West Coast Brewers: Iron Brewer 2007

[tangent]

ever since the richard dean anderson episode of the simpsons, i feel sorry for that guy..... and Kai for his playing with real toys yet brewing with lego at home

 

[Tony M]

Question from last night: Do we have to use all of the ingredients?
Again yes you can but you don't have to if a dark, crystally, smokey, megaIBU beer is not your thing . In the spirit of exercising your creativity there is no limit to HOW MUCH or HOW LITTLE of each ingredient that you use except with the following proviso: EACH OF THE INGREDIENTS PROVIDED MUST BE DISCERNIBLE TO THE AVERAGE PALATE IN EITHER APPEARANCE, AROMA, TASTE AND PROVED WITH YOUR GRAVITY / IBU CALCULATIONS

As long as we dont have to get past Tony Ms taste threshold on the smoke malt.

To me, my beer tastes like Essence of Kippered Herring, so you guys will probably gag!

 

[Guest Lurker]

To me, my beer tastes like Essence of Kippered Herring, so you guys will probably gag!

I was going for a slight flinty smoky aftertaste, but am worried that mine is undetectable, even to a non smoker like me, and may have to do a smoked minimash to add back.

Maybe we should just combine our brews and do a joint entry?

 

[Asher]

When is this being judged again?

 

[randyrob]

When is this being judged again?

WCB December Meet i believe. plenty of time for maturing!

 

[Goat]

phew !

I was wondering about that....

 

[randyrob]

I was going for a slight flinty smoky aftertaste, but am worried that mine is undetectable, even to a non smoker like me, and may have to do a smoked minimash to add back.

Maybe we should just combine our brews and do a joint entry?

any hints how much you used gl? i thought that 200g would be a good starting point in a standard batch for a whiff of smoke and around 500g in a darker beer?

Rob.

 

[Asher]

10 to 15% of fresh Rauch in the grain bill will give you some hearty smoked flavours.
I've had good success using around 10% in smoked dark lagers.

Ever tried home smoking smoked malt?

 

[Goat]

Has anyone used the US05 yeast at low temp ?

Fermentis say it should be between 15 and 24 and I'm thinking/hoping that with a big starter, I might be able to squeeze 1 or 2 degrees lower. God knows what would happen to the flavour though...

I'm thinking of trying it for a Marzen (non smoked !) or is this contrary to Comp Rules (being an ale yeast) ?

 

[brendanos]

Ever tried home smoking smoked malt?

Yeah but the buzz wore off pretty quick, and all I was left with was a nasty headache and a german accent.

 

[ausdb]

When is this being judged again?

December WCB Meeting, but it would be nice to have some sort of informal tasting session where we can just taste everyones beers in a "peoples choice" type environment.
Anyone got any suggestions?

10 to 15% of fresh Rauch in the grain bill will give you some hearty smoked flavours.

Ahemm, maybe this stuff is not so fresh but judging by Tony M's comments it may still have some bang left it :huh:

Has anyone used the US05 yeast at low temp ?
I'm thinking of trying it for a Marzen (non smoked !) or is this contrary to Comp Rules (being an ale yeast) ?

On the contrary that's well within the spirit of the comp, and US05 was chosen for it's ability to do a bit of everything. I have heard that its stablemate WLP001 makes a great Koelsch as well.

Remember it's Iron brewer and up to you to do your best with the ingredients provided

 

[Kai]

I used all of the rauch, turned out to be 400g worth. No essence of kippered herring or dissolved pig's trotter on my ferment sample, but there is a nice smoky tinge. 6.6% ABV so far and still a ways to go :chug:

 

[Kai]

Or maybe not, mine thinks it might be finished despite all my attempts to do a dry minimash. Would have loved some jaggery in the ingredients to counter the DME.

How are everyone else's iron brews coming along?

 

[chillamacgilla73]

Mine is still in the sack n freezer and the recipe has been nutted out on Beersmith....just waiting for a lager to drop the last few points so a fermenter is available.

 

[Asher]

Big day at the Juncthouse on Sunday. Planning a split batch and to enter 1 or the other... or a blend into the comp.
So got some roasting to do on Saturday + need to set up a mini mash tunn & kettle as I want to short boil some of the ingredients...

Asher

 

[Guest Lurker]

Question from last night: Do we have to use all of the ingredients?
Again yes you can but you don't have to if a dark, crystally, smokey, megaIBU beer is not your thing . [/b]

Hows mine going? Well I hope there is an extra prize for using the maximum amount of ingredients. Because pretty much all I have left is some Carafa III, and to be honest, it pretty much tastes like AusDB predicted. I'll stick it in bottles this weekend and hope for the best.

 

[Goat]

Mine's bubbling away - a little too quickly for a 'lager', but its at 14deg and doing fine.

I only used the base and one other of the grains, and only one of the hops.

In the interests of probity, should we nominate recipes and styles BEFORE the resultant beer is tasted/exhibited?

Otherwise, my attempt at a Maerzen may be renamed an Ordinary (very) Bitter

(edit: typo)

 

[mattwest]

Mine's bubbling away - a little too quickly for a 'lager', but its at 14deg and doing fine.

I only used the base and one other of the grains, and only one of the hops.

In the interests of probity, should we nominate recipes and styles BEFORE the resultant beer is tasted/exhibited?

Otherwise, my attempt at a Maerzen may be renamed an Ordinary (very) Bitter

(edit: typo)

Rule check - don't we have to use all of the ingredients?

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Yes Westoz, but theres one born every minute.

 

[mattwest]

Yes Westoz, but theres one born every minute.


Damn - I put the entire quantity of every ingredient in and have this mega black smoky sludge frothing out the airlock!