I was thinking golden promise and a NZ hop. Maybe Nelson saviun (spelling). I like beers right at the 5% mark so ill prly shoot for that.

Im thinking about a Warminster Floor-Malted Maris Otter and Australian Galaxy mix, Im also going to go for <%5 sessionable beer.

Edit: Im also thinking about doing this beer with all late hops and nothing for bittering. if not I'll do a FWH then everything from 15 minutes on.

I love Citra for flavor and aroma/dry hopping. Just a heads up though that some people seem to think it leaves a funny taste when used for bittering. I haven't tried it for bittering because they scared me.

If I was going to use nothing but Citra, to get around this I would probably FWH, then skip the 60 minute addition and hit it every 5 minutes from 20 to flame out.

Then an ounce or two for dry hopping.

Like Coff, I was planning on getting all of my bittering from late hops, 15 mins and in, so maybe that will help offset any weird flavors from citra. Thanks for the heads up though Jbrochu.

PS I got the hops today, thanks again.

I might actually try a wheat malt instead of golden promise if you are doing that pliny. I've been wanting to try a gumball esque beer for a while so this will give me a chance kinda.

A recent (birthday) haul from my parents.


I had the Monkey Paw (3.2/5) and Linchpin (3.7/5) tonight and I'm of course drinking my namesake tonight. Luckily my parents live on the west coast and can supply me with some when I get a craving.

Pliny The Elder (bottled 5/16/12)
Pour is a bright clear golden color with a finger length head which sticks around for a moderate amount of time before leaving a nice lacing.
Aroma is bright, clean, floral scent. Piney, fruity, I can't stress how clean it is, just a punch in the nose.
Every time I have it I think its not going to live up to expectations somehow, yet every time it's a revelation. Hop forward to say the least but it's not overpowering. I can drink this all day. Perfectly balanced, hops upfront with enough malt behind it to support it but no doubt this beer is all about a display of hop flavor.
Mouthfeel is smooth and makes it supremely drinkable. Dangerously drinkable I'd say.
Overall this is everything a beer should aspire to be. Aside from Heady Topper this is without a doubt my favorite beer, but at that point it's like splitting hairs.
5/5, this is the beer I compare all others to.

the tilquin is a great gueuze. easily one of my favorites

Anyone have an objection if I do my smash with Centennial and use my homegrown ones at flameout alongside of the commercial variety? They'd be wet hops.

I picked up a vial at Keystone in Montgomeryville, but it was the last vial. I need to start up a starter tomorrow. They had 2 vials of american farmhouse. The WLP644 was hiding in the back of the fridge. Was going to grap the farmhouse if I didn't see the brett.

Ended up adding a bit of acid malt to the recipe to help the brett. 14lbs pilsner, 3lbs wheat malt, 1lb flaked rye and flaked wheat, and a half lb of acid malt.

Doesn't bother me

Not sure if youve look around at all, you may have some left over from last year, but the centennial crop was basically toast. So what Hop Union is selling is "Centennial Type" I think its some sort of blend to resemble Centennial. I used it in a White IPA I just kegged, I'll let you know in a week if I notice anything goofy about it. I doubt I will though with how many hops were in this thing.

Yeah the Cen. Type is a 70/30 blend of Chinook/Cascade, from everything I could find out about it.

That's interesting. Are you talking about the 2011 harvest? I bought 8 ounces from Freshops.com and they didn't mention anything about it being a mix. They are still selling them now described as 2011 harvest without any mention of it being a mixture.

I think I'll email them and ask.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/connec...or-a-shortage/

This blog post says 70-30 blond of Cascade/Columbus.

Fresh hops might have had a line on a small amount of leaf Centennial, who knows. Especially since they limit it to 16oz per order, while most of the others have a much higher ceiling.

I don't have full reviews, but I had Cigar City's Hunahpu on Monday and Bell's Black Note last night.

I opened the Hunahpu for my birthday and a local beer bar got Black Note on tap (Black Note was pretty much ignored for the entire night, I saw maybe 10 glasses poured, I know anywhere else the keg would have been kicked in 30 minutes).

Both were great beers, right now Hunahpu is still a little too hot because of the chiles in it, I like it with some age on it. Black Note really melds the bourbon barrel flavors with their two stouts. It was a nice and balanced beer.

What would you all suggest for a temperature to mash at for the SMASH brew? Anybody brew it up yet?

I think it would depend on your choice of yeast. Something like US-05 that attenuates really well you could mash at ~154. Other yeasts that are not quite as aggressive you could mash at ~150.

I'm not sure it makes too much difference for an APA as long as your somewhere in the ballpark of 148 to 154.

Edit: Ok I'm a little slow. I just realized in your SMASH you won't have any residual sugars from crystal malts, which is probably why you asked your question! I would still shoot for the same ballpark though. Maybe 156 max with US-05 (and probably would stick to 154 anyway) and 152ish for other American Ale yeasts.

I'll be going with 152, but really it's up to you.

Yeah, I'll aim for 152 as well, that way if I **** up either way it's not too bad I'll probably brew this weekend.

Looking at all the chores and work I've got the rest of this month, I don't think I'll be able to make the SMaSH brew. Sorry guys.

I actually was thinking we should push the brew by date back a bit. I can still squeeze it in by the 30th but I wouldnt mind a bit more time.

I'm fine with pushing the date back. I have to have it bottled by July 31 but I can send out first. Want to shoot for having it sent out by early August?

Thats fine with me. These beers shouldnt be anymore than a 2-3 week primary anyway.

I just heard White Labs has opened a tasting room in San Diego. What's unique about it is they brew different styles of beer, I guess just a standard recipe, then ferment it with all of their different yeasts to show the effect yeast has on it. Very cool concept and if I get down there this will be a must-stop

Tap List

That is pretty cool.