speaking from the peanut gallery, I'd love to see an english mild or bitter be done

these were two chicago beers. I'm sure most are very familiar with goose island but maybe not so much two brothers.

Goose Island Sofie (2011)-

had this from tap and poured into a snifter. Clear gold color with a small head that doesn't last all too long.

Very aromatic with a good amount of citrus aromas and spices with some florals

medium/full bodied with a very smooth feel. Polished with a touch of funk along with citrus flavors and spices

this is a 2011 bottle. Should develop more funky aromas and flavors with more age, but the citrus base of it right now is very nice

4/5 (L-4, A-4, T-4, F-4, O-4)


Domaine Du Page (two brothers biere de garde)-

from tap and poured into a pint glass. Pours a dark amber color with a small head that disappears fast

very good aromas that are more malty along with grains and citrus aromas

very good medium body with a nice smooth feel. Lacking a bit on the mid and finish but with good flavors of malts and citrus'


3.63/5 (L-4, A-4, T-3.5, F-3.5, O-3.5)

I'd also suggest something that's not a porter or stout, too much to hide behind with those. Something pale. I've currently got 40g either fermenting or kegged so I'm not sure I'll have the time/room to join in, but I will if I can.

So an English Bitter sound fine then?

Thoughts on this recipe?
http://theaustinmunro.com/RIS.html

Also, thoughts on using my new 100quart tun and 80qt pot to make this recipe? I think I someone said the tun might not keep a consistent temperature? How much heat would I be expected to lose over the hour?

That's what, 18.5lbs grain? And wtf is cocoa water?

I've had trouble holding temps doing a couple 5g batches in my mash tun, I think I dropped something like eight degrees over 45 minutes, which is when I checked it. I looked around for something like a big, heat resistant plastic block, something that would just take up a ton of space in the mash tun, but never found anything. So I just stopped doing 5g batches, basically.

I don't think I ever did that big of a beer in a 5g batch though, so maybe 18.5 or so pounds would be enough. Especially if you mashed thin. The smallest amount of grain I have in mine is about 25lb+, and it holds heat just fine.

So in summary, I would just make a 10g batch if I were you, but if you're going to stick with 5, watch out for a little temp drop. Maybe have some boiling water and DME on hand, if you find you're dropping too much, add a couple gallons water to bring it up, then at the end of the boil, add some DME to get the gravity back to where you want it and also have an extra gallon or two. No reason to limit your batch size, on the hot side at least, so you can kind of make adjustments as you go.

Sounds good, city of cocoa is who my water supplier is :P.

Here's the BCS recipe for a special bitter, btw:

6g batch
9.5lb British pale malt
.5 lb aromatic
.5lb C120
.25lb special roast

6AAU EKG 60m
2.5AAU EKG 20m
.5oz EKG 0m

English yeast, obv, ferment at 68F

Boooooooooooooooooooom I love Christmas

Back in Minnesota on christmas break got 3 4 packs of surly, bender, cynicale and furious

drinking the 1st furious right now and i must say this is one of the finest IPAs ive had in my my life, on par with stone probably better

Okay TLDRBC, I've had the privilege of tasting Coff's Blond Ale. I don't have the bottle at the computer with me, so I don't have the ABV in front of me. Coff can relay if he likes. Anyway, this beer is great and it's no wonder he won with it. Looking forward to trading with him again and to do the multiswap once we agree on a recipe.

Coff's Blond Ale



Aroma: Very pleasant, with a slight fruitiness, not quite pear aroma but close. No real hop aroma that I can tell but a slight detection of alcohol but not unpleasant and overwhelming. Slight breadiness detectable, like a pie crust, light and flaky. Very inviting. 10/12

Appearance: One finger head that lasts throughout the glass. White with decent, but not great lacing. Head is tightly packed small foamy bubbles. Color is just past medium golden, just a shade darker than a Stella Artois and very clear. Carbonation bubbles rise throughout the entire glass. Very well done. 2.5/3

Flavor: A bready maltiness at the beginning that is appealing. As I let the first drink sit on my tongue, a nice spicy bitterness bites at the sides of my tongue with the carbonation and takes over where the bread flavors leave off. Almost a dry champagne finish, similar to a saison. Very clean fermentation with no off flavors. This beer takes a journey down several paths and is very interesting to my mouth. The less time the beer spends in your mouth, the less of the dryness you get. This is a beer to take a good sip of, enjoy for 10-15 seconds, then swallow. The dryness is also more present the colder the beer is, as it warms up, it loses a bit of that character but that does not detract from the enjoyment of the beer. Excellent! 18/20

Mouthfeel: Medium body, good carbonation, the nice bite of the carbonation on the sides of the tongue as mentioned above makes this memorable. 4/5

Overall impression: This beer is an excellent session ale, of which I could drink glass after glass. This is a beer that is refreshing enough to drink in the summer yet hearty enough for cooler weather. The change of flavor in the beer as it travels over the tongue and throat almost makes you think you're getting two beers in one. Very well done! 8.5/10

42.5/50. Excellent beer, definitely worthy of a medal!

West Coast TLDRBC members:

Would anyone be willing to pick up a 6 pack of Pliny the Elder, or a mixed 6 pack of Pliny and Blind Pig, and ship it to me at cost plus a little juice?

PM me if you are. It was supposed to be a Christmas present but all the places I can find on the web that would carry it and ship it limit you to 2 bottles and they're OUT.

