Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Mon Sep 19, 2016 7:49 am

So far we have 4 sours brewed..2 mild ....and 1 dipa. Our goal is to have all of the categories brewed by months end
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by Keith » Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:32 am

jacinthebox wrote:So far we have 4 sours brewed..2 mild ....and 1 dipa. Our goal is to have all of the categories brewed by months end
Life's got in the way, not sure if I'll have time to brew or not.
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by MitchK » Mon Sep 19, 2016 3:38 pm

I had some technical difficulties with the only brew I tried to do so far (the mild - chiller hose came loose, sprayed water everywhere including into the kettle... Wound up throwing some mixed brett + sach culture in alongside the english ale yeast and a bit of sugar to up the gravity after it measured kinda low to at least get something out of it but obviously not the competition dark mild)... I'll have to really hustle to get all 3 batches done in time now.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by amartin » Mon Sep 19, 2016 4:46 pm

It's still over two months away, and DIPA and mild ale (sour I'm not so familiar with) don't generally need a lot of aging time. I'm on the fence about brewing for this, but if I do it won't be until October anyway. Hops fade and mild ale is fresh by definition.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Mon Sep 19, 2016 8:08 pm

Very true. Lots of time to brew for this
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by chalmers » Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:56 am

They don't call kettle sours "quick sours" for nothing: they can definitely be turned around in a short period of time.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by KB1138 » Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:23 am

Did my first test run of the mild last night. Wanted to do it early so I can tweak it if necessary. My DIPA I am already happy with.
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by oceanic_brew » Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:57 pm

My mild has been kegged for a week now and my god it's delcious. Grain to glass in two weeks. Also the first beer I've produced with my upgraded fermentation chamber.

I'll definitely need to brew the mild and DIPA again.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by chalmers » Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:52 pm

Well done, looking forward to trying it!

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:53 pm

6 of our 12 entries are bottled up. The rest are still carbing
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by chalmers » Sun Nov 13, 2016 6:18 pm

Hello folks! Just a reminder that there is only 2 weeks left until the competition!

I will be doing a bit of a Maritime tour this week, so can help bring entries from PEI (in town Monday night) and NB (Saint John Wed night, Fredericton Thursday night, and Moncton Friday on my way home) to NS for the judging. If that sounds appealing to you, EMAIL me and let's make a date. We'd love to have even more entries than in previous years, as we've got lots of thirsty judges, and beer and goodies to give away at the Party on the 27th!

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by LeafMan66_67 » Sun Nov 13, 2016 7:52 pm

chalmers wrote:Hello folks! Just a reminder that there is only 2 weeks left until the competition!

I will be doing a bit of a Maritime tour this week, so can help bring entries from PEI (in town Monday night) and NB (Saint John Wed night, Fredericton Thursday night, and Moncton Friday on my way home) to NS for the judging. If that sounds appealing to you, EMAIL me and let's make a date. We'd love to have even more entries than in previous years, as we've got lots of thirsty judges, and beer and goodies to give away at the Party on the 27th!
Hey Chris - are you the drop off location for HRM entries as well? If so, I will arrange for a drop off at your place at your convenience.
"He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by chalmers » Sun Nov 13, 2016 11:36 pm

LeafMan66_67 wrote:
chalmers wrote:Hello folks! Just a reminder that there is only 2 weeks left until the competition!

I will be doing a bit of a Maritime tour this week, so can help bring entries from PEI (in town Monday night) and NB (Saint John Wed night, Fredericton Thursday night, and Moncton Friday on my way home) to NS for the judging. If that sounds appealing to you, EMAIL me and let's make a date. We'd love to have even more entries than in previous years, as we've got lots of thirsty judges, and beer and goodies to give away at the Party on the 27th!
Hey Chris - are you the drop off location for HRM entries as well? If so, I will arrange for a drop off at your place at your convenience.
Yessir! And that goes for other folks too. Probably best to organize a drop off starting Saturday the 19th or later, due to this week's travels.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:07 am

Just waiting for a couple beer to finish carbing...then we'll bottle them up and bring them to you this weekend or early next week (whenever you're free)

We just need to send the labeled bottles, and the entry fee correct? Since the forms were emailed?
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by chalmers » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:51 pm

jacinthebox wrote:Just waiting for a couple beer to finish carbing...then we'll bottle them up and bring them to you this weekend or early next week (whenever you're free)

We just need to send the labeled bottles, and the entry fee correct? Since the forms were emailed?
Yes, I just need obviously-marked bottles (brewer name and style), and the entry fee (could also be EMT'ed to bigsprucebrewing<at>gmail.com). If you have already emailed the form, great! If not, be sure to include it with the bottles.

And a note: with the Experimental Sour, be sure to give us some details on the extra ingredients and/or techniques used. The more info the judges have at their disposal, the better.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by chalmers » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:59 pm

I am out of town until Friday evening, but am around Saturday, and Sunday until 3pm. Will also be available most evenings Nov 21-25. I live in Spryfield.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by MitchK » Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:44 pm

kegging my last entry now, will burst carb it and it should be bottled early next week

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by Keith » Thu Nov 17, 2016 10:33 pm

I'll be bottling mine Monday and will try to meet up with Chris Tuesday. I'm in for atleast 1 beer. I'll give the sour another taste on Sunday; but right now I'm not happy with it. And I'll be brewing my big spruce dipa on Saturday. Wish I found the time to brew it sooner. 10.5 lbs of hops. 9.1% abv. 6.5 SRM. 111 calculated ibu. I can't wait!
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:40 am

:rockin:
Last edited by jacinthebox on Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:41 am

Keith wrote:I'll be bottling mine Monday and will try to meet up with Chris Tuesday. I'm in for atleast 1 beer. I'll give the sour another taste on Sunday; but right now I'm not happy with it. And I'll be brewing my big spruce dipa on Saturday. Wish I found the time to brew it sooner. 10.5 lbs of hops. 9.1% abv. 6.5 SRM. 111 calculated ibu. I can't wait!
10.5lbs of hops lol...ho lee shit
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by Keith » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:43 am

Lol. Just a few. It's only a 20 gal batch too lol.
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by jacinthebox » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:45 am

Lol....that's crazy. I thought my dipa was expensive
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by Keith » Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:48 am

jacinthebox wrote:Lol....that's crazy. I thought my dipa was expensive
This isn't cheap by no means. I only brew it once a year due to the cost.
I can only justify a DIPA and IPA once in a while due to the amount of hops I use. Typically I don't go much hoppier than a APA.
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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by LiverDance » Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:49 am

Keith wrote:Lol. Just a few. It's only a 20 gal batch too lol.
That's cute, I've got 3.4lbs in a 5 gallon batch :rockin:
"Twenty years ago — a time, by the way, that hops such as Simcoe and Citra were already being developed, but weren’t about to find immediate popularity — there wasn’t a brewer on earth who would have gone to the annual Hop Growers of American convention and said, “I’m going to have a beer that we make 4,000 barrels of, one time a year. It flies off the shelf at damn near $20 a six-pack, and you know what it smells like? It smells like your cat ate your weed and then pissed in the Christmas tree.” - Bell’s Brewery Director of Operations John Mallet on the scent of their popular Hopslam.

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Re: Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge 2016

Post by Keith » Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:56 am

LiverDance wrote:
Keith wrote:Lol. Just a few. It's only a 20 gal batch too lol.
That's cute, I've got 3.4lbs in a 5 gallon batch :rockin:
Fawk that's a metric shit ton of hops.
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