time I've brewed it.

Had some work done to the house yesterday and today and took off. Figured I might as well keg my last 2 batches.
The Lamonta SMaSH was the lightest beer I ever brewed. Tastes very good and I definitely notice the difference in the malt. Can't wait to use this in more beers going forward maybe 50/50 with cheaper 2 row.
The Men in Black IPA isn't roasty enough for me. Almost none at all.
I'm thinking using a hop screen is killing my bittering and aroma. I may adjust more for it in the future but I'm not sure how much. Any hop bag/spider users do anything different with their hop additions?

Beer-lord wrote:Any hop bag/spider users do anything different with their hop additions?

I made a hop spider quite a while ago. I think I only used it two or three times. I noticed a reduction in hop character when I used it, and I didn't like the results. So it's been laying at the back of a shelf by some of my other brewing stuff I don't use anymore. I wonder how much dust it has now.

Not sure how much it matters but I used a SS hop sleeve. I'm sure it allows a bit more thru than some bags do but I'll wait until carbed to really tell the difference but I'm pretty sure I know the answer.
I also used a new yeast on the black IPA but its supposed to help the hops to pop and that beer is in the upper 80's, low 90's IBU wise.

I use a stainless diesel filter style for kettle hopping. If it has reduced hoppiness, I haven't noticed.

I tried a hop-spider during the boil for a while early on.
I found that it diminished hop presence for me and since I never had issues with beer clarity, wort loss, etc. I stopped using it.

I have one that is 400 microns. I only use it for large early boil additions, anything later in the boil IE T-20 or T-15 or < I throw in commando.

So basically I hardly ever use it.

I don't think I notice any difference using it or not, but I'm not using it for all the additions where I think I'd notice it if there was noticing to be had.

Saturday, I brewed a Gingerbread Brown Ale, a 5G Extract w/steeping grains recipe from AIH. This had the spice packet that I added to the last 5 mins of the boil, it sure smelled good while brewing.

That sounds great Tony, perfect for the Holidays.

Today I made a quick starter for my Duchess be Borgnogne-like beverage. I pitched the Omega Lacto in the starter and on Tuesday I'll do small 3G BIAB brew to pitch the starter in. Then, about 48 hours to sour (pseudo-kettle sour process) and then a quick boil before I pitch some US-05. It won't be a clone, but should be 'similar'-ish. I'm also going to get some oak cubes from MoreBeer to put in the primary to help add some complexity.

Kealia wrote:........my Duchess be Borgnogne-like beverage.......It won't be a clone, but should be 'similar'-ish........

Isn't the difficult part the blend of the 8 month with 18 month for complexity.

The_Professor wrote:

Kealia wrote:........my Duchess be Borgnogne-like beverage.......It won't be a clone, but should be 'similar'-ish........

Isn't the difficult part the blend of the 8 month with 18 month for complexity.

For a quick-sour, I'd think he probably should soak those oat cubes in some Sherry or Port or something to get some of that kind of old oxidized sherry like vibe into it.

Anyways, I bottled my "Dry Rye Stout" and I brewed a straight up California Common beer since my "Frankensteam" beer tastes more like a Dortmunder.

mashani wrote:

The_Professor wrote:

Kealia wrote:........my Duchess be Borgnogne-like beverage.......It won't be a clone, but should be 'similar'-ish........

Isn't the difficult part the blend of the 8 month with 18 month for complexity.

For a quick-sour, I'd think he probably should soak those oat cubes in some Sherry or Port or something to get some of that kind of old oxidized sherry like vibe into it.

I'm going to keep this in mind if/when I do a second attempt at this. I don't doubt that it will add some complexity as mentioned, but I've got a lot of moving parts to deal with already and like when I did the berliner Weiss, I like to set a baseline to build from. I do appreciate the advice, though - especially since I will not be aging this for either 8 nor 18 months