What are you brewing 2024

[Narapoia]

Second the recommendation to try some dark lagers, one of the repeat beers I make as I like them and they are hard to find.

I found a kellerbier recipe that is similar to the Young Henry's natural lager and the Stone&Wood coastal lager and this is the first non dark lager that I have been motivated to make multiple batches on. Much prefer those to the macro lagers and took ages to find a recipe.

 

[Half Pint]

Finally getting the finger out and preparing to brew this Munich Dunkel.
It will be the first use of my new Fermenter King Jr.
I’ve come up with a recipe based on listening to a few presentations by Ashleigh Carter.
Last Dunkel I made was way too full-on imho; more like a Dunkel Bock. That one was from a Gordon Strong recipe. I’m not really complaining, as it won a medal for me in the state comp. It didn’t fool the National judges though and only scored low 30s at that level.
This one is only for drinking anyway.
I’m doing a half-sized batch, 36.5% each of Munich 1 & 2, 24.5% Pilsner, and Carafa 3 to fill in the gap.
Decided on Hallertauer Mittelfrueh , and a couple packs of S-23 which need to be used soon.
Will ferment cool, no diacetyl rest, and a long cool lagering period.
Weighed and milled grain today, cleaned the fermenter etc, hopeful to get it all underway on Thursday. Trying to dodge the worst of the weather.

 

[philrob]

Should make a nice brew. Looks like it will have plenty of malt character.
I love darker beers, and one of my regulars is a Porter.
Currently thinking about when to crack the last 3 bottles of a Belgian Dubbel I brewed a year ago. You have to be in the mood for one of those, it's a sipping beer, not a thirst quencher.

 

[Half Pint]

Should make a nice brew. Looks like it will have plenty of malt character.
I love darker beers, and one of my regulars is a Porter.
Currently thinking about when to crack the last 3 bottles of a Belgian Dubbel I brewed a year ago. You have to be in the mood for one of those, it's a sipping beer, not a thirst quencher.

snap! I have 4 bottles of an 18 month old Dubbel, and opened one earlier today. 4 hours later I haven’t quite finished.

 

[An Ankoù]

Been having a spot of bother will a couple of my beers: made a tribute brew of Oakham Citra- drinkable but grassy and not much Citra presence. The other was a strong English Bitter using Chevallier as base malt- very weird: pours clear and seems to get cloudy and odd-tasting as it stands. I know the answer is to neck it down in one, but that's not the point. So, brewing small batches under tighter conditions to see if I can get to the bottom of what's going on with these.
Plenty of decent brews on the go, though, including three using home-grown hops.

 

[Half Pint]

3 batches currently underway now.
The Dunkel is slowly on its way to 0°. I’m trying not to judge it prematurely. Seems to have finished at 1.013 which is a bit higher than anticipated. Will start drinking this beer at the end of October but I expect it will be better a few weeks later.

There’s a batch of Czar’s Revenge Imperial Stout due for bottling in a week or so. OG 1.094, SG currently 1.030.
This one is for storage until next winter.

3rd batch is 12 litres of yellow beer for the warmer days I’m sure are on the way.
I started out by thinking about British Golden Ale but in the spirit of home brewing made a recipe using only ingredients on hand.
73.5% Pilsner
12.5% Munich
8% CaraHell
6% Wheat
Simcoe, Citra, Cascade
Novalager @ 15°
OG 1.045

Since switching to 12 litre batches I’ve been trying full volume/no sparge mashes in the Brewzilla. This is only the 3rd batch I’ve done this way and seems like I’ve got the numbers working about right this time.
This is also my first attempt at using a 20 litre PET fermenter on the bench. I’ve been unsure on how to best manage the temperature control outside of an insulated space, but it’s been rock solid at 15° with a heat belt and Inkbird.
My basement is cool enough to ferment ales year-round with just added heat. In winter I can do primary stage of lagers on the bench but have to transfer to freezer for cold conditioning.

