Wyeast 1187 - Ringwood Ale

In the primary right now I have a maple porter fermenting with Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale. I spent the first two days concerned that something was wrong as I was seeing no action in the airlock. My suspicions arose on brew night when my smack pack didn't swell. Before freaking out and taking excessive actions on my beer I turned to the internet. A few searches for Wyeast 1187 reveal that it is a temperamental yeast that produces fabulous results.

Read through this post on HomeBrewTalk.com to learn more about Ringwood from home brewers a lot smarter than me.

Cheers

Big Blimp IPA

Wanted to take a minute to share a recipe and notes from the BLack IMperial IPA that was brewed back in early September. Big Blimp... get it? So far I've gotten a lot of good feedback and I'm pretty proud of the brew. The recipe was derived from the grain bill of a Black IPA (not a CDA) and the measured amounts of an Imperial IPA. This is a partial extract recipe

Yeast:
2 packs Wyeast 1056

Grain:
1 lb Crystal 60
1 lb Brown malt
12 oz De-bittered black

Extract:
8 lb light LME

Hops:
1.67 oz Warrior (bittering)
6 oz Amarillo (aroma)

Other:
8 oz Turbinado raw sugar
1 tsp Irish mos
Yeast nutrient

Boil:
Steep grains for 30 min @ 160 deg F
Bring to boil. Add 1/3 DME
Add bittering hops (45min)
Add 2/3 DME, 1/3 aroma hops, sugar, Irish moss, nutrient (15min)
Add 1/3 aroma hops end of boil

Fermentation:
7-10 days in primary
14 days in 2ndry (dry hop w/ 1/3 aroma hops after 2 days)

I hope everyone enjoys. Feel free to comment.
Cheers!

A Really Fun Vid from Philly Beer Week 2010

Watching this video makes me wonder what it would have been like to have Adolphus Busch, Frederick Miller, Adolph Coors, and Joseph Schlitz all sit around a table and tell stories of their beginnings.

#occupyinsertcity

While everyone is busy protesting with their #occupyinsertcity I say the the world could benefit more from a celebration. Life's problems are some much more easily solved over a good beer. So let's all raise a glass and #occupybrewpub. I'll have aDFH Punkin Ale.