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End of the Year Beer Review
Ahhh yes, as we approach the New Year, and we pull out all those brews we saved for the Holidays, well at least a couple, maybe, anyway, we think back on all those 2008 brew days, brew Ah Ha's, brewhaha's, and such.
So, since we all know that there is a legal limit to how much (volume) we can create, and since we all know that none of us, especially Jen, would consider incurring the wrath of the National Beer Police-
How many brews do you do?
Which were your favorites?
What new and wonderful brew thing did you do or learn?
What's up for 2009?
And if you had a super fantastic recipe, POST IT.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL. 
I wish I was able to brew more this past year. I can't remember how much I made. Not as much as I wanted, that's for sure. I do have some new equipment that I'm still toying with, and I'm sure next year will be a much more productive brewing year for me. Also, I picked up my first award, for a 3rd place finish at a local comp; but hey an award is an award I guess. I like my bronze medal, and I hope to add some silbver and gold next year. Lot of work to do though....
How many brews did I do? . Two rye wits. Three irish Red Ales. 5 Stouts, two rightous ales, one pale ale, one old ale, two pumpkin ales. So that makes 16 beers this year. Dont recall total gallons as some were five and some 3 or 4 gallons.
Which were your favorites: A cream stout that placed 2nd in local competition. Then the rye wit, then the pumpkin ale.
What new or wonderful brew did you learn? The rye wit. It was a community brew. Really liked the belgian yeast.
What's up for 2009: Lots more of the cream stout, and try to get itto take best in show. Convert to all grain in spring. Try to have 5 Beers that can place in competition though it may take some time and get consistant with them. Maybe that's overshooting it but what the heck.
Will post stout recipe of requested.
DC
This was a big year for me for brewing. I went from extract to partial mash and finally to all grain. I also got a new kettle and propane burner that allowed full boils. I brewed 22 times and still hope to bang out 2 more brews before year's end.
Some of my favorites were an American Pale Ale, an Irish Red Ale that took 2nd in the New England Regional Homebrew Comp, my Anchor Porter clone that I kinda screwed up on but still ended up very good, the BKB Octoberfest with Irish Ale yeast that turned out awesome and my Northern English Brown Ale. I still have a handful of beers conditioning and I have high hopes for all of those as well.
I was amazed how well the Octoberfest worked with Irish ale yeast and I hope to experiment more with different yeasts in the future.
For 2009 I hope to build myself a single tier brew rig. With the severity of my back problems, getting someone to do my lifting on brew day can be a hassle. Though, I don't want to build a completely automated rig for a few reasons: money, what I would have to learn to build it, and I'd like some things to remain manually operated so it still feels like I'm brewing and not just pressing buttons. I'd also like to have the ability to lager but its not at the top of my list.
Another thing I'd like to do for 2009 is to nail down a few recipes that I can brew consistently. This year I've brewed a lot but only repeated one recipe but one version was extract and the other was all grain so it doesn't really count.
FPB: If your concern on lagering is ferm temp control, check out the concrete floor in your basement. I put a glass of water on the floor and checked the temp. A cool 54 deg. Now I have a doppleback going to town down there without any temp control. So far this year I have done 42 12gallon batches. I have 3 more scheduled. This past year it was all about mastering the impy IPA. Next year will be dedicated to belgians. I want to master the proper high carb levels and champagne bottling and corking. If all goes well I would like to screw around with riddling and disgorging, and make a Bosteels DeuS clone the right way. That and build a 40 gallon system.
Thirsty, ya know I've been meaning to take some temp readings of some of the areas downstairs. I've also been been thinking about my insulated garage but I'm worried about the temperature fluctuation between night and day. I just need to stop being lazy and find out how cold/warm it gets.
I thought when lagering you need to keep the temp around 55ish for a few weeks for fermentation and then bring it down into the 30's for a few weeks or months for lagering. Bringing down the temp that low made me think that I'll just have to wait to get a chest freezer with a temp controller.
FirePitBrew wrote:
Thirsty, ya know I've been meaning to take some temp readings of some of the areas downstairs. I've also been been thinking about my insulated garage but I'm worried about the temperature fluctuation between night and day. I just need to stop being lazy and find out how cold/warm it gets.
I thought when lagering you need to keep the temp around 55ish for a few weeks for fermentation and then bring it down into the 30's for a few weeks or months for lagering. Bringing down the temp that low made me think that I'll just have to wait to get a chest freezer with a temp controller.
Yeah the lagering should be done under 40 deg. My buddy has good luck putting his in his hatchway and just pulling it in on really freezing nights. Keep in mind it takes quite a while for the ambient temp to match up to 5 gallons. So if you can remeber to keep up with it you can flip it in and out of the cold keeping it below 40, but not freezing it. I would avoid a glass secondary though. It is prolly a huge PITA, but if you try one or two lagers a year then hey maybe it is worth it. Tis the season!
Here is my list, mostyl 5gallon batches the occasional 10 and 3.5 so it averages out.
Oatmeal Stout
Cream Ale
Kolsch
LISA's IPA
Allagash White Clone
HefeWiezen
Beligan Tripel
Strawberry Blonde
American Wheat
Oatmeal Stout
Mild
Cream Ale
American Brown
Still on schedule before year out is an all cascade pale ale and malted cider and maybe an oatmeal stout.
Trimed back this year a bit to divert monies towards home repairs.
I want to see Thirsty's actual list of beers brewed!!!!
I've had a pretty busy brew year.
In anticipation of moving to all grain this spring, I've been doing almost all my partial mashes using only 3-4# of extract for a 5-1/2 gal batch, and up to 6# of grain. The beers have been MUCH better.
