This is my APA recipe and it comes out really good. It's for 6 gallons @ 68% extraction efficiency so you will need to adjust for your batch size and EE.

Without making a starter you would need 3 or 4 Wyeast smack packs for 20 gallons so if you brew it you might want to go with US-05 dry yeast.

The hop weights are for whole cones so you would need slightly less pellets. If you can't find Zeus you can sub Columbus or Tomahawk. You could also sub Crystal for Perle @ 10 minutes.


Thunderstruck Pale Ale

Grain Bill: (OG 1.052)

6.0lb Pale American 2-row
3.0lb Maris Otter
0.5lb Vienna
0.5lb Crystal 40
0.5lb Munich

Mash:

Single infusion at 152, 1.85 quarts/pound, no mash out, batch sparge

Yeast:

Wyeast 1056 or Safale US-05

Hops: 43 IBU total, IBU to OG ratio 0.83:1

Zeus 0.5oz @ 60 minutes (28 IBU)
Perle 0.75oz @ 10 minutes (9 IBU)
Cascade 1.0oz @ 5 minutes (6 IBU)
Cascade 1.0oz DH
Zeus 0.5oz DH
Chinook 0.5oz DH

Misc:

Whilfloc @ 15

Whats your reasons for such a thin mash? Ive been mashing a little thinner recently but not as high as 1.85 qt/lb.

That's about what it takes me on my system to get close to equal runnings between the mash and sparge without doing a mashout. You could do a thicker mash and do a pseudo mash-out, but Palmer (and others I've read) say anything less than 2 quarts/pound is fine.

My favorite beer is Troeg's Nugget Nectar, which is seasonal. Last night I tried their Perpetual IPA for the first time. The aroma is very similar to the Nugget Nectar (which is the best smelling beer on the planet, imo) but I think the taste might even be better. I recommend this very highly.

I've never even seen that. Must try now!

Thats what I assumed, thanks.

That's some type of wine fermenting in the carboy. You can see the small red cooler behind it which was a mini mash. We were brewing up an English Brown Mild.

How did it taste?

I'm going to wash the yeast and put it in some mason jars. I live in Trooper just north of King of Prussia. My parents live in West Chester. And I need to go there next week to finish the wood working on my kegorator.

someone got me a bottle of the chimay tripel earlier in the week that i'll be having later, only previously had the red/blue so should be interesting.

Thanks for asking as it caused me to get curious and search for more info about the water:grain ratio, and I learned some stuff I didn't know.

anybody know anything about the eley kishimoto duvel tulip glasses?

how hard are they to find? what are they selling for at your local liquor? do you like drinking out of it? thanks

Almost through a double brew weekend.

Made a sour saison yesterday:
9 lbs pilsner
1 lb flaked rye
1 lb flaked wheat
0.75oz Sterling 60 mins
1oz Citra 10 mins
1oz Citra 0 mins
.75 Sterling 0 mins
will dryhop with sterling.

Washed yeast from American Farmhouse (Dupond Strain and Brett) and a packet of Roesalare Blend. Their already is some crazy krausen on it.

Mashed in last night for a brett porter. Brett Porter got more votes then a wine yeast based dubbel.
6.5lbs English 2-row
1lb Brown Malt
1lb Crystal 40
10oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz Acid Malt
8 oz Wheat Malt
2.5oz Fuggles (3.6AA) 60 min
1.0oz Fuggle (3.6AA) 10 min

Made a starter of White Labs Brett Lambicus - Smells very much like pineapple.
Added the Acid Malt for the Brett.

I got 85% Efficiency with the Saison. I did a long mash at 145 then infusion mashed to 156 for 20 minutes. I do modified brew in a bag, so I use home depot homer buckets to sparge in. Helps the efficiency.

With the Porter I overshot my strike temp. So had to add cool water. Which meant less sparge water, so only 75% efficiency.

I've been running 80%. So pretty happy. But I tend to do long mashes. As I will do other projects while mashing. Makes me more productive.

Has anyone ever used Elderberries? Supposedly tart, but maybe tannic? Maybe they would be good in a lambic and aged for a long time?

The porter I was thinking of adding some sort of fruit. Family is big fans of cranberriers. So that is tempting.

Transfered the Nelson Sauvin Saison off of Dry Hops. It was probably on them too long, as it was a little hoppier then I like. Masks the yeast taste initially. From 1.050 OG to 1.004 FG. My Winter Warmer Saison went from 1.076 to 1.009. Yeast is a beast.
Tastes sweet though, maybe it is the alcohol? I think it could use maybe a week of a half oz of dry hop.

These?

[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.**************/nigauw/Dv1lZQ9S0CudgNlUZwDfxUZNDWkOBI4gIFGaJLKTYaotrUjtoX WWTq2b21hd/duvelposter-wm3.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJFZAE65 UYRT34AOQ&Expires=1315154531&Signature=SqEts1FESJK RKEYs3dI4UGIs3hY%3D[/IMG]

They look pretty cool. Going for around 20$ on ebay atm.

We made a brett IPA at work using Brett. Drei, and it was crazy, crazy pineapple when young, and slowly got funky/bretty. But tons of pineapple/tropical fruit/little coconut young. Not at all what I expected out of brett.

went to Philly this weekend and was very impressed with the draft selections at bars there. also was impressed with Philly in general as i haven't been in a while. seems so much more liveable, clean, and affordable than NYC (Center City at least).

anyways had a Stone Russian Imperial Stout on draft, which was delicious and the first stout i've really liked, maybe because first stout i've tried as a draft, i dunno.

also had St. Bernardus 12, Ommegang's Abbey Ale, and Karmeleit Tripel on draft and they were much better than the bottle versions imo, especially the Ommegang.

the one thing that's killing me with drinking beer is the acid and gas. my acid reflux goes nuts when i drink and the gas is a bit too much and lasts until well into the next day. maybe i'll just down some Zantacs and Gas-EX before i drink like i'm some 80 year old

What bars did you go to? It sounds like you went to either Monks or Eulogy.

****, I've never been to Philly but know to go to Monks.

I went to those two, Tria, and some place around 2nd and South St that specializes in bourbon. Also stopped by Varga Bar because its website says they have Russian River's Pliny the Elder on draft but they didn't. Still have yet to try that beer.

bar here in nyc just posted their draft selection on FB. any recommendations on which to try?

btw, and it might have been an off-night, but the service at the Monk has become terrible. i used to go there quite a bit 11 years ago because i spent a summer living on that same block as the bar and it was a great, more intimate and friendly place back then. also i don't remember the bar being as crowded or attracting as much of a yuppie crowd back then. maybe craft/belgian beers weren't as popular in 2000. anyways, it was super-packed this time and the hosts and bartenders were pretty rude and snobby and the service in general had gone downhill. i'd probably go back just for the great beer selection on a night that it's not packed and talk as little as possible to the staff. the service at Eulogy was a thousands time better, but i like the draft selection more at the Monk, though the pours are quite a bit smaller.

What kind of beer do you like? Paulaner hef always a solid choice, its probably pretty fresh. Ditto with the Fuller's.

DeKonink would definitely be my choice off that board there.

I'd try the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter to start with myself.

so what's the opinion here on bottle versus draft?

is it a psychological thing to think draft tastes better (or vice versa)?

Ayinger Celebrator is a great doppelbock as well.

The Paulaner Hefe is great in a bottle, have not had on draft.

As far as draft vs bottle, it tastes fresher to me, but bottled is not bad either. Anything in a can tends to pick up the metallic taste.