Recent content by boywonder

I've been brewing ales for about 6 months now and I'm itching to try lagering. All the builds I've seen take a fridge/freezer and raise the normal operating temperature of the fridge from the mid 30's F to fermentation temperature. Similarly the freezer which normally operates around 0 F is...

Let me know how it goes. I may have to try it if it turns out pretty close. I brewed the NB Abbey ale clone from the same article and found it to be nearly identical to their beer.

I have the version from December 2010. I've never tried it, don't know if you have or not. Here it is just in case you want it: New Belgium Brewing Fat Tire Clone (5 gallons/19 L, all grain) OG = 1.050 FG= 1.013 IBU = 19 SRM = 14 ABV = 4.7% Ingredients 8 lb 10 oz pale malt 1.0 lb Munich...

I assume you've eliminated the possibility of incomplete fermentation?

Well it came out really well. The taste is nearly identical with the homebrew finishing slightly drier than NB's Abbey Ale. As you can see in the photo the homebrew poured a slightly thicker head.

Its my experience that after the meat has reached 120 degrees it wont take on much more smoke flavor so I wrap it up in tin foil and finish in the oven as others have described above.

I estimated 1.072 OG based on calculations, and i got a reading of 1.007 (8 Brix) 8.5% alcohol.

It has been a month. It smells just about right. I took a refractometer reading and it's 7.5% alcohol (I didn't have a refractometer at the time I made the wort, so I used the theoretical 70% efficiency value as my O.G.). Time to bottle.

And we have activity:

Well, we're in the fermenter. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Sounds good, I plan to brew this next week once the fermenter is free. Thanks for the help!

Well, that makes more sense that its a chocolate malt rather than actual chocolate, i feel kinda silly for asking now. Some other questions that may make me feel silly later: I assume this would be for a 5 gallon batch? When should the sugar be added? During the boil?

Awesome, thanks for finding this! Any thoughts on the what/when of the chocolate? Would a gourmet dark chocolate work? I was thinking about adding it near the end of the boil. They don't mean baker's chocolate do they? Since I'm new to homebrew, how would I know how long this needs to...

I brewed this as my first ever homebrew. It's been in the fermenter for 5 days now. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

I'm looking for the New Belgium clones published in the December 2010 issue of BYO. I think the article spans pages 42 - 50. Specifically I'd like the recipe they published for the Abbey. I've recently fallen in love with this beer and would like to brew it as my 2nd ever homebrew. The first...