All 5 gallon batches,-
7- American Ambers
9- American Browns
2- American Pale Ales
3 - Ryes, including the BKB Spiced
2- Blonde Ales
2- Fruit Weizens
2 - Oatmeal Stouts
1 ea - Honey Wheat, Biere de Garde, Kolsch, Oktoberfest, Robust Porter, Weizenbock, Braggot, & N.Eng. Brown.
3- Meads
And not to forget- The conversion of Busch NA into the worst tasting beer ever. Still have two.
So, 35 beers, 3 Meads, & I'm not counted the NA as beer. Hummmm 38 x 5 = 190, Whewwww!
I think my favorites were:
Montana In My Mind - a Brown Ale lightly smoked w/ a touch of spruce
Summer Blondi- A light citrus w/ Kolsh yeast
Black Arrow- a Robust Porter that you can almost chew.
For 2009 - Try to go to all grain, 11gallon batches, very frugally, & start kegging a few.
Brew more, less often. Less washing & capping.
2008 will be remembered as the year I got started in this wonderful hobby. I can't actually remember what it was that really peaked my interest in homebrewing, but ever since my wife got me a basic brew kit for my b-day, I've been hooked. I've really learned a lot througout the year and most of the info I've gathered has come from this site. I'd like to thank everyone for sharing their wonderful recipes and helping to answer all my newbie questions. Here's my list of brews I did this year:
- IPA kit
- Amber Ale kit
- Strawberry Wheat
- Belgian White
- DIPA
- Vanilla Spiced Porter
For 2009, I see myself doing some more experimentation with different recipes, staying with extract, but adding to my equipment, and moving my brewing outdoors. I just purchased a nice stainless steel 32 qt turkey fryer from a guy for $50. This will allow me to do full boils!
Here's to a hearty homebrew by a fire on a cold winter's night. Happy Holidays.
Just for you Mike! Starting Jan 4-present the order goes: HopscotchDIPA / DFH indian brown / coffee stout / seesaw abbey ale / Indian brown / bourbon vanilla porter / community kolsch / hopscotch DIPA / WLP500 Dubbel / west side oatmeal stout / amarillo IPA / another amarillo IPA / Tripel Saucer / maple bourbon vanilla imp porter / Hopscotch DIPA / Chocolate stout / hopscotch DIPA / St bernardus 8 clone / kolsch 2 / Mike's stout / hopscotch IPA / gatekeeper porter / Wade's saison / amber ale / indian brown ale / 6# IPA / West side stout / Triple 8 vertical DIPA / Liquid stoopid belgian SGA / Hurricane hannah alt / home hopped IPA / reGreta bel blond / Old paint barleywine / chinook IPA / Tatorade amber / Abbey road 8 dubbel / indian brown / ESB / Tripel / Renovator doppleback / 133 DIPA / Ole one legger russian imp stout / $12 blackberry. WHEW!!!! Brewing a dubbel this friday, vanilla porter next friday, and saison probly the day after xmas.
thirsty wrote:
Just for you Mike! Starting Jan 4-present the order goes: HopscotchDIPA / DFH indian brown / coffee stout / seesaw abbey ale / Indian brown / bourbon vanilla porter / community kolsch / hopscotch DIPA / WLP500 Dubbel / west side oatmeal stout / amarillo IPA / another amarillo IPA / Tripel Saucer / maple bourbon vanilla imp porter / Hopscotch DIPA / Chocolate stout / hopscotch DIPA / St bernardus 8 clone / kolsch 2 / Mike's stout / hopscotch IPA / gatekeeper porter / Wade's saison / amber ale / indian brown ale / 6# IPA / West side stout / Triple 8 vertical DIPA / Liquid stoopid belgian SGA / Hurricane hannah alt / home hopped IPA / reGreta bel blond / Old paint barleywine / chinook IPA / Tatorade amber / Abbey road 8 dubbel / indian brown / ESB / Tripel / Renovator doppleback / 133 DIPA / Ole one legger russian imp stout / $12 blackberry. WHEW!!!! Brewing a dubbel this friday, vanilla porter next friday, and saison probly the day after xmas.
Too bad you don't like drinking beer.
Thanks for publishing the list!
Yeah. All but 199 gallons went to comps and charity. Gotta stay legal ya know.
Hey Thirsty, I'm curious...how many of those are your recipes? I know a couple of yours like the Hopscotch "Awesomeness" DIPA and I'd guess the Tatorade Amber based on the name...
Oh, and holy crap do you brew a lot!!...then again, I don't brew as often as I would like either...nor am I going to own a brewpub anytime soon....
ricka182 wrote:
Hey Thirsty, I'm curious...how many of those are your recipes? I know a couple of yours like the Hopscotch "Awesomeness" DIPA and I'd guess the Tatorade Amber based on the name...
Oh, and holy crap do you brew a lot!!...then again, I don't brew as often as I would like either...nor am I going to own a brewpub anytime soon....
Besides Wade's saison, Mike's stout and the liquid stoopid, the rest are my own creation. The dfh indian brown is based off a published clone, but I did make some alterations. I took a 1st place w/ it earlier in the year, and am going to try to get Sam Calagione to autograph the ribbon at a DFH beer dinner in a couple weeks. That would be sweet, he is my hero. Iusuallyresearch a new recipe by reading several published recipes then construct my own by taking a bit from each that I like and building from scratch. If I really like the outcome then I tweak it some and see which is the winner. There are a lot of great brewers to steal base ideas- from Jamil Z to Curt Stock to BYO's 150 clones to Mike Warren's. Never know until you experiment.
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