WHARFRAT

Hey Everyone, it’s been a long time since I posted on here, but I wanted to tell you my good friend Bob passed away today. He went by Bushbeater. Such a great guy, loved the outdoors, loved to play golf and most importantly loved his wife and family. He’s been sick for a few months and today I got word from his family. I will miss him tremendously. RIP Bob 😪

kegged the cream ale, you know the one I added the turkey stock to. Fantastic beer, and since I added the stock so early in the boil, it really didn't give it any off flavors. I did use flaked oats instead of flaked corn. Gave it a richer flavor than the one my friend did with corn. This ale came in a little over 4%.

Nice! Do you save and wash your yeast?

I never heard of it before either, that's why I did it. Since it was so early in the boil, I really doubt it will impact anything. But, since it was turkey day, why not. I know that I did hit my gravity numbers spot on! Should be drinking right around Christmas. I'll let you know. I'm now drinking what is suppose to be a "blonde ale", though for some reason its almost the color of an amber ale. Wasn't good two to three weeks after conditioning, but turned out pretty good after 6-7 weeks of conditioning. Kind of has the characteristics of a lighter stout, that is slightly fruity.

brewed a thanksgiving ale yesterday. got a little crazy and added around a quart of nice clear turkey stock to the boil. don't know if it will actually add any flavor to the brew, but whatever.

I've had both, I have the fortrex now, and would probably buy it again. Both are pretty good motors, but to me the Fortrex seems sturdier and and a bit more stable. I went from a 65# maxxum to a 80# Fortrex. I do like the lift assist feature, but probably could do without. The best thing about the Maxxum is it is half the price of the Fortrex. So keep that in mind. Only issue I had with Maxxum was the steering cable (it was 6 or 7 yrs). The only issue with the Fortrex was the pull rope. (in 3rd yr)

The Pale Ale I just brewed is definitely a Winner! Real bright hoppy flavor on the tongue, and smoothes out on midpalate with a great finish. Low ABV of 5.2 and low bitters of 44. this one will be brewed again!

True.

Raided my cage, took my walleye. 😡😡😡😡 only had them in there for a couple hrs this afternoon.

Pale Ale in the fermenter last night. Should be a good drink. ABV should come in low 5's, and IBU around 44. Late edition El Dorado Hops should give it a tropical fruit characteristic, and low bitters. I'll dry hop with US Delta the last 3 days to give it a little hop punch. Should be a good beer for people that don't like a hoppy beer.

Haven't been down for a few weeks. Anyone seeing whites surfacing?

either you are really smart, or I just make the quiz too easy! lol

IBU will be only 44

New Brew. What am I? Malts 10lb Golden Promise - 1lb of Honey Malt - 1lb of Oats Hops .5 oz Magnum @ 30min - 1oz Eldorado @ 10 min - 1oz Eldorado @ 5 min - 1oz Fuggles Dry hop for last 3 - 4 days Yeast 1056 American ale OG 1.062 FG 1.014 ABV 6.5%

WOW! Just seems like every weekend, there's been a couple of reports. It's not going to get any better.

Is it me or does it seem like there are a bunch more accidents on the lake this year?

Good summer Kolsch is doing its thing in the Fermenter. In fact, so active, had to take out the airlock and put in a blowoff tube. 10lbs of German Pilsner, 1lb of Maris Otter, 8oz of Vienna. Combined 3 oz of Czech Saaz hops, used a technique of First Wort Hopping, which if I did it correctly, added the hops to the wort as it came out of my mash tun, and heated up to a boil. First time I did this, normally I add at intervals of the boil. 60 minute boil, the only hiccup was my chiller could only chill it down to 82. Wound up running to the store to get ice for an ice bath. Finally got it below 70 and pitched Wyeast 1007, and within 3 hrs, it was eating the sugars. Cheers!

Very nice

Time is a big word! I haven't had much of it lately. My last brew date was middle of May. To me the worst part is bottling day. You got to wash the bottles, sanitize the bottles, fill the bottles, cap the bottles, then let them condition for 2-3 weeks. Bottling day is as long as brew day but not as fun. Brew day really isn't too bad, approx 3 - 3 1/2 hrs for partial grain/extract kits and thats with clean up. All grain is closer to 5-6 hours. I like that part, but you do have to set aside time for the process. I hope next Saturday to brew. Had one grandchild end of May, and my next one is probably due around the 20th of this month. So by the time this is ready, my daughter in law will be ready for a treat. She likes lighter beer, so I'm thinking of a all grain Kolsch. But she does like Cream Ale and she wasn't able to enjoy the one I made earlier this year, so who knows. TIME!

Sad news. The Double IPA was a pour out. Everything looked great, was going to be a little high on ABV, but still should have been fine. It was like there was absolutely no hops added, and I think there was at least 3 oz of hops added during the boil alone. Oh well, first pour out in 2 yrs, but it still hurts to see it all go down the drain!

May the four winds blow you safely home my friend!

Don't get me wrong, I love bottles. Convenient, easy to share, mobile. It's just bottling day is almost as long as brew day. You got to clean the bottles, sanitize them, fill them, cap them, then leave them sit for 2-3 weeks to condition. Kegging, if you force carb, you can pretty much be drinking in a few hours, though its better if you wait a couple of days. I'll probably keep bottling, but like you said, you have to have a kegerator, and when I move down to the lake full time, space is going to be a premium. I don't really know where I'm going with my brew equip, and I really don't have that much. (well, according to me).

Pale Ale actually turned out decent. Not the "citrusy" profile I was trying to achive. Slight lemonly taste on the tongue, then no other citrus flavor. But still has gone down pretty smooth in the warm weather. Double IPA is conditioning, may be able to try one next week about this time. Wife and I are leaving for the Lake Michigan coastline. Doing a brewery/winery tour, and won't be back until the July 4. Then I'm going to brew a nice crisp Kolsch. (but that could change) It should be ready around the end of July. I got to get a keg setup, this bottling is time consuming.

As long as I can balance it with mid 8 to low 9% abv, it should smooth out. I'll know in about an hour and a half. Cooking now.

Double IPA brewing in the morning (as long as my daughter doesn't go into labor). Heavy hops, Columbus and Cascade. Expect a 8-9% abv, and 100+ ibu. Probably be drinking around first weekend of July. Probably going to be more of a west coast style. Hop Heads should love it. Drinking a single hop (Chinook) IPA right now. Very good. Probably a good drink for someone new to IPA's and not used to a strong hop flavor. My new Pale Ale is conditioning, don't have much hope for this one. abv came in way too high. Don't think it will be balanced at all. But who knows!