LeonardC2 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 We had National Home Brewer's day here last Saturday,& some stuff I ordered from Midwest Supply arrived at 11:40am,in time for my wife to brew her 1st batch. It's Brewer's Best summer ale with grains,DME's,& LME. I'm told it's a clone of a Belgian White called Shock Top. She nailed her temps & everything,but it took till early evening. So I had to wait till Sunday to brew this... 1)can cooper's OS draught 1)3lb (1.362kg) bag Munton's plain light DME 1oz (30g)US Perle hop pellets 1oz (30g)Czech Saaz hop pellets Brewed to 23L Kit yeast re-hydrated in 1 1/2C warm water. Got 2.5G (about 9.5L)water to boiling on stove,made 1.5C warm water with Pyrex measuring cup,quick check thermometer,& plastic wrap. Got down to 78F(25.5C),stirred in yeast sachet,recovered. When 5G (19L)(brew kettle boiled,I added all 3lbs (1.362kg)of DME,stirred in thoroughly. Got a small hot break,had to be stirred down. Added 1oz (30g)US perle hops in sack & set timer for 20 mins. At 10 mins,added .5oz (15g)of Saaz hops in a sack. At flame out,remove/drain hop sacks,& add the other .5oz (15g)of Saaz hops,again in a sack. Place lid on BK,set timer for 10 mins. Remove/drain hop sack & set aside. Stir in can of cooper's OS draught,stiring to thoroughly incorporate. Replace lid. Sanitize fermenter with star-san,put on dish rack to drain. Place BK in sink with ice bath,using floating thermometer to check till wort gets down to 70F(21C). Pour briskly into fermenter,top off to 23L & again stir briskly for a few mins to mix/aerate wort & water. Take hydrometer sample,noting reading,I got OG of 1.046. Stir re-hydrated yeast,pour into FV,cover tightly. I add cheap,grocery store vodka to my airlocks. So far,it looks to be a nice golden color when done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 It was brought to my attention to post in metric units of measure recently. I keep forgetting to post both units of measure so we're all on the same page. Sorry about that,folks. I'll try to remember from now on. Hope it makes things easier...[crying] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Good job on the metrics Leonard...now we just need to work on the formatting [tongue] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 How's that muddy? Hope it's easier to read now. Having a pretty good day today. Gary Martin over at homebrewertv.com is filming a review My Summer Pale ale today. too bad my E-mail from at least a week ago with personal/beer info got lost. Had to re-type & re-send it all very early this morning. No coffee either[crying]. Anyway,I can't wait to see what he thinks of it in the segment he calls "the tasting room"! Should be fun. By the way,the fermentation on this brew has slowed down for the long haul a few days ago. The weather cooled down a little,finally. Should help it some.[love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 How's that muddy? I guess my limited brain skills require some spaces between some lines where applicable. It's probably just me but when I see a huge lump of words tightly packed into a post I tend to skim read or skip the post (too much mental effort [innocent] ). I do make the effort with your posts as they are usually well written and informative. But as I say it is probaby just me - I'm the kind of person who generally doesn't bother reading posts by people who are too lazy to capitilise the start of sentences or use basic punctuation [pinched] Anyway, aside from my gibberish and non-sensical ranting, well done on getting your Summer Pale Ale immortalised on film [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I must admitt, I am a bit like Muddy in the sence that I will just "skim" over the post and not actually read it. Looking better now though Leonard and I have also seen you taken the effort for some metric conversion. Well done!!!... it makes it so much easier for the Aussie sites [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 Thanx guys. Gunna try harder to make my posts a bit more accurate/legible for all countries on here. Anyway,The episode of hombrewertv.com where he tastes my ale was posted today,#38. It was cool to watch him give his impressions. Too bad my original info e-mail got lost. Guess it's better to wait sending the info e-mail till the day before it's scheduled to be delivered to him. I used a cooper's label design to which I added a photo shopped pic to. Felt good to get some vindication on an ale I obsessed over. He gave it 3 thumbs up! That's his top rating![love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 He gave it 3 thumbs up! 3 thumbs up? His name isn't Cletus is it? [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Well done Leonard. I am not aware of the show you are talking about, is it accessable online? lol @ Muddy... hahahaa if not, his name is probably Bubba! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 Well done Leonard. I am not aware of the show you are talking about, is it accessable online? lol @ Muddy... hahahaa if not, his name is probably Bubba! It's available online at http://www.homebrewertv.com/. Episode #38. It was cool seeing him enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 I just checked out the show Leonard [biggrin] He certainly liked your beer, I thought he was going to drink it all after just a small sample of the apricot wheat. Nice one [cool] ...you'll have people stopping you in the street now asking for autographs [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Well well well, congrats mate. Even a higher rating than they gave the Apricot One. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 It was gratifying to see how much he was enjoying it! I too thought he was making every excuse to sip away at that ale. Three thumbs up is his highest rating. Cool thing to beat out a commercial brew with a cooper's can & some DME & hops. [innocent] And that was only my 2nd batch. Imagine what it'll be like in the future? I also have you guys to thank for all the knowledge put forth here as well. Thanx again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 Well,I pitched the yeast on May 8th with an OG of 1.046. Just took a hydrometer reading today,2 weeks & 3 days later. Got an initial FG of 1.010. It's a straw gold with a bit of amber blush. I think the US Perl & Czech Saaz hops need to mellow a bit. Tastes a bit bitter/sharp/spicy. But not in a bad way. Putting the DME in the boil to do 3 hop additions works way better. I think by the time it's bottled 3 weeks,it'll be great. I'm looking at 5.3%ABV as well,so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well,after some life stuff getting in the way,I finally got this ale bottled yesterday. I got 66 12oz (355ml)bottles after bulk priming with 4.55oz (129g)of sugar for what should be 2.3 atmospheres,according to the priming calculator at brewheads.com. The beer was a bit bitter 1 week,& 3 days ago. Now it's a little too mellow. These hop additions are making me crazy trying to get them to last without either being bitter or overpowering,then little or nothing a week or 2 later. But,it was green beer,so we'll see around the 4th of July. But it's got a beautiful gold color,still a little amber to it. The flavor is a bit malty finally,the US Perle & Czech Saaz hops taste like they'll com through a bit more with aging/carbonation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Hi Leonard, I have been digging the OS draught kit these days. I am also a fan of the Perle and Saaz hops. I have a hard time imagining the combination. It doesn't sound like it would be too bitter to my taste. More important is the aroma. How is the aroma? i just find the OS draught kit and the Cascade dry hop to be a real winner. Maybe try dry hopping with Perle and saaz. go for 15g of each for a laugh. it might give an interesting twist and will not be so bitter. I like using Perle hops with my honey brews. If you like hops here's a recipe to make your handlebar mustache hang on for dear life.[biggrin] Real Honey Ale 5% 1.7 Kg Real Ale kit 510g honey 484g corn syrup 300g dex 23L water 7g cooper's kit yeast 10g Chinook 30mins 10g Cascade dry hopped 10g Perle dry hopped 185 white sugar (bulk prime) OG 1.044 FG 1.010 Chad ps you said that you bulk primed your brew with 129g of sugar. that seems low to me. did it carb up ok at that rate?[crying] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike - Hoosier Daddy Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Sounds like a great brew Leonard. When my brewing skills improve Id like to try it. Silly question however. You stated you used cheap vodka in your airlock? Im just curious what the advantages of that are? Thanks! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 You stated you used cheap vodka in your airlock? Im just curious what the advantages of that are? If it does accidently get sucked back into the brew it wont have any nasties growing in it. I found when I tried to do it using cheap vodka it would evaporate too quickly and I needed to replace it often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike - Hoosier Daddy Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 AHH that makes perfect sense...thanks Matty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 It just got bottled 3 days ago,so nothing to report yet on aroma/flavor as yet. The cheap vodka doesn't evaporate that fast for me. But any nasties that could get in it past the holes in the airlock cap die of alcohol poisoning. Unlike water,where they thrive. So if I get a reverse pressure situation,no worries. They're all dead,& would settle out. I can't wait to taste this latest version of pale ale. Not to mention,my wifes Belgian wit clone. And that real honey ale sounds like it might be fun to try with honey malt in place of the actual honey.?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well,after 8 days in the bottles,it turned out pretty good! Great fine,velvety head,lots of small bubbles in the carbonation. Beautiful amber/orange color,much like an IPA,just a bit lighter. Like a sunset gold color,so that's it's name,Sunset Gold. The head even has a lemon tinge to some of them. The US Perl & Czech Saaz hops give it a smooth spiciness on the middle back. Very drinkable. Makes me think of it all round as an APA. The bulk priming worked out great! One ounce dextrose I had left,then topped off to 1C with table sugar in 2C hot water. Have to get pics later today. This one is def going to be brewed as a house ale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Ok,here's a pic of my latest pale ale made with the OS Draught kit as a base. My 1st APA,since it came out looking/tasting like APA's do. Minus all the citrusy hops,but smooth spicy Perle & Saaz instead. sunset gold It has a light,toasty sweetness to the malt. Balanced by the smooth spiciness of the hops. Very pleasant on a hot day,will be putting this one in rotation.[love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 By the way,my wife's BB summer ale is way better at 12 days in the bottle. The bitter orange zest,lemon zest,& spices in this Belgian Wit are pretty darn good. So I guess this means I've been vindicated! Thought it was $52USD+ wasted. But as an interesting aside,it cleared to a beautiful golden amber. So I renamed it "Sharie's Krystallwit",after the German "krystallweizen". Pics will be taken later. Ok,here's apic of her ale;krystallwit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weggl Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Muddy don\u2019t worry about the formatting, I\u2019m waiting for the sequel. Weggl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weggl Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Hey Leonard, is the Angel on the wall of the brewing order? Weggl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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