Behind the Bar - The Homebrewers' Haven

[MissoulaSquatch]

Most of my bottles in my cellar have an "open after date" assigned to them..which basically means, open as close to this date as possible.  And those dates are typically 12-24 months after bottling.  I don't think many beers will mature well after that.

That being said, I am aging a couple select bottles til 2019 but only because that's what the brewer recommends.  The 12 beers of Christmas series..I'm sure you've seen them..I got in a bit late, I started at 6..still looking for 1-5.  The only beers I'll pay premium for.

All the others in my collection I buy fresh and age..I only mention their value because that is what they are worth..I have zero intentions of selling them and all the intention of consuming them..all of them.

There is also one other bottle I'll pay premium for, found one seller, and a friend willing to go in with me..and that's the Pappy Van Winkle Eclipse.  Found it for almost $200/bottle..I'll go 50/50 for that with someone if it's been stored properly.

[Barmacral]

I don't know the collectable beers enough myself to say, but I was speaking to a couple of people who definitely did not think the collection was worth 25k. While they appreciated some of the bottles, others they did not think were worth it at all.

[Rooks]

Most of my bottles in my cellar have an "open after date" assigned to them..which basically means, open as close to this date as possible.  And those dates are typically 12-24 months after bottling.  I don't think many beers will mature well after that.

That being said, I am aging a couple select bottles til 2019 but only because that's what the brewer recommends.  The 12 beers of Christmas series..I'm sure you've seen them..I got in a bit late, I started at 6..still looking for 1-5.  The only beers I'll pay premium for.

All the others in my collection I buy fresh and age..I only mention their value because that is what they are worth..I have zero intentions of selling them and all the intention of consuming them..all of them.

There is also one other bottle I'll pay premium for, found one seller, and a friend willing to go in with me..and that's the Pappy Van Winkle Eclipse.  Found it for almost $200/bottle..I'll go 50/50 for that with someone if it's been stored properly.

 

Actually hadn't heard of either of those before.  The 12 beers of Christmas series, I can't even find with google searches.  Which brewery?

 

As for the Pappy Van Winkle, that be pretty epic.  Didn't know they were involved in a beer, although I'm sure it's just the barrels.  I purchased a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Bourbon a few years back which my wife and I just recently finished.  That was quite good, although again, not sure if was worth the ultra premium price tag.  But it's fun to splurge occasionally (assuming you have the funds to do it). 

 

We did splurge on a bottom of Sam Adams Utopias, which we are still enjoying.  It's fun that's a in a beer, but you drink it like a liquor.  Very good and I'd recommend if you get a chance to sample it.

[MissoulaSquatch]

Actually hadn't heard of either of those before.  The 12 beers of Christmas series, I can't even find with google searches.  Which brewery?

 

As for the Pappy Van Winkle, that be pretty epic.  Didn't know they were involved in a beer, although I'm sure it's just the barrels.  I purchased a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Bourbon a few years back which my wife and I just recently finished.  That was quite good, although again, not sure if was worth the ultra premium price tag.  But it's fun to splurge occasionally (assuming you have the funds to do it). 

 

We did splurge on a bottom of Sam Adams Utopias, which we are still enjoying.  It's fun that's a in a beer, but you drink it like a liquor.  Very good and I'd recommend if you get a chance to sample it.

Sorry, the series is called the "12 Days of Christmas" by The Bruery..mixed my words up on that one.  So I've got the 6 Geese a Laying and 7 Swans a Swimming beers.  Every beer in the series is supposedly "designed" to be aged and opened when #12 comes out in 2019.  All 12 are to be had at the same time..but as I said, I'm missing 1-5.

Yes, the Pappy is just the barrels.  The Eclipse series of beers are the same stout recipe aged in different barrels.  They typically retail for $30 apiece.  The Pappy one was their best release, and finding a bottle of it is a near impossibility.  Presently I'm sitting on several Eclipse bottles in my cellar: Elijah Craig 12 year, Evan Williams 23 year and Java.

[Rooks]

That's pretty awesome.  It's very similar to the Vertical Epic series that Stone did (the 1.1.1 through 12.12.12).  

 

I've actually had 7 Swans a Swimming this past year.  Didn't realize I was supposed to age it.    Never had anything by 50/50 so I'm guessing they don't distribute to MN.  Shame.  It sounds pretty delicious.

[MissoulaSquatch]

IT'S ALIVE!

Ok, bumping this post because yesterday was a brew day.

We made the first recipe I ever wrote with my brother, a Black DIPA with Mango.  A few statistics: 11.5% abv (estimated, almost 1% added for mango contribution), 115 ibu.

Hops featured: Warrior (bittering), Centennial (bittering and flavor), Sterling (flavor), Cascade (flavor and aroma), Citra (aroma).

Did a yeast starter using Safale US-05, 1.75 L* water, 175g Extra Light DME.  *=Forgot to use a bigger funnel, lost some volume to my counter top, finished at 1.3L but the gravity was still right so I don't really stress over it.