3 batches fermenting simultaneously is my limit.

 

[philrob]

I don't brew Lagers as a rule having only done about 3 or so over the last 18 years. Will be brewing a Belgian Pale this week. Then a Belgian Wit followed by an APA.
That'll stock me up well into next year as my consumption is only about 4 longnecks a week. Yeast is in the Fridge, ready to go.

 

[An Ankoù]

The Dunkel is slowly on its way to 0°. I’m trying not to judge it prematurely. Seems to have finished at 1.013 which is a bit higher than anticipated. Will start drinking this beer at the end of October but I expect it will be better a few weeks later.

I know it's teaching granny to suck eggs, but if the beer's close to 0C it'll be more dense than it should be at your hydrometer's calibration temperature. I only mention it because I keep forgetting to do stuff that I really should now better.

 

[Half Pint]

I know it's teaching granny to suck eggs, but if the beer's close to 0C it'll be more dense than it should be at your hydrometer's calibration temperature. I only mention it because I keep forgetting to do stuff that I really should now better.

Oh, yeah it was at 13° when I measured it and my hydrometer is calibrated at 20° so I allowed for that. I’m gradually dropping the temp towards zero. It’s at 7.5° today.
Software predicted FG 1.009, but I’ve often found Brewfather calls it somewhat lower than my experience leads me to expect. I’m not really surprised it’s apparently finished at 1.013, which is more in keeping with the style anyway.

 

[Hangover68]

Just put my first brew down for the year, a Saison.
Been a busy year with a bathroom reno, a kid doing year 12 and 2 learning to drive, a 6x6m shed about to go up and other stuff around the house.
I need to get a couple more brews on for xmas and the warmer weather.

 

[TwoCrows]

Irish stout today.

I have a Helles on tap and Mexican lager in the fermenter.

Life is good.

 

[philrob]

Brewed a Porter last Monday. One of my regulars for at least the last decade.

 

[Alhoare]

In the beginnings of a bit of a brewing kick for a party in December. Feed up with costs of Festivals (looking at you Good Thangs) and having my own record /festival party with 5 beers on tap. Brewed -: Need Jaffa Cake Imperial Stout, a German Pilsner & my regular London Porter in the last 4 days. Jaffa is in the 1st Ferment fridge yesterday with Kviek. London Porter in the 2nd Ferment fridge tomorrow along with the German Pilsner into my Keezer as a 3rd ferment fridge. Will brew a double batch of my Red Rocket Irish Ale along with a Kwak Clone and Belgian Blonde next week. Should be able to juggle between fridges/keezer to get them all done 2 weeks prior to 1st Weekend in December.

 

[Half Pint]

I’ve got a Bitter in the fermenter. Was intending to use the yeast as the starter for a Barley Wine but had a very slow start and eventually pitched a pack of Verdant IPA as a rescue after almost 70 hours with very little sign of life. Of course, within half an hour of pitching the rescue yeast I started to see signs of off-gassing but I’m hesitant to use the yeast from this beer.
Used some Leggett hops for bitterness, and a combo of EKG and Challenger at 3 minutes. Given my initial yeast pitch was apparently a huge underpitch I’m prepared for a big dose of fermentation characteristics. Hopefully drinkable.

Barley Wine was planned to be in the style of Fuller’s Golden Pride, only around 8.5%. I’ll still push ahead with it, but probably use Nottingham now.
Might reconsider the recipe. Last BW I made was an old recipe for Gale’s Prize Old Ale, and I put it into a whiskey barrel for a few weeks before bottling. I always thought I’d like to try that beer without the barrel effect, so maybe I’ll try that.

 

[TwoCrows]

I love classic lagers.
This sounds like a good change up from the norm, Hi 5 Homebrew network.

Juicy banger

https://blackmansbeer.com/products/juicy-banger-ipl

 

[Half Pint]

7 litres APA
DME, Red Earth, Cascade, Centennial, US-05.
OG 1.046
FG 1.019
3.5% ABV
Fermented 10 days, dry hop (Centennial) at day 4. Hops removed on day 6 (magnet magic).

