What to Brew?

I can only imagine they use a few ounces of freshly cracked corns at the end of the boil...though it's also possible they add it to secondary to prevent any volatile oils from the corns being lost during boiling or primary fermentation. Either way, I haven't found any specifics on how they employ the peppercorns.

have not tried it, but i will look for it.

pepercorns, do they say how or when they introduce the pepercorns. seems like a strong spice to add to beer, but then again i am still learning.

dkwandt wrote:

i would be up for brewing a batch with you Jeff, Eric or Mike, or anyone else for that matter (tall Bob)

still need to brew that Black Saison Mike!

I'm sure if we can find an even number of interested participants, we could pair off into groups or draw names out of a hat. Sounds like fun to me, anyway!

Yes, we do need to still do that Black Saison. Speaking of which, I picked up a bottle of Goose Islands Pepe Nero, which is a dark saison brewed with peppercorns. Very interesting beer, though I'm not still not sure how I feel about the peppercorns. If they have it at South Jack's, it's worth the money to try.

i would be up for brewing a batch with you Jeff, Eric or Mike, or anyone else for that matter (tall Bob)

still need to brew that Black Saison Mike!

Congrats, Eric, can't wait to try some myself! We should try to figure out what 11 gallon recipe works for us, then do the split batch. Just a warning, though, I may be interested in having it a little more smoky! We should get together and discuss it later on.

Jeff, I think it would be a very good idea to get folks involved in doing a series of comparison batches of smoked rye beer. Do you still have both flaked and malted rye?

i think you should both do one and different recipes so we can taste more ....ya more beer....

I figured a quarter pound would be about the most I'd want to go. As for the smoked rye; I think that would be an awesome combination for a beer. We should get together and brew that one. I'll split the costs with you on it. I think that would be good.

As for the grapefruit IPA, I just got done bottling it and if it carbinates out well it is going to be a tremendous beer! I could have drank a sixpack uncarbed. I can't wait for this one to be done. It might be my finest creation yet.

I like where this conversation is going. A well-made Cali Common is hard to beat, in my opinion. Just another idea, not trying to steal your thunder Erik, but how about combining your idea for rye and smoke in one beer? The idea of a smoked rye sounds like a good idea to me - if you don't want to do it, maybe I'll give it a shot!

Regarding smoke, Dennis has the right idea. You don't need much smoked malt to get a subtle note. Generally the 1/4 lb amount is a good rule of thumb. In some cases, though, that's subject to change. If you have a stronger smoked malt, like peated malt, you may want slightly less. If you have something that's got a "weaker smoke" like Briess cherry smoked malt, you can go for more (according to their website, up to 60% of your grist can be comprised of it!).

I'll keep watching this thread to see where things go. By the way, how's your grapefruit IPA, Erik?

then an california common, amber, or German Alt. would all be good.

with premium membership you get to use the clubs lagerator (althought we as a club need to get one mor temp controler.

smoked malt a little dab will do you, if you want a just a touch i would not use more than a quarter pound, than again not sure i would ever use more than a 1/4 pound.

I would like to do a schwarzbier, but sadly I'm still not set up to lagerate. I really need to get on that. I would like to do a steam beer and I also have an oktoberfest recipe I came up with that I would like to try.

Your suggestions are interesting as well Dennis, I'll have to look into those styles. I like the idea of doing a rye.

I was tossing ideas around last night and I came up with a recipe for an amber. I figure I need to brew some good summer beers.

I'm thinking a base malt with some crystal 40 and add a little bit of munich and smoked malt for a little complexity hopped with northern brewers, and some amarillo with a cascade finish.

After the trying some of that smoked malt at the last meeting I want to try something with it. I've never used the smoke before so I'm not sure how much, but I want it to be very subtle and faintly detected so I'm thinking a quarter to a half pound?(5 gallon batch) I also figured adding a quarter to half pound of munich would give a little bit of maltyness to offset the smoke for a little more complex malt profile.

Any thoughts?

i would try a 15A. Weizen/Weissbier as well or maybe 15D. Roggenbier (German Rye Beer).

the roggenbier would be right in your wheel house. color is copperish, light finishing hops. but using rye instead of wheat should bring a great dry character. should not be to bitter, and should start oout malty sweet. not sure if you like ruben's but it shout have an aroma of pumpernickle bread

I am in the same predicament.... with LOTS of stuff going on with my family I have put brewing on the back burner & now I have an empty keg & just filled one so I hafta deal with buying some brews for a little bit. But... this weekend I will be brewing my F.B.I. that has gotten good reviews from the club. I can't wait to have that again... it's been a while.

Eric wrote:

I'm thinking I should get some more brewing done this winter, but I'm not sure what style I want to do next.

Who's got suggestions for me?

I recommend a schwarzbier - one of my personal favorites. In fact, I've got to get around to making a smoked schwarz soon myself...Anyway, it depends on whether you're looking to have a beer ready for "immediate" consumption or you're willing to lager something (i.e. maibock) in preparation for spring.

I'm thinking I should get some more brewing done this winter, but I'm not sure what style I want to do next.

Who's got suggestions for me?