Erisian Brewer's Cadre. Or: How I saw the Goddess in the first place

[Luna]

My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.

Oh, my...  Let me know how that goes, it sounds interesting!

Will do.  It's my first serious attempt at a mead.  I made some years ago, but I did it in 2 liter bottles, this is going to be in a proper carboy and taken much more careful care of.

My first attempt with mead is still fermenting...  Another month or so to go, I think.

[Suu]

My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.

Be careful with those sharp herbs, they can make something very bitter. I would recommend putting them in the primary OR secondary, but not both. The smell also gets into everything, especially if you get fresh.

My former housemates and I made an anisette, which, although delicious when it was done, made me sick after the smell of star anise permeated everything in the kitchen, my downstairs workroom and their office. It got into EVERYTHING and made us nauseous, so use sparingly. It took about 2 weeks for the smell to go away after we used up all the anise and the liqueur was contained in a jar.

[BabylonHoruv]

My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.

Be careful with those sharp herbs, they can make something very bitter. I would recommend putting them in the primary OR secondary, but not both. The smell also gets into everything, especially if you get fresh.

My former housemates and I made an anisette, which, although delicious when it was done, made me sick after the smell of star anise permeated everything in the kitchen, my downstairs workroom and their office. It got into EVERYTHING and made us nauseous, so use sparingly. It took about 2 weeks for the smell to go away after we used up all the anise and the liqueur was contained in a jar.

I'd like everything smelling like anise, but my wife would not so thanks for the warning.

I'll probably put it in the primary.

[Jenne]

How good is summertime for making booze, y'all?  I will have time and $ to do so (finally), but I wanted to know if it's best to brew when it's colder or warmer?

[Precious Moments Zalgo]

How good is summertime for making booze, y'all?  I will have time and $ to do so (finally), but I wanted to know if it's best to brew when it's colder or warmer?

Depends on what you're brewing and where you keep your fermenter.  English, American, and German style beers do better when it's colder.  Belgian and French style beers do better when it's warmer.  All kinds of beer prefer steady or gradually changing temps to fluctuating temps.

Summertime is great for making Saisons.  Saison yeasts like to be in the 80's or even 90's.  Start it at room temperature, and let it build up to the higher temps.

[BabylonHoruv]

How good is summertime for making booze, y'all?  I will have time and $ to do so (finally), but I wanted to know if it's best to brew when it's colder or warmer?

California summertime (at elast Southern California) is hot enough that you are gonna need to cool down the beer or wine a bit or you'll get all sorts of off flavors.  Even in a Saison.  On the other hand if it is in your house in your air conditioning it should be fine.

[Jenne]

Ok, what's the max temp then?  Summers in San Diego are actually DAMN mild...it's our FALL/AUTUMN season that tends to be hotter than hell.  September/October temps here are in the 80's and 90's...

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Max temp for what?
Whatcha thinkin of making?

[Jenne]

BOOZE, MAN!

In all seriousness, I've been MEANING to brew something for a while now, but haven't had the time.  I will shortly have some.  But I was worried about the temps that I'd be dealing with in the near future.  I'm thinking if I start say this weekend and giter bubbling by the end of the month, I'd beat the onslaught of summer heat coming at the end of July and August.

[Jenne]

Max temp for what?
Whatcha thinkin of making?

so probably beer and mead 

[Precious Moments Zalgo]

Different yeast strains have different preferred temperature ranges.  You can see a chart of the most common homebrewer beer yeasts here:
http://byo.com/resources/yeast

Coopers Ale yeast is a dry yeast that is pretty versatile and has a wide temperature range, 68-80F.  I have used that yeast in several kinds of beer, and also in cider.

If your house is air conditioned, then any dark place inside your house should be good enough for most ale yeasts.  You could also keep your fermenter in a wash-tub or large bucket with water and wrap a towel around it.  As the towel wicks up the water and the water evaporates, it will cool your fermenter down.  This works even better if you can keep a fan blowing on it.

[BabylonHoruv]

Max temp for what?
Whatcha thinkin of making?

so probably beer and mead 

What kind of beer makes a big difference.  If you are making a Saison, or a Belgian farmhouse ale it can tolerate a good bit of heat, you could have the ambient temp in the 80's and probably be fine.  If you are making a pale ale you need to keep it considerably lower (down in the low 60's if I remember right, but I don't brew Pale Ale's so I may be wrong) If you are doing a lager it's gotta be even colder and needs a period of "lagering" where it is down in the 30's.

[Jenne]

THANKS GUYS!!!!

[Precious Moments Zalgo]

If any of you spags can be in Charlotte NC on October 8, I'll be here.  Tickets will go on sale Friday morning at 11:00 EDT.  I get in "free" because I did the website.

Last year, there were over 400 different beers available for sampling, including commercial and homebrews.  My homebrew club was serving double IPA's through a hop randall, and we should be doing that again this year.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

I love the randall.

One year at Redlight Redlight they put smoked pumpkin soaked in FL whiskey in the randall and ran DFH punkin ale.