I ordered a kit about 2 months ago. It was my first all grain brew. I have been brewing extract brewing which is a little easier. Well….let me start by saying, the first time you decide to do this, plan for a long day. I started at about 9 AM with the beer and at 4 PM, I was finally done cleaning up and it was time for dinner and a few cold homebrews. This is a beer I decided to make after hearing about, and reading about it from many different people/places. It is a “clone” of Founders Breakfast Stout. Or, I hope it will be. Making the beer you drink is just one more way to enjoy the whole experience. I started with a Mr Beer kit many years ago. I actually used to not like beer so much.
Anyways, back to the beer! It is an oatmeal stout with an ABV% somewhere around 7.8%. It has a nice creamy mouthfeel from the oatmeal, it also has dark chocolate, and milk chocolate in there, which was added about the last 5 minutes of the 60 minute boil. Once it is cold crashed (cooled) it is racked (siphoned) into a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. Then the yeast is added and shaken a little to help oxegenate the wort to help the yeast start the fermentation process, which takes about 3-4 weeks. Once the primary 2-4 weeks is done, it is then again racked to another glass carboy and it sits for about a month. At this time I added 2.5 ounces of Kona coffee beans, and 1 ounce of toasted oak.
Well, I just bottled it tonight. I came out with 35-12 ounce bottles, and 6-22 ounce bombers. I did taste it when I was bottling it and it has a strong roasted coffee, with a hint of chocolate. The oak seems to be overtaken by the coffee and chocolate. I use carb-tabs when I bottle. They are small corn sugar tablets which are added to the bottles so that the remaining yeast will have something to ferment and create C02 and carbonate the beer. Once bottled it will sit for about 3-8 weeks before I start to drink them. It is a great hobby, and it really does not take much time, or money to get started. The actual time invested is very much worth it. I have about 40-50 brews under my belt and I have only had one go wrong. I will post an update on this beer as it is ready. I cannot wait to try this stuff!! Yumm Yumm!!!
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Looking forward to the Stout review on this brew!
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John B
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November 20th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Paint, this should be some good stuff! I will send ya a bottle or two! That Torpedo clone should be ready in about a week or so!
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Keep up the good brews JJ. LIke the pics on the progress of the brewing stages. I need to start home brewing soon.
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Hey, I really love your posts. You seem to have great taste in beer and cigars. I have been into beer for about 5 years seriously and cigars about 2 years seriously. There is nothing better than the 2 in my opinion.
Keep up the great reviews and other home brewing projects,
Krys
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John B
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November 27th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the comment Krysta. I have to agree with ya on the beer and cigar thing!
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Nice! I gotta try a bottle of this.
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