yankfan9

Haven't been on the borg in a while... Seems to look a bit different. Anyways, I am going to try to do a beer similar to Choklat by Southern Tier. This beer is crazy chocolaty and thick. They list the malts and hops they use on the bottle so I went ahead used the same ingredients and assumed the amounts. Even if this doesn't taste like Choklat I think it will make for a delicious chocolate stout for the winter. OG - 1.099 FG - 1.025 IBU - 46.7 Grains 16 lb American - Pale 2-Row (70.3%) 2.75 lb American - Chocolate (12.1%) 2.25 lb British - Caramel / Crystal 60L (9.9%) 1.75 lb Flaked Barley (7.7%) 22.75 lb Total Hops Chinook - 1 oz. 60 mins Willamette - .5 oz 30 mins and .5 oz 10 mins Yeast - 2 packs of US-05 After 7 days fermentation, transfer to secondary with 8 oz. cocoa powder. After 3 days add 8 oz cocoa nibs. Let sit for 7 more days then bottle. I would assume that would lend me enough chocolate flavor. I am looking for quite a bit. And I would guess that this would need to age until November at least? Any suggestions welcome! Never done a stout before, and never done this high of ABV.

Those of you that only let your kegs sit at room temp for a week, wouldn't that be really short for the whole carb and conditioning time table? The reason I want to let my keg sit for 3 weeks is because I am used to letting them sit in bottles for at least three weeks for the flavors to meld well. Is there something I am missing here?

Aha, gotcha, thanks!

Thanks guys! The reason I only have 4 gallons out of 5 is because I forgot to add some water after the mash so I ended up with less. So BeerLord you say you let them condition for a little before adding the gas? I would like to do that but I am afraid if I let the beer sit in the keg for a week or two without gas then oxidation will start from that headspace

Finally going to keg! I am wondering about a few things though. After I have the keg, lines, and everything cleaned and sanitized I will transfer the beer from the fermenter to the keg. I then seal it up. When I connect the gas and turn it on, what PSI should I bring it to? I want 2.6 volumes of Co2. How long should it sit at that PSI? It is my witbier so I want it to condition for about 3 weeks before putting it in the fridge. And also, when I turn the gas on, do I just release the pressure release valve a few times to get rid of the oxygen space? I have 4 gallons that will be in the 5 gallon keg. Thanks for any replies and sorry for all the questions! :cheers:

I will leave it be, it is already past the vigorous fermentation. Thanks! This beer tasted great when I last brewed it so no reason it shouldn't taste just as great with a little more kick! Also, this will be my first time kegging. I am guessing that when I transfer the 4 gallons to the 5 gal keg, I won't have to worry about oxidation with the extra head space because the CO2 will take up that space?

I brewed outside for the first time on Monday. I was a little off my game because I had to alter some of my ways. I had to mash 9 pounds of grain, and the water calculation on brewers friend said I needed something like 8 gallons of water. I brew BIAB by the way. I figured if i had that much water that when I added the grains the water would overflow the pot. So I took out two gallons and told myself I would add the water back after the mash. Turns out I forgot to add the water back and ended up with 4.2 gallons of wort in the fermentor instead of the projected 5 gallons. My OG ended up being 1.054 instead of 1.043. I am now 3 days into fermentation and I am wondering if I could add the water still.. maybe right when I am kegging it? or should I just leave it be and have a higher ABV witbier that I meant to have.

No, wait two weeks for it to carbonate, and then another two for it to condition. That is the standard most people do. I normally do sneak a taste at about 3 weeks in the bottle though just to see how things are coming along.

I currently have my bulk uncrushed grains being stored in air tight bins, but the room they are in is a steady 75 degrees. Is this too hot for my grains? Should I try to find a cooler place in this hot summer heat?

Rye da Tiger by Three Floyds.. It is the best beer I have ever had and only comes out in December

Would this be a good start to trying out making mead? http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=13680 http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=13686 I don't really want to do 5 gal batches of this, just want to experiment with something new. Also, I've never had mead before.. Would it be kind of like sweat wine if I were to do this sweet mead recipe posted above? I like sweet white wine but dry wine is :sick: not the best..

Just did, and the beer tastes great! A lot of Coriander flavor which I wanted because I added more than was given in the kit, and the tap works flawlessly! I used half the normal amount of priming sugar and then used the 8 gram cartridge trick, and it is carbed perfectly, thanks Joe!

Finally got around to using this tap a draft with the 8 gram cartridge and pennies and duck tape trick to make them fit. I am trying it on the MB White IPA. Thing is, I am a little worried about how it will taste. When I transferred to these 3 liter bottles they were the exact color the white ipa should be. Now, after 4 weeks in the bottles they are all more of an amber red color. How did this happen? I have never had this happen before. Also, I switched the cap for the tap this morning and it seems like the pressure has now equalized. Does this mean I can drink out of it tonight? Or should I wait a few more days?

Something really weird happened with this one.. I bottled the batch in 3 3 liter bottles because I am going to try the tap a draft system on it for the first time. When I bottled it, the color was spot on with what it should be. Now 3 and a half weeks later it is almost brown! What could have possibly happened to turn this beer so much darker? Is it still going to be ok?

How much juice do you normally add, Dave?