I'm probably going to do a full 4 weeks in primary, I've found that my beers turn out a bit better if I don't rush to secondary after 2-3 weeks like most people do.  After we transfer to secondary with the mango it will ferment for an additional 2 weeks.  Then we plan to bottle at that point (haven't decided how much CO2 we want when we bottle..need to check that out at some point to figure out my sugar measurement) and preferably bottle condition for 3 weeks.  I know people do 2, again, like the primary, waiting has always produced better beers.  So in total I am estimating 9 weeks til we get to drink it.

Now, I did WARN my friend since we were storing this in his crawlspace that with a yeast starter, this was going to be a fast and brutal fermentation straight out of the gate.  He didn't quite get it when I asked to see it every hour after we put it away, and kept pestering him for pictures at midnight (about 7 hours after pitching..which is usually when the insanity begins)..as usual he slept in..a ton..and went down to find a little "mess"..you can see on the right hand side of the picture the giant beer mug that we originally used with the blow-off hose..it clearly filled up and overflowed..he's swapped the new container in..I told him to toss a few towels down since he's going to work right now (he'll be out in about 3-4 hours).

I'm trying to remember for the life of me how long it takes before the fermentation backs down to more regular speed.  But it's great to know the yeast cells are happy and active in there..first time I made this beer we just rehydrated the yeast..we didn't know about starters..so I'm interested to see how it turns out.  Another friend is getting ready to do an all-grain DIPA soon and is curious to see how this yeast performs since this is a much bigger beer.

[Barmacral]

That sounds like it is going to be a big an exciting beer, the mango will be a neat thing to try. Might do it sometime next year myself.

 

The primary fermentation by itself will last about a week or so, possibly a bit longer since it is such a big beer. The crazy activity should slow down after just a few days. As for yeast starters - I read in Jamil and Chris White's Yeast book that you should just rehydrate dry yeast and pitch, don't do a starter with it. Save the starters for wet yeasts. I don't have the book with me (borrowed it and have since given it back) so I can't say why exactly since I don't recall, but something worth looking up.

[MissoulaSquatch]

I'm aware of how long to wait for the primary to complete..it was more a question of how long until he doesn't have to clean up any more messes, as it's been awhile since I've done a starter, lol

Did some reading on the dry yeast/starter thing..it seems most people advise against it simply because it is overkill, not because there's anything wrong with it.  Personally, I'll just wait and see what happens.  If I need to, I do have one more packet of the yeast on hand that I can pitch if the fermentation stalls out.

[MissoulaSquatch]

The mess is done..going steady at a bubble a second..very very proud of this one.

On the non-brewing/beer collection side..I've added a Firestone Walker Heldorado to my fridge this week, Blonde Barleywine, excited to try that one in about 18 months.  Closing in on the 18 month mark for my 2014 Stickee Monkee, we open that in November.

I am currently searching for a good deal on a properly cellared Partridge in a Pear Tree (I've got #2-7 of the Vertical).  If anyone here can find me one, awesome.

[Barmacral]

Aha I misunderstood you, sorry.

 

Updates on my own brewing adventures - I finally got around to doing the CBS test tonight and aced that, also I now work at a local small brewery as the assistant brewer. Still home brewing approximately once every two weeks, for our one year anniversary we made an extreme coffee stout with coffees from a local coffee shop run by a guy who is one of the best baristas in the world. We update on Facebook somewhat regularly: facebook.com/dukeofhomebrew

[Rooks]

Silly question... how do you go through that much beer?  How big are your batches?  Normally we go with the standard 5 gallon batch and it takes us 3-6 months to drink it all.  I can't imagine the backlog we'd have if we we were brewing twice a month.  I'll assume lots of gathering / sharing is involved?

[MissoulaSquatch]

Silly question... how do you go through that much beer?  How big are your batches?  Normally we go with the standard 5 gallon batch and it takes us 3-6 months to drink it all.  I can't imagine the backlog we'd have if we we were brewing twice a month.  I'll assume lots of gathering / sharing is involved?

Depending on how much you lose, we're talking just shy of 50 12oz bottles on average.  If you're splitting that a few ways, which I'm betting he does, it could be anywhere from 10-20 bottles per person, every 2 weeks.  I could easily put that much beer away.

And honestly from a cost stand point, it's FAR cheaper to brew your own than buy it.  Someone did a break down in a group I'm in recently, the average homebrew from a kit runs you about $0.06/oz for a 5 gallon batch, whereas a lot of beers you buy at the store are falling in at $0.20-0.30/oz right now.  If you consistently brew and drink homebrew, and that is the bulk of your consumption..in the long run, you save a TON of money.

Now for fun comparison sake..the beer I brewed above is actually gonna land at about $0.31/oz..yikes!

[Rooks]

Depending on how much you lose, we're talking just shy of 50 12oz bottles on average.  If you're splitting that a few ways, which I'm betting he does, it could be anywhere from 10-20 bottles per person, every 2 weeks.  I could easily put that much beer away.