Thanks for the great review Cardsman, once again looking forward to our next trade.

Here is the recipe for a 12G batch if youre interested.

Style: Blonde Ale
---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
SRM: 3.8 SRM SRM RANGE: 3.0-6.0 SRM
IBU: 29.6 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 15.0-28.0 IBUs
OG: 1.053 SG OG RANGE: 1.038-1.054 SG
FG: 1.011 SG FG RANGE: 1.008-1.013 SG
BU:GU: 0.563 Calories: 176.4 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 5.4 %
EE%: 70.00 % Batch: 12.00 gal Boil: 13.68 gal BT: 60 Mins



14 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 60.4 %
6 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 27.1 %
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 12.5 %


IBU
2.00 oz Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 24.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 3.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 6 1.3 IBUs

WLP029 German ale/Kolsch

Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at 152f
Ferment at 65 for 14 days, crash cool for 4 days and keg/bottle to 2.3 Vols

You really could do this with all Pilsner malt, that was the intention then I remembered I had 3lbs of 2row left so I substituted it for some of the Pilsner. ASlthough I think it kind of helped soften the finish on the beer.

I was planning on brewing an English Bitter in the new year. So I would be interested in the swap.

Just got a blickmann beer gun as part of a polyanna exchange with siblings.

I also just finished building a two-stage temp controller from on the aquarium temp controllers off e-bay. Feel like a fool for having bought an analog johnson controller a couple of months ago as it was a super easy build.

Id do an English Bitter for a thread brew/swap.

We should get a list of people participating and set a date to brew by, maybe by the end of January yeast should be pitched? Im brewing 2 batches this weekend, I was supposed to do them last weekend but got postponed, so I could do the Bitter as the recipe following.

So here is the list of people who showed interest...If I left anyone out let me know.

1. Coff
2. Wraths Unanimous
3. lacticacid

It makes sense to do the Bitter from BCS like RDH said.

Cardsman you want in?

I'm in.

I'm in. Brew by the end of January sounds good.

1. Coff
2. Wraths Unanimous
3. lacticacid
4. RunDownHouse
5. cardsman

In terms of the exchange how do we want to do that. Shipping out 4+ packages is a bit expensive, should we just randomize and send to one other person?

Sure, and then if someone wants to send out to more, then more power to you?

That's fine by me too. I sent my buddy a message to get his recipe for review so we have a couple to decide between, but defaulting to the "standard" will work too. Hopefully he'll send back tonight or in the morning.

I'm looking forward to this!

I'm assuming we aren't going to try and match barley brands, but what about yeast?

I would vote we have the liberty to use the yeast brand we prefer.

Here's my friend's ESB recipe, it doesn't look far off the standard recipe except for the hop schedule. Grain bills are a little different but not much.

A ProMash Recipe Report


Recipe Specifics
----------------


Batch Size (Gal): 10.00 Wort Size (Gal): 10.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 24.35
Anticipated OG: 1.070 Plato: 16.96
Anticipated SRM: 12.7
Anticipated IBU: 50.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Formulas Used
-------------


Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.


Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager


Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %




Grain/Extract/Sugar


% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
16.4 4.00 lbs. Generic DME - Light Generic 1.046 8
3.4 0.84 lbs. Crystal 30L America 1.035 30
73.3 17.84 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
6.9 1.67 lbs. Crystal 70L 1.034 70


Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.78 oz. Target Pellet 6.70 41.8 60 min.
1.00 oz. Challenger Pellet 8.20 4.9 15 min.
1.00 oz. Northdown Pellet 7.60 3.4 8 min.
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.75 0.0 Dry Hop


Yeast-----


Wyeast 1968




Mash Schedule
-------------


Mash Name: Well modded Mash


Total Grain Lbs: 20.35
Total Water Qts: 20.35 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 5.09 - Before Additional Infusions


Tun Thermal Mass: 0.00
Grain Temp: 72.00 F




Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse
Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scant Rest 5 60 154 140 Infuse 170 20.35 1.00
Mash out 5 30 170 170 Decoc 210 11.53 1.00 (Decoc Thickness)




Total Water Qts: 20.35 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 5.09 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal: 6.72 - After Additional Infusions

And then his "standard" ESB which is a Fuller's clone, it's a 6g recipe instead of 10g.

A ProMash Recipe Report


Recipe Specifics
----------------


Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 14.10
Anticipated OG: 1.056 Plato: 13.70
Anticipated SRM: 13.3
Anticipated IBU: 34.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 56 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Formulas Used
-------------


Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.


Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager


Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %




Grain/Extract/Sugar


% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.6 1.50 lbs. Generic DME - Light Generic 1.046 8
4.3 0.60 lbs. Crystal 30L America 1.035 30
76.6 10.80 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
8.5 1.20 lbs. Crystal 70L 1.034 70


Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.




Hops


Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.95 oz. Target Pellet 6.70 25.4 60 min.
0.60 oz. Challenger Pellet 8.20 5.2 15 min.
0.60 oz. Northdown Pellet 7.60 3.6 8 min.
0.60 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.75 0.0 Dry Hop




Yeast
-----

Wyeast 1968

Mash Schedule
-------------


Mash Type: Single Step

Same mash schedule as above

I think it would be fair to pick whatever English yeast you would like to use.

I just used WLP002 on a #9 clone and got a ton of Diacytyl, I hate it. Not sure what I did, its drinkable but ever since I noticed it thats all I can think of. So I'd rather try a different yeast.