Grapefruit, Lemon, Nectarine.
Maybe just me, but I always seem to get Nectarine from this Cascade hops I have from a local hobbyist.
Probably won’t do another all-DME wort but the flavour is good, just too full-bodied. Will serve from the fermenter. Gardening beer.

18 litres Barleywine, OG 1.090
Golden Promise 5kg, medium crystal 480g, DME 1kg, Rapadura sugar 300g
Target (43 IBU) at 90 minutes, Red Earth, Challenger, EKG 3 minutes.
IBU 54
Multiple yeast strains: London, Verdant, Nottingham.
Seems promising but will probably have another go using Nottingham only and fermenting a bit cooler.

Next brew will be a larger batch of APA using only Cascade.

Also had my Dunkel judged recently. Not sure what I can do to improve it, but maybe just a change of yeast. I used S-23 and got about 74% attenuation

 

[Narapoia]

Just had a go at a Belgian Blonde recipe that got a lot of good reviews and is sold as a Leffe clone in the UK. I think the yeast (t-58) actually isn't a legit Belgian yeast from reading up on it, but it seems ok. Is one of the first times that I have seen a big change in flavour once primary fermentation was complete vs giving the yeast a bit of time to clear up. Taste was much improved from day 8 to day 12 in the fermenter.

Cold crashing now and just waiting for the local brew store to open tomorrow so I can get some more CO2 to keg. I like having taps in the house but this is the second bottle I've had to replace due to either gas post o ring leaks or the duotight fittings coming loose on the gas connects and dumping a gas bottle almost overnight.

 

[clickeral]

Just had a go at a Belgian Blonde recipe that got a lot of good reviews and is sold as a Leffe clone in the UK. I think the yeast (t-58) actually isn't a legit Belgian yeast from reading up on it, but it seems ok. Is one of the first times that I have seen a big change in flavour once primary fermentation was complete vs giving the yeast a bit of time to clear up. Taste was much improved from day 8 to day 12 in the fermenter.

Cold crashing now and just waiting for the local brew store to open tomorrow so I can get some more CO2 to keg. I like having taps in the house but this is the second bottle I've had to replace due to either gas post o ring leaks or the duotight fittings coming loose on the gas connects and dumping a gas bottle almost overnight.

I turn my gas bottle off unless im serving, also if your losing gas that fast you should be able to hear it leaking

 

[Narapoia]

I turn my gas bottle off unless im serving, also if your losing gas that fast you should be able to hear it leaking

I do the same when I am not carbonating - both times it happened after I added fresh kegs and hooked them up to carbonate. I would have thought I'd be able to hear it a well, and I could have sworn I checked the duotight connections - but in the morning on both occasions a gentle pull actually removed the hose from one of he two new disconnects. (I am pushing them all the way in to the second click).

Don't know if I am doing something wrong with the duotights, or maybe worth replacing some of the connectors but I hadn't expected it to be so easy for gas to leak with this kind of setup as seems very widely used. Def could be a me issue.

 

[clickeral]

I do the same when I am not carbonating - both times it happened after I added fresh kegs and hooked them up to carbonate. I would have thought I'd be able to hear it a well, and I could have sworn I checked the duotight connections - but in the morning on both occasions a gentle pull actually removed the hose from one of he two new disconnects. (I am pushing them all the way in to the second click).

Don't know if I am doing something wrong with the duotights, or maybe worth replacing some of the connectors but I hadn't expected it to be so easy for gas to leak with this kind of setup as seems very widely used. Def could be a me issue.

Where is your bottle located?

Im just waiting on delivery of one of the inkbird co2 detectors to sit in my Keezer so it will alarm if the co2 level goes up (encase I forget to turn the bottle off)

https://inkbird.com/products/wi-fi-co2-detector-ink-co2w