And honestly from a cost stand point, it's FAR cheaper to brew your own than buy it.  Someone did a break down in a group I'm in recently, the average homebrew from a kit runs you about $0.06/oz for a 5 gallon batch, whereas a lot of beers you buy at the store are falling in at $0.20-0.30/oz right now.  If you consistently brew and drink homebrew, and that is the bulk of your consumption..in the long run, you save a TON of money.

Now for fun comparison sake..the beer I brewed above is actually gonna land at about $0.31/oz..yikes!

 

Agree with all that.  But at the same time... there's load of GREAT beer available to buy.  I think my big problem is that I'll drink half the keg of our stuff, then forget it exists while I try a bunch of goodness from real breweries.  

 

Just curious.  I have friends who brew quite frequently as well, but I know they do it with a local group of people so there's load of sharing.  Get 10 people together and you can go through a 5 gallon keg pretty easy in the 6+ hours it takes to make a batch.  

[thekatisalie]

Casual homebrewer here

[Barmacral]

Silly question... how do you go through that much beer?  How big are your batches?  Normally we go with the standard 5 gallon batch and it takes us 3-6 months to drink it all.  I can't imagine the backlog we'd have if we we were brewing twice a month.  I'll assume lots of gathering / sharing is involved?

 

We do about 25 litres (6.6 gallons) every batch which gives us usually around 30 bottles each (I brew with my father-in-law). I don't go through that much beer and am constantly running out of shelf space. I share liberally with friends and have hosted about three tasting events so far which gets rid of a bunch too. I'm due to host another tasting in the not so distant future, got a bunch of space now because I've got several unlabelled batches sitting in a closet waiting to go to the cellar once they have labels, but when that is done I'll once again have no space. Re-organizing my cellar to fit everything is not an uncommon occurance for me.

[MissoulaSquatch]

I think the other issue we're having here is the difference between bottles and kegs.

Once a keg is tapped, it gets an expiration date..typically you don't want a keg to set for more than 2 months.

Bottles on the other hand, depending on the beer style and abv, can have a shelf life of anywhere from a few months to several years (my beers tend to lean towards the latter category).

So that, in addition to what was said before, is also how one can go through beer quite quickly.

[MissoulaSquatch]

I don't know if you guys collect beer or not, or if you know anyone who does, but I'm "liquidating" my beer cellar right now, selling everything.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qvni43xI-D6lFy-UI481PjWgZV4ID3Q8-uoJK9nTZnQ/edit?usp=sharing

That's the list, all beers have been properly stored since they were fresh.  I'm a little negotiable on prices if multiples are bought, thinking a flat rate of $5/bottle shipping to anywhere in the States (would be willing to ship overseas, I'd have to figure out a different shipping rate for that).  Also willing to toss in some free beer/barware for large orders.

I'm trying to transition to a minimalist lifestyle, so selling everything off.  I'd prefer to sell the Bruery beers together, if anything split the Barrel Aged ones off if two buyers are interested in it.  Simply since it's part of a pretty epic Vertical, I think it'd be best to sell them together.  Selling on a first come first served basis, I don't check the forums terribly often but you can find me idling in the chat and I respond pretty quickly there.  I've got pictures of everything too to prove ownership, just let me know.

[Barmacral]

Time to bump this back from the grave. How's beer making going for all of you?

 

Myself, homebrewing has largely been put on hold lately due to my brewing partner moving and building a new (far better than before) brewing room, hopefully we can start sometime in the next two or three weeks again. I have though done a pecan robust porter for a friend who is visiting this week, started with Denny's Favourite 50 from wyeast and finished out the fermentation with the newcastle dark ale yeast from Mangrove Jack. Just bottled it on Saturday and it is super exciting, a lovely roast and chocolate character along with a wine like dark fruit note and finishes with a powerful pecan flavour, head retention is solid despite the nuts.

 

Pro brewing however, I've gone from being the assistant brewer to the only brewer and am working on / about to start a bunch of very exciting beers, so loving that aspect of my brewing world.

[Rooks]

On 10/9/2016 at 10:33 AM, Barmacral said:

Time to bump this back from the grave. How's beer making going for all of you?

 

Myself, homebrewing has largely been put on hold lately due to my brewing partner moving and building a new (far better than before) brewing room, hopefully we can start sometime in the next two or three weeks again. I have though done a pecan robust porter for a friend who is visiting this week, started with Denny's Favourite 50 from wyeast and finished out the fermentation with the newcastle dark ale yeast from Mangrove Jack. Just bottled it on Saturday and it is super exciting, a lovely roast and chocolate character along with a wine like dark fruit note and finishes with a powerful pecan flavour, head retention is solid despite the nuts.

 

Pro brewing however, I've gone from being the assistant brewer to the only brewer and am working on / about to start a bunch of very exciting beers, so loving that aspect of my brewing world.

 

We've got another Imperial Stout aging at the moment.  Brewed it in January.  We are going to tap it soon as we get the parts for our kegging system replaced.  Hopefully it turns out well.  But yeah... we've been super lacking in doing any regular home brewing.  Life's been stupid crazy the last few months.