What to make next?

[akueck]

So...I'm a little stumped. I discovered yesterday that I am alarmingly short on beer. I do have 2 gallons or so in process, but ready-to-drink I'm down to a couple 6-packs. This is not acceptable. However I'm not really sure what I should make next.

Drinkable: Several dark beers (dopplebock, schwartzbier), some American pale ales.
In process: hoppy session beer, herb beer (and that gluten-free lambic I try not to think about)

Thoughts for next:
Cream Ale (will probably treat this like a steam beer with corn)
Dusseldorf Alt (admittedly it is the perfect weather for brewing this)
Other?

Votes?

 

[YogiBearMead726]

My vote is for the Alt. Something a little different to give you some drinkin variety.

Or a black lager, which sounds pretty good, IMO.

On a side note, a friend and I just threw together a creamy nut-brown, and steam beer is always pretty tasty...so...maybe make both the Alt and cream ale? ;D

 

[mccann51]

Not sure what kind of malt profiles the two beers you mention have, but you could do a beer with the first malt wort (does this have a specific term?), and brew the other with the sparge.

 

[YogiBearMead726]

Not sure what kind of malt profiles the two beers you mention have, but you could do a beer with the first malt wort (does this have a specific term?), and brew the second with the sparge.

I think (not positive myself ) the terms are first running, and second running, respectively.

 

[akueck]

Partigyle.

These are totally different grists, so that wouldn't really work in this case. One is pils with a little black malt and the other is 6-row and corn.

I've got half a mind to do both, but then I'd have to clean more bottles.

 

[mccann51]

I've got half a mind to do both, but then I'd have to clean more bottles.

The bottleneck of brewing.

 

[Chevette Girl]

The bottleneck of brewing.

Heh, ain't that the truth... I think it's half the reason why I'm doing data entry on my wine inventory instead of priming my perry

 

[skunkboy]

Alts are always nice...

 

[darthbooger]

If ya want something dark you can always try a mocha braggot so im not alone lol

 

[Fisher kel Tath]

I kinda want to do a Vanilla Cream Ale, and a Root Beer right now

 

[Medsen Fey]

I wouldn't mind making a Vienna Lager - so not quite as dark as a black lager, but really tasty nonetheless.

 

[kc0dhb]

I should note that down to under 3 gallons or so would be a major failing for me. I have to have at least 2-3 beers ready to go into a keg or in the (capacity of 5) keg fridge before I feel that I'm at a decent level of beer remaining.

I just recently did an experiment with a black lager (Eat My Schwarzbier from The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide). I did the normal process, except I used avocado honey instead of molasses and used two non-traditional yeasts, namely kölsch ale and california common lager in two different carboys. I fermented at 60F. Once racked to secondary, then to kegs, then carbed, I did a side by side taste. They kölsch was fruitier (but still good) and the california lager was damn close to the czech and munich lager yeasts I've used before. I would strongly recommend using the steam beer yeast (California common) for a 'lager' if you don't want to wait and want something close to the clean lager characteristics.

I should note that brewing to drinking was a long 3.5 weeks for both yeasts as I shook carbed both kegs once cold. If bottle conditioning you'll probably have to add another few weeks.

If this doesn't sound fun, I do a yeast experiment with a well know recipe.

Kyle

Recipe

Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 33.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 73.56 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 9.20 %
1.00 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 4.60 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4.60 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.30 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.30 %
1.25 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (90 min) Hops 18.3 IBU
0.50 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (30 min) Hops 5.3 IBU
0.25 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 3.45 %
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager (White Labs #WLP810) Yeast-Lager


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 26.25 qt of water at 162.5 F 151.0 F

 

[TheRabidKumquat]

I find myself in a similar situation of being indecisive about what to make next.
Cream ale and Dusseldorf have been on my 'to do' list for a long time. Over the Spring and Summer I was in a light session beer mood, and so I made a few batches, and have the ingredients to make a third, but I've pretty much killed the Vanilla Bourbon Porter which aged beautifully and am down to the last dozen or so of a second Porter and a Red. I'm thinking it's time for another Stout.