Beefy1525229962

Yes' date=' it would be a terrible beer If you are ruling out reasonable alcohol level beers based on malt, then no, you don't want a semi-respectable beer. I say this with all the sincerity and authority that I can muster over the internet: You're in the wrong forum. I think you need help. Please seek help.

Not quite a 6-pack session, just a sampling of 3 American-produced IPA's I could get locally. Lagunitas IPA - didn't like this at all. Had a really strong burnt honey smell, and the hop profile didn't do it for me. Kona Castaway IPA - really great fruity hop profile of Galaxy, Simcoe and Citra. Not all that well balanced against a very light/thin malt profile. Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA - beautiful dark/rich maltiness, really well balanced against strong late/dry Citra and Mosaic hops. Easily the best of the three, but I think I missed the in-your-face passionfruit of the Galaxy. I think I might plan a brew using malt from a Deschutes clone recipe, but with the hops of the Kona.......

Awesome. I have something very similar planned, except probably a smidge more crystal and roasted barley....... but with a huge hit of American citrusy hops rather than English hops. Really keen to know how your version turns out!

Finally managed to pop down a Graff! 1lb light dry malt 1lb amber dry malt 6oz crystal 40°L 6oz crystal 80°L 2oz flaked wheat 0.5oz Motueka @ 30 minutes 0.5oz Motueka @ flameout, 10 minute steep 1/2 tsp Wyeast Beer Nutrient 4L 'No Name' frozen concentrated apple juice (equivalent to 16L reconstituted juice) 21L final volume, OG 1.048 US-05 rehydrated then pitched @ 19°C Brewing at 18-19°C ambient, very thin bubble layer @ 12 hours My process was a little unusual, but seemed to work OK. Steep was 4L, sparge 1L, and I kept the boil at 5L volume with all the malt Beersmith tells me this should give me 7-8 IBU, which is right on target for this sort of brew. I also pasteurised the juice concentrate in a separate pot @ 95°C for 15 minutes. This worked out great, because I could cool both pots separately and quickly in my double sink.

January must be superfastfermentationmonth, because in addition to the few posts around indicatign quick fermentations, it looks like the steam beer I put down just 60 hours ago is basically done. It held a solid 19°C at the fermenter (17-18°C ambient) through the first 36-48 hours, but this morning the fermenter temperature has dropped to 18°C, the krausen has dropped, and the yeast has seemingly starting flocculating out. I am going to have to drink beer faster than normal just to make sure I have enough empty bottles!

It is super easy with IanH's spreadsheet' date=' Beersmith or any number of software/online recipe designer. Beersmith is much more accurate than IanH's spreadsheet in my experience - its predicted values have never been more than 0.002 away from my actual readings - but it isn't free.

Nooooo, don't throw it! Your OG reading is unquestionably too high...... most likely because you didn't mix it well enough and all the heavy sugars were sitting at the bottom of the fermenter near the tap, or because you didn't turf the first ~100mL before you took a final measurement. I calculate your OG would have actually been much closer to 1.047, and your ABV when bottled no higher than 5.7%.

Just popped down Jamil Z's California Common recipe from here, almost verbatim. It went a little something like this: 5.0lb (2.27kg) light LME 2.5lb (1.135kg) Munich LME 1lb (454g) crystal 40°L 0.5lb (227g) Victory malt 2oz (56g) pale chocolate 250°L 0.25oz (7g) Magnum (12% AA) @ 60min 0.7oz (20g) Northern Brewer (5.1% AA) @ 60min 1.15oz (32.5g) Northern Brewer (5.1% AA) @ 15min 1.15oz (32.5g) Northern Brewer (5.1% AA) @ flameout, with 15 minute steep at 90°C Up to 21L, measured OG 1.049 Pitched two rehydrated sachets of W-34/70 at 19°C Sitting in the basement, which holds pretty steady around 17-18°C

I'd love to see you brew up a Graff to compare: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=117117

I first saw this concept/recipe courtesy of His Majesty on FastHomewbrew, and it has been an inspiration. This is the first brew I have done with grains in about 10 years...... I am calling my version 'One Hack of a Porter' and it went a little something like this: 1.7kg English Bitter (duh!) 1.3kg light dry malt 200g brown sugar 227g (8oz) chocolate malt (600) 454g (1lb) crystal malt (120) 28g (1oz) East Kent Goldings @ 10 minutes OG 1050 Nottingham & Kit yeast Pitched @ 22°C, ambient 17-19°C, actual FV 19-20°C It went off like a freaking rocket - down to 1011 in less than 3 days! Krausen wasn't that big, but I've never seen so much 'swirling' activity within the brew itself. SG sample tastes delicious already. I don't rack to secondary, and I bottle condition for a long time, so it should be good to bottle at 6-7 days. Thanks to everyone for the inspiration!