Last year I made my first couple batches of brew and I started off with fairly easy malty recipes. Well, I have been thinking about brewing two new batches and broke down and placed an order. First is the Defibrillator Dopplebock http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/1143/nm/Defibrillator_Doppelbock1 I will be adding booster packet which will bump the brew from 7.8 abv to 9.1 abv. I did this recipe last year and added pure vanilla extract which turned out very nice. I am planning on adding Mt. Hood pellet hops to this brew to add a little bitterness to the brew and hopefully add an extra level to the flavor. I am really just wanting to experminet with adding hops to a malty brew. The second brew is the API IPA http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/1239/nm/API_IPA1 I will be adding a booster packet to this brew as well which will take it from 8.7 abv to 10.0 abv. Other than that I plan on leaving this brew alone to see how I like it. I may take some pictures of the process while it is going and I will post results and thoughts afterwards.
Very cool. I have been thinking about trying this out for the last few months but haven't gotten around to it yet. Think it would be a fun hobby.
Awesome! That's a pretty big beer with a starting gravity of 1.082. What's your lagering setup? I've got a chest freezer sitting in my basement that someday I hope to convert to a lagering chest.
I will be laggering it in a converted stand up fridge my grandfather has for keep his fishing bait, should work nicely. I plan on going a little longer on the fermenting and the lagering times. I know this is gonna be a pretty finicky brew, but I think it should turn out pretty well.
I always keep mine in the fermenter for at least a month, but since your lagering you could transfer yours as soon as you hit your finish gravity. I like to put my fermenter in the refrigerator for a few days before I transfer it out. This will help have clearer beer. One thing I would recommend you do is to ditch the yeast that comes with it and buy some fresh yeast from your local brew shop or order it online. It makes a huge difference in the taste of your beer if you have fresh yeast.
