Brewed an IPA this past weekend. It was really cold out and I missed my mash and sparge temperatures pretty badly on the low side. I kept trying to heat them up but my tun ran out of space. I was shooting for 152 but I think I was around 146-148. This of course made me miss my OG, which was 1.058 but was supposed to be 1.073. It's fermenting away, so I guess I'll see what I end up with.

Weather has been pretty nuts around here lately. In the 30's yesterday back to the 80's today. Cool story Central Florida.

Drank both of these beers last night. Call it a competition:

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/bells-hopslam/35488/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/surly-abrasive-ale/116859/

I strongly prefer the latter. Well, "strongly" might be a little... strong. They are both fantastic beers. Abrasive is just fantastic-er.

i'm with you on teh abrasive. Had it a few weeks back and is easily the best DIPA that I've had (and I've had PtE, hopslam, double daisy, etc.)

I want to make a beer for an upcoming inter-club homebrew competition. I've got beers to enter for every style they are accepting except for their:

"64 = (20+21+23) Fruit/Spice/Herb/Vegetable/Specialty"

I want to make something pretty radical and out there and am up for pretty much anything. The competition is April 1 so I am running out of time. Any of you guys got any ideas for something you've tried/want to try/think would be cool to try etc? I guess I can fall back on my peanut butter brown if I can't brew anything before then.

Had hopslam in the bottle for the first time today. Very good still but prefer it on tap.

Wraths,

I've always wanted to get cilantro into a beer, but have no good idea on how to do so. A citrusy pale ale with cilantro dryhop?

Cilantro sounds good, i don't know the best way to use it but it's not usually a spice that's cooked in is it? Maybe a dry hop is the way to go.

My friend seems to think black garlic would be good in an IPA or Black IPA, I don't know much about black garlic to have an opinion either way.

Cilantro sounds great. I asked my family as well and my mother in law said she wanted a spicy beer. A green chilli pale ale dry hopped with some cilantro sounds pretty wicked. Might give that a go.

I had an Italian beer once with peppercorn in it. A unique experience and was kinda nice. It came on lightly at the end of the taste. Also, I love mango or peach IPAs.

2.5 gallon Preliminary recipe:

3 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 77.8 %
8.0 oz Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 2 11.1 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.6 %
4.0 oz Vienna Malt (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 4 5.6 %
0.02 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 1.2 IBUs
0.02 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - First Wort 60.0 Hop 6 1.7 IBUs
0.02 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 7 1.1 IBUs
0.02 oz Summit [17.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 8 3.3 IBUs
0.02 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 9 1.0 IBUs
0.02 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 10 1.4 IBUs
0.02 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 11 0.9 IBUs
0.02 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 12 2.8 IBUs
0.02 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 13 0.8 IBUs
0.02 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 14 1.2 IBUs
0.02 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 15 0.8 IBUs
0.02 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 16 2.3 IBUs
0.02 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 17 0.5 IBUs
0.02 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 18 0.7 IBUs
0.02 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 19 0.5 IBUs
0.02 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 20 1.5 IBUs
0.02 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 21 0.3 IBUs
0.02 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 22 0.4 IBUs
0.02 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 23 0.3 IBUs
0.02 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 24 0.8 IBUs
2.00 Items Mild Green Chili (Boil 5.0 mins) Flavor 25 -
0.25 Cup Cilantro (Boil 5.0 mins) Herb 26 -
0.02 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 27 0.1 IBUs
0.02 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 28 0.1 IBUs
0.02 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 29 0.1 IBUs
0.02 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 30 0.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [124 Yeast 31 -
0.50 Cup Cilantro (Secondary 7.0 days) Herb 32 -

Essentially a quarter ounce of each hop added throughout the whole boil. The chilis are supposed to work better in lighter hopped beers which is why it is a bit low in the IBU range. Gonna get some mild chilis so its not so much hot as just flavorful hopefully, and I'll add them and some cilantro at 5min. Will also dry hop with some cilantro for a week.

Haven't had cilantro in beer (that I can think of), but I did recently have a beer with oregano and bay leaf that was pretty good actually. Here's a blurb from the brewer-

Aquariva’s beer is a session amber ale, and 4 oz. combined of oregano and bay went into a 7 bbl batch. The bay leaf is more dominant and comes through on both the nose and the back palate with a Fernet-like herbaceousness; the oregano requires a little more searching for, but it’s identifiable after you dig past the other flavors in the beer. In some ways, that’s exactly what we were hoping to do.

Wraths,

I'd definitely try a cilantro tea before you throw it in the boil, no telling what boiling will do to it.

Sparging the Blonde Ale, depending on how it turns out I may send it to the NHC.

was on a belgian kick last night. Here are notes from two of the beers I had:

Boon Geuze

poured from 375 into a tulip. Pours a solid orange color with a frothy head

excellent depth with aromas that jump from the glass. you can smell this from several feet away. Classic geuze aromas of funk, sour citrus, and tart sour apples.

medium bodied with good tart acidity. Lacking a slight bit on the middle, but with tart flavors of sour apples and citrus

A really good geuze. Brings the funk and style that one would want from a geuze.

4.13/5

Triple Moine Deugniet

poured from 750mL into a chalice. Pours a lighter gold color with a smaller head. A bit too light in color actually

nice and creamy aromas of citrus, honey, some malts, and a touch of florals

medium bodied with a nice feel, but lacking a bit. Smooth with flavors of honey, creams, and citrus

a solid tripel. Lacking a bit on both the smell and feel, but a very drinkable beer. Sadly there are better tripels that are around the price though

3.6/5

I've always wanted a cilantro beer. Actually, a cilantro, lime, sweet corn, beer to be exact. Kind of imagine the white rice and corn at chipotle as a base flavor.

Maybe I'm just crazy though.

Only thing I know is that an affinity for cilantro is VERY person specific. The people that like it, love it. The people that don't, hate it. Only mentioning that as you said it would be a judged event and could hurt you if you had some dislikes in the panel.

That's true. I don't really care about winning competitions now that I think about it. I like the feedback aspect moreso than numbers on a paper, and I can get that by bringing it to the event rather than spending x$ to have other people judge it. Plus I think I can objectively judge it myself and know a few friends can.

Anybody ever done a sour mash? I'm trying to line up a berliner weisse using a sour mash and I could use any tips/suggestions anybody has.

Just finished Demo-ing my tile shower and now I'm cooling off with Jamil's ESB we brewed. I gotta say, I really enjoy this beer.

Wraths,

Is your peanut butter brown done? How did it turn out im very interested in trying to brew something like that.

This is me on Saturday

http://www.mbgmash.org/?p=672

CAN'T WAIT!

It's in the diacetyl rest right now. If I get around to it I'll take a hydro sample and bottle this weekend. Pretty sure I need to strain it again but I don't really want to risk oxidization so idk what to do. The peanut butter smell has died down a lot with the fermentation but I think it's actually become more pleasant now.

There's a beer festival Saturday in Melbourne btw, 2-5pm and then bbq/cask tappings afterwards. I'll be there most of the day if anyone else was looking for something to do.

That blows away the **** festival I'll be at. http://spacecoastcraftbeerfestival.com/

These ****s cant even get their site working correctly. If I was in your position I know where I would be at 2 and 5.

I bought two bottles of Goose Island Lolita and the rye Bourbon County.

I'm trading off the BC but am keeping the Lolita. Is it worth the $16 per 650ml?

Probably going to founders tent for blushing monk and that's it. Had CBS and KBS a few times in the last month so the lines won't be worth it. I really enjoy staying away from Founders and Bells at the fest (other than if they have something super rare) and go hit up the small breweries from different parts of the state