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Homebrewers - Whats Fermenting?

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Hey Brothers,

I was given a Craft a Brew kit for Xmas last year and I'm just getting around to getting a batch going. This is my first brew and whats in the kit is all I have. Is there anything else I may need to be successful? Here's a link to the kit.

http://craftabrew.com/collections/brewing-kits/products/starter-kit-american-pale-ale-recipe-kit
Just noticed that most of the fermentables are from an extract. Use bottled water/RO water. Follow the directions as far as the steaping grains are concerned and be careful coming to a boil. Extract recipes boil over fast. If you like brewing, it's as addictive as cigars. How to brew by John Palmer is a good place to start for future reading. It's a little out dated info wise but still one of the best books to get started with.
 
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To give credit where it's due I got the grist proportions from the "Cream of 3 Crops" recipe. But I changed the base malt, hop variety, hop schedule, and yeast variety. IMO it's an entirely different beer and is much more of a craft effort. I don't have all the numbers off the top of my head by here's the bare bones....


Step mash - 15min @ 135f, 90min @ 150f

6# Maris Otter
2# Flaked Corn
7oz Minute Rice(white)

60 min boil -

Whirlfloc tab @ 15min
1oz Amarillo @ 7min

Fermentation - 17 days @ 64f
Yeast - Nottingham

Secondary on 5# mangoes until fruit ferments and settles.
Sounds tasty!
 
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Getting the bug back after a long dry spell. Need to dig my brew stand out of retirement with a few new mods. I'll keep it simple for the first batch or two and start with a black cream ale to blow the cobwebs out of my system. Then bring out the big guns and shoot for a smokier version of my smoked märsen (crowd pleaser) followed by a triple decocted bo pils. Get a few lagers in the keezer. Thinking about rehashing my black Friday RIS this year and see if we can push the sg past 1.110. Oooo, and a return of the Evil Bastardized Twin sort of imp red rye. Did I mention I may be getting the bug back? Lol
Im still not quite back to 100%, but I am dying to brew something too. If you want to add some coffee to that ris let me know and I will roast you some excellent beans and soak em in bourbon for you to add to secondary. I have a ton of crowd pleasing recipes and I'm playing with the idea of making an imperial gingersnap porter for shits and giggles. Which if you drink too much could be giggles and shits... its a fine line
 
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Im still not quite back to 100%, but I am dying to brew something too. If you want to add some coffee to that ris let me know and I will roast you some excellent beans and soak em in bourbon for you to add to secondary. I have a ton of crowd pleasing recipes and I'm playing with the idea of making an imperial gingersnap porter for shits and giggles. Which if you drink too much could be giggles and shits... its a fine line
Throw in some coco nibs as well. May need to rethink this a little bit.
 
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Those sound pretty interesting. You dont have a good recipe for a raspberry stout? I had one once that was just a noce smooth stout with a hint of raspberry at the back end
 
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Throw in some coco nibs as well. May need to rethink this a little bit.
That cacao, coffee, bourbon ris is my specialty. When I was working with the start up brewery I created that recipe and it was the most loved beer we made. I call it Kalishnikov's Revenge. Last batch clocked in at 12.5%abv. I'm definitely wanting to brew it again. We tried adding cold brewed coffee the first time around and it thinned the beer too much. Adding bourbon soaked cacao nibs and ground coffee right to secondary for a week was the ticket for the best flavor extraction.

Those sound pretty interesting. You dont have a good recipe for a raspberry stout? I had one once that was just a noce smooth stout with a hint of raspberry at the back end
I have a good stout recipe that you could add raspberries to. I need to find my computer charger so I can get into my beersmith and play around. I have almost as much fun creating the recipes as I do brewing them. As soon as I can I will post up a stout recipe. If you aren't lactose intolerant I would suggest doing a milk stout with raspberries so you get the roasty stout flavors and a nice creaminess to go with the raspberries
 
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That cacao, coffee, bourbon ris is my specialty. When I was working with the start up brewery I created that recipe and it was the most loved beer we made. I call it Kalishnikov's Revenge. Last batch clocked in at 12.5%abv. I'm definitely wanting to brew it again. We tried adding cold brewed coffee the first time around and it thinned the beer too much. Adding bourbon soaked cacao nibs and ground coffee right to secondary for a week was the ticket for the best flavor extraction.
We soo need to brew that this fall!
 
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That cacao, coffee, bourbon ris is my specialty. When I was working with the start up brewery I created that recipe and it was the most loved beer we made. I call it Kalishnikov's Revenge. Last batch clocked in at 12.5%abv. I'm definitely wanting to brew it again. We tried adding cold brewed coffee the first time around and it thinned the beer too much. Adding bourbon soaked cacao nibs and ground coffee right to secondary for a week was the ticket for the best flavor extraction.


I have a good stout recipe that you could add raspberries to. I need to find my computer charger so I can get into my beersmith and play around. I have almost as much fun creating the recipes as I do brewing them. As soon as I can I will post up a stout recipe. If you aren't lactose intolerant I would suggest doing a milk stout with raspberries so you get the roasty stout flavors and a nice creaminess to go with the raspberries
Wow, that sounds like one crazy and great beer. And thanks for the stout recipe.
 
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Thanks for all the good info guys.

BH, glad to hear you're feeling a little better.
Thank you brother! It's a long slow road, but I'm making progress.
My one biggest piece of advice is to monitor your fermentation temps, more so for the first 3 days or so and then you can let it warm up a bit to finish strong. I got started with a Mr Beer kit on a Christmas morning and my that afternoon had my beer fermenting in my closet. The instructions that came with that kit were as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop and if I ever meet the jackass that wrote them I will kick him square in the hairy beanbag. Most ale yeast gives the best results in the mid 60s and the process of fermentation is exothermic and will ferment hotter than ambient temps, hotter or colder than that and you risk off flavors like acetaldehyde (green apples) and others. I don't have room for a temp controlled space to ferment but I get good results with a large plastic tub with water I place my fermenting bucket in and I swap out frozen bottles of water to keep the temps in line with good success. When I don't want to bother with temp control I use Brettanomyces or saison yeast, they like to ferment hot.
 

HIM*

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Im still not quite back to 100%, but I am dying to brew something too. If you want to add some coffee to that ris let me know and I will roast you some excellent beans and soak em in bourbon for you to add to secondary. I have a ton of crowd pleasing recipes and I'm playing with the idea of making an imperial gingersnap porter for shits and giggles. Which if you drink too much could be giggles and shits... its a fine line
Got any tips on ginger? Ive been wanting to brew a ginger IPA but can't seem to find any consistent info on amounts and when to add it. I don't want 5 gallons of an IPA thats more like ginger beer.
 
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Got any tips on ginger? Ive been wanting to brew a ginger IPA but can't seem to find any consistent info on amounts and when to add it. I don't want 5 gallons of an IPA thats more like ginger beer.
I don't have any tips yet. My plan was to actually throw a box of ginger snaps right in my mash. For ginger I would probably start by adding an ounce or half ounce of fresh grated ginger at the end of the boil and if that didn't give me enough ginger flavor add more with the dry hop. The guy I used to brew with used to make a honey ginger porter but I never tried it or saw his recipe.
 
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