Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

so i've got some grains and a little hops lying around. trying to figure out what to make with it. i was thinking about just mini-mashing it all together, but now i'm not sure. what would you make?

0.5lb carapils
0.5lb vienna
0.5lb crystal 60
0.5lb chocolate
6oz crystal 40
6oz crystal 80
0.25lb black malt
0.5oz centennial 9.9AA
1oz brewer's gold 6AA

plus about 7.5lbs of extract.

I'd throw it together and see what you get. You'll need a little more hops. But you could end up with something in the Baltic Porter area. The black malt will dry it out and add bittersweet, but hell, I'd give it shot.

i second that, dosn't sound to bad actualy, maybe alittle more hops , or throw in some oats smooth it out and leave the hops love.

i was kinda thinkin about everything but the chocolate and black. brewtoad tells me it'll be a little over 7% and roughly fit the old ale category. but there's no way i'd be able to let it sit long enough to classify it as 'old'.

I agree. I'd call it an Imperial Irish Red, no black malt, halve the chocolate and ferment with WLP004. Beersmith file attached for your use.

imperial irish red sounds great! i think that's exactly what i'll shoot for!

so i brewed it. everything in but half the chocolate and none of the black. nice deep red color. but i'm having a slight fermentation issue: OG was 1.062 on sunday night before i pitched my yeast; bubbling away monday morning when i checked before work; tuesday after work there's no activity in the airlock. checked gravity thursday after work and i'm only down to 1.025.

all my temps were spot on, basement temp is between 65 and 70. i know i scortched my extract just a tad as i was cleaning out the can 'cuz i could hear it, but that was only about 10 seconds worth before it got stirred in. maybe these carmelized sugars and my lack of attention are to blame?

more yeast maybe? (used danstar windsor btw)

or maybe i should just chill out and give it some time to work.

Windsor is not a very attenuative yeast but 1.025 sounds like it's not done. Definitely give it more time. I keep beers in primary for weeks at stretch sometimes.

Yep, leave it alone...I wouldn't fret it til it's been a few weeks, even a month, and it's still not attenuated. You can try shaking it to re-suspend the yeast. Sometimes that's all it takes.

i'm kinda antsy, so i'll probably give it a good shake just for peace of mind.

so i got impatient and pitched some nottingham a couple weeks ago. after about a week it produced a small kraeusen shich subsided after a few days. checked the grav today and i'm down to 1.018. still tastes a little sweet, but altogether pretty tasty.

think i should let it sit a little longer? or is it about as good as it's gonna get?

That's 71% apparent attenuation. Sounds like it's done to me.