O-Town, Ontario in the house!

[Brewdhomme]

Hey everyone!

Have been brewing the odd kit batch since I was 16 (helped get around that whole drinking age thing!). Anyways, they were never terrible (well sometimes), but never great, micro-brew calibre either. Lately, I've just resumed brewing and decided to try a LHBS's recipe for an Irish Red (extract with some steeping)...thought I would step it up a bit! Totally blown away and that's only off the post-fermentation samples...brew is carbing as we speak. So my passion for HB'ing has been reinvigorated :rockin: I beefed up my equip, dl'd BrewSmith and have begun reading up on this art/science more seriously. Next up is the incredible sounding Deception Stout (NCBeernut's recipe). I can see Partial in my future...maybe even some AG eventually! If I can ever replicate an Innis and Gunn batch (mmm...oaky toffee vanilla)...I can die a happy man. Just wanted to say hello from Ottawa, Canada, and reply to a couple local brewer's threads. This is an amazing forum with an incredible amount of info...love the community feel! Cheers dudes!

 

[Revelator]

Happy to see another Ottawa brewer on here...I just joined this group recently as well - Its amazing how this site seems to hold all the answers, even to the most specific brewing questions...As for an innis and gun clone - Im currently brewing up a brown ale with toasted oak - Which Im hoping will taste similar...if the whole thing works out, Ill give you a copy of my recipe/notes

Also...Im an AG brewer - So if you are ever planning on making the jump to/ or need a demonstration....just let me know

Cheers

 

[sweetcell]

quick chime-in from an ottawa-area native - born n' raised in aylmer. welcome!

 

[Brewdhomme]

Nice Revelator! ive got a nut brown on the go myself...adding vanilla bean and a considering carbing it w/ maple syrup but sounds like its kind of tricky from the posts i've read...might just do half the batch w/ the maple. Anyways, def keep me up to speed on how that I&G clone works out!!

Sweetcell - I saw your Hop comparison table - is Ottawa a good climate for some hop vines in the garden? Definitely gonna have to look into that this summer...

 

[sweetcell]

hops will grow just fine in ottawa. growing season is a little shorter than prime growing locations (pacific northwest, ohio, etc) so you might not quite the same harvest that those areas would - but 90% (or whatever the exact percentage) of a haul of fresh hops is certainly enough motivation to get plantin', no?

in fact, several types of hops don't like hot weather so you have more options that folks who are farther south (even though the ottawa valley can get pretty dang muggy in the summer...)

 

[Brewdhomme]

Thanks man - after checking other posts on HBT, I noticed hops can be poisonous to dogs! I have a Samoyed and a Golden Retriever who rule the back yard...so that might be an issue. Seems that used hops (covered in sweet sticky wort) is the main danger, but not sure I wanna take the chance. Might grow em at a buddies place instead, just to be safe. Anyways, thx for the info!

 

[boo boo]

So are you Ottawa guys a part of our group http://barleyment.wort.ca/ ? If not, we have an active e-mail chat list if you are interested.

Cheers and welcome to HBT.

 

[Revelator]

Nice Revelator! ive got a nut brown on the go myself...adding vanilla bean and a considering carbing it w/ maple syrup but sounds like its kind of tricky from the posts i've read...might just do half the batch w/ the maple. Anyways, def keep me up to speed on how that I&G clone works out!!

Sweetcell - I saw your Hop comparison table - is Ottawa a good climate for some hop vines in the garden? Definitely gonna have to look into that this summer...

Well...as for using maple/vanilla, Ive been soaking toasted oak cubes in some maple syrup for a couple weeks and will soon add them to the fermenter - Im hoping that the vanilla flavour comes through from the oak...I toasted them specifically for that flavour profile - Something like a toast at 390F for 3 hours produces vanilla flavours...If it needs more, I can always add it later...It will be a while before Ill be able to comment on it though...I brewed it strong, so conditioning will take several months

 

[Brewdhomme]

So are you Ottawa guys a part of our group http://barleyment.wort.ca/ ? If not, we have an active e-mail chat list if you are interested.

Cheers and welcome to HBT.

Boo Boo - I signed up last week but haven't seen any emails...just tried signing up again with [email protected]. Anyone ever propose a casual Home Brew tasting club in Ottawa at this Barleyment site? Sounds like a worthy cause to champion!

Well...as for using maple/vanilla, Ive been soaking toasted oak cubes in some maple syrup for a couple weeks and will soon add them to the fermenter - Im hoping that the vanilla flavour comes through from the oak...I toasted them specifically for that flavour profile - Something like a toast at 390F for 3 hours produces vanilla flavours...If it needs more, I can always add it later...It will be a while before Ill be able to comment on it though...I brewed it strong, so conditioning will take several months

Revs - sounds wicked. Looking fwd to hearing how your experiment turns out. If only Innis and Gunn came in swing top bottles, I'd have no problem shelling out $$ for I&G by the case load!

 

[boo boo]

Boo Boo - I signed up last week but haven't seen any emails...just tried signing up again with [email protected]. Anyone ever propose a casual Home Brew tasting club in Ottawa at this Barleyment site? Sounds like a worthy cause to champion!
d!

You have to go to this https://secure.neap.net/mailman/listinfo/brewers page to sign up, and a g-mail account or some other e-mail account that can handle high traffic volumes would be recommended for sign up.

Although due to geography, I don't participate in many functions other than virtual, there is quite a lot of club activity including big brews and this year a club pro/am comp with Beau's Brewery.

 

[sweetcell]

Thanks man - after checking other posts on HBT, I noticed hops can be poisonous to dogs! I have a Samoyed and a Golden Retriever who rule the back yard...so that might be an issue. Seems that used hops (covered in sweet sticky wort) is the main danger, but not sure I wanna take the chance. Might grow em at a buddies place instead, just to be safe. Anyways, thx for the info!

Please do a search for "hops pets" on this forum. While some dogs have a genetic predisposition to hop toxicity, it seems that it is exceptionally rare- to the point of making it a statistical anomaly. Make your own decision, but my take is that hop poisoning is way overblown.

 

[boo boo]

Please do a search for "hops pets" on this forum. While some dogs have a genetic predisposition to hop toxicity, it seems that it is exceptionally rare- to the point of making it a statistical anomaly. Make your own decision, but my take is that hop poisoning is way overblown.

A brewing friend in our club in Ottawa recently had his dog to the vet after the dog ate spent grain with the leftover from the boil, ( hops ) on top.
Dog just pulled through.
So it isn't a myth.