The Beer Nerd - what are you drinking / brewing thread

Here you go...

OG: 1.057
FG: 1.014
IBU: 22
Color: 28 SRM
ABV: 6.0%
Boil: 90 min
Batch Size: 6 gal
BHE: 85% (I actually hit 90.2%, so OG came in @ 1.062, FG was dead on @ 1.014, and ABV clocked in @ 6.2%)

8.0 lb 2-Row
1.5 lb Munich
1.0 lb Carapils/Dextrine
.38 lb Chocolate (350L)
.25 lb De-bittered Black (550L)
.25 lb Black Barley (500L)

1 oz Willamette @ 60m (17.3 IBU)
.5 oz Cluster @ 10m (5.2 IBU)

WLP835 German Lager X @ 52°F

Mash temp/duration as needed to achieve stated FG with your choice of yeast. I mashed @151°F for 75 min.

Notes: Now, you're probably looking at the recipe and thinking to yourself, this sure doesn't look like a German grain bill and those sure aren't German hops. Well, you'd be right. Actually, I created this recipe as a clone attempt of New Belgium's 1554 Enlightened Dark Ale (Note that they decribe it as an ale, but they say they use lager yeast, so whatever. Perhaps they ferment the lager yeast at ales temps - I chose to ferment it at lager temps). I made all the grain assumptions based on this description from NBB's website and subbed in hops that I had on hand. I figured they are using grain from domestic maltsters, with the exception of the Munich and de-bittered black, so I went with domestic 2-row, Carapils, and chocolate. Is 1554 actually a Schwarzbier? I don't know. It's definitely not a porter or stout and regardless of what NBB claims, it's not Belgian. Schwarzbier seemed to fit the recipe best, so that's what I called it. A true German Schwarzbier should be slightly roasty, but not overpowering and I achieved that with this recipe. Also, the ABV of this recipe is a bit high for a Schwarzbier, but I won't hold that against it. In a comparison with the real deal (I.e. 1554), it was definitely very close, but something was slightly off. I believe it was the black barley. Next time, I'll keep everything else the same, but take out the black barley and up the de-bittered black accordingly to .5 lb total.

 

Sounds great! Thanks for the recipe. I’m trying to get a dark mild and another pale ale brewed up and then I’ve got some lagers to work on. This will be one of the first two I do.

 

For tonight's Tree House drinking festivities, Eighty One.

 

Epic

 

I’m good with Christmas on Nov 1, but I still have to give Halloween it’s time lol.

 

I keep thinking of trying pressure transfers but I'm just too cheap to use the C02 Do you see a real difference in beer quality, or is it convenience so you dont have to reach and lift stuff/jostle it up?

*Canned hipster response* It's not as good as it used to be. 2 yrs ago CBS was awesome, hasn't had the same syrup kick since it seems. Also, KBS has always been a little bitter for me. Both still a lot better than most stouts, but i'm just a picky asshole

 

Sounding like someone else

 

Did the sour beer shuffle yesterday. For explanation... Middle carboy is my Solera project, hasnt been empty in close to 5-6+ years. I brew up a base beer and ferment it "normally" with a Saccharomyces ale strain (like the carboy on the right) when I feel the solera is at a good sour profile. I transfer out the solera onto fruit or into a keg (like the left carboy) to age until ready to drink. So last night I kegged the left carboy after sitting on 6+ lbs of cherries and a few oak chips for a few months, transferred the solera onto the cherries for a second use, and the far right base beer into the solera carboy, on top of about 1-1/5 gallons of old beer. The cheries will provide minimal flavor pickup but I needed somewhere for the solera to go and those cherries are going to be impossible to remove, so why not. I might transfer again to some rasperries or something later on, we'll see how flavor develops. I now have a keg of mango sour and cherry sour kegged and ready to go. Maybe a gallon or less of my passionfruit sour left before I put one of these on.

Next up I decided to pull a sample of a group beer I made almost 2 years ago, where we bought a monsters park barrel from Modern times and 5 of us brewed up 10 gallons each of an Imperial stout. Aged it for about 7 months in there and pulled it. This is my second keg of it that's been sitting for awhile now. Colder weather means it's time to get it on tap. I've been soaking some cacao, cinnamon and chiptoles in vodka for a little while to add in for a mexican hot chocolate treatment. So far, the base stout tastes decent, but a bit woody and thin. I added a bit of my tincture and some vanilla to the sample to try it out and it's not bad, but i get more heat than the cinnamon and chocolate, so I might try a direct soak of them in my stainless mesh basket deal.

 

WHOEVER COULD YOU MEAN?!

 

Why do you think he and I get along so well

 

Beers while banned:
Happy Hawk - a stout brewed by Horus you can only get at Disneyland. Fucking delicious.


study break - bottle logic. Snicker inspired sweet/lactose stout. Also delicious


Pally Pils - green cheek. Great crispy boi. Got a 4 pack to go

 

Collective Arts Bourbon Barrel Aged Chocolate And Pistachio Connoli

Imperial Stout

 

Hers and his. . Three notched biggie s'mores imperial stout and Adroit theory Nullentropy imperial ipa.

 

Still working on my stash of Celebration. I think in 2019 this could almost be classified as a Red IPA. No matter what, it’s such a great example of an old school IPA.

 

Have not had any of this years batch, need to go find me some

 

I bought a bottle today. Will drink this weekend. Always a good one.

 

Delicious beer. Kind of a mix between east and west coast styles. Not overly bitter or overly juicy. Good balance and good hop profile.

 

Little CA beer drop... Thanks and welcome back from your time off @uhplifted haha!

 

Tonight's beer of choice for the Tree House drinking festivities: Autumn.

 

Having a nice crispy boi while grilling