Opinions please :)

[hmiles86]

Had some extra money laying around so I decided to order my second Ingredient kit! First let me say, I'm very excited to brew again! With so many freaking options, I decided to buy the Caribou Slobber from Northern brewer. Any opinions out there on this particular beer. Worth the money? Tast? Like I said, this is my second brew thanks for all the inputs

 

[hunter_le five]

That's a very popular recipe, and should be very good if everything goes right with the brew-day and fermentation.

Look for a beer in your local bottle shop called "Moose Drool" by Big Sky Brewing Company; that's the flavor you're going for. A very malty (and very delicious) brown ale.

 

[hmiles86]

Awesome, ya I've had moose drool very tasty! Thanks for the input.

 

[butterpants]

This was the first beer I made. My thoughts :

I followed the instructions to the letter and never did any of the 'refinements' many do in extract brewing except for a full boil. Fermented 2 weeks in primary and a month in secondary. Made a 1L yeast starter. Kegged it.

Initially I only thought it was ok. The bitterness got to me and felt it was a little thin on mouthfeel and complexity. Then it spent 4 months in a keg. It got so tasty that all my neighbors and I pretty much said 'you need to always have this on tap'. REALLY took on a new flavor with age. It was a great learning experience for me.

That being said, Moose Drool while is the same style tasted pretty much very different than my brew. Even did side by side taste tests. I liked them both but the real deal was much deeper in flavor. My brew felt more refreshing and sessionable.

No experience with partial mash or all grain.

Hope this helps!

 

[hmiles86]

That helped tremendously, thank you!!! I'm gonna age a little then so I can really enjoy it. I don't keg though, so it might be a little different. I'm still really new to brewing, so I hope it comes out great. If I don't have a secondary, so you recommend me getting one for that brew or should I leave it In primary for a month or two, then bottle condition for another month or two? Will leaving it in the primary that long, ruin anything?

 

[butterpants]

That helped tremendously, thank you!!! I'm gonna age a little then so I can really enjoy it. I don't keg though, so it might be a little different. I'm still really new to brewing, so I hope it comes out great. If I don't have a secondary, so you recommend me getting one for that brew or should I leave it In primary for a month or two, then bottle condition for another month or two? Will leaving it in the primary that long, ruin anything?

You can bottle age and get similar results to batch aging. No need to worry about a secondary, keep it in your bucket/carboy primary a month, bottle it and let them sit another 2 months. Though the more fermentors you have, better the pipeline is!

 

[hmiles86]

Ok thanks I'll give that a try. I'm definitely going to be buying a few more fermenters. Dang this obsession

 

[brewkinger]

+1 to letting it age.

Slobber is definitely one that needs to age. Along those same lines, IMO, all good brown ales need about a month or more of conditioning at the right temps to go from good to great.