Ok,Im going to be makeing a trip to the hbs soon and if I could I would buy out the entire shelves, but then Im married, with two kids, and at this point in my life dont need a divorce.A Plus for me is Ive been there once and you dont have to hit me upside the head with a bat twice! Anyhow, not the point I started this post with and its time to talk BEER! So, with all said, Im stuck with thoughts of a Biscuit belgian ale,Munich porter,strong belgian ale(havent made a dubbel yet),a espresso oatmeal stout(hmmm? yum!) or a Rye Imperial brany barrel stout..................Help....this is addictive!! Lets see what you all think.

What's the prob, guy? Create a seperate account(one that wife knows nothing about) and buy the ingredients/carboys to brew all of the above

For my taste buds, summer is apon us and I generally start brewing thirst-quenching brews, something lite-ish. But all the beers you listed really do sound good.
Good luck.

So tough to make a decision...especially since I've spent a ton over the last week preparing for 30-40 gallons over the next two weeks (since I'm on vacation) and stocking up base malts so I'll pretty much be set for the rest of the year.

What's your supply look like? If you've got plenty on hand brewing something that takes a long time like the Rye Imperial Stout you mentioned might be fine. If you're running low something quicker is definitely the right thing to brew.

Right now to me I'd say dubbel, but that's because I'm drinking mine and it's damn good. But that's just me.

I second the dubbel. I'm planning one out as we speak.

A well-made dubbel with a low FG is great for summer evenings.

My dubbel is lurking in secondary, mocking me.

(earmuffs, Denny) . . . I can't wait to sip on a bunch of nice, simple wheat beers over the summer . . . they're tangy, tasty, and quick from kettle to glass. If my mango wheat experiment isn't horrible, I'll share the details.

Chris, you also can't go wrong with a munich porter, pretty much any time of the year.

So, what did you decide on?

I brewed up 11 gallons of Hefeweizen Tuesday that's happily fermenting along and brewing up another 11 gallons or so of Flanders Red tomorrow. Still not quite sure what I'm planning for the next few weeks. Thinking of Berliner Weisse, Tripel, maybe Dubbel, and more Flanders Red though the next batch of it could wait a few weeks.

Hey, Boonie. I'm also on vacation this week. Brewed a nice IPA on Monday and a belgian tripel today. Life is good and I'm PUI right now sipping on a toasted coconut porter.

Wahoo!!

It definitely rocks being on vacation. It's been over a year since I've had a week off between school and work, so I took two after graduation, still hard to shake the feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something that isn't fun or relaxing though.

Toasted coconut porter, tell me more!

Tuesday being my first brewday in months meant I had to take a day off before doing another though. Broke my thermometer in half during the early portion of my mash since it was super thick and then pulled my chiller out 5 minutes into the boil and found it had blown a hole in itself since my last session even though it had made it through most of the winter and had to rush to the hardware store to pick up copper for a new one, though the new one turned out really nice without any kinks and no leaks between the hose and the chiller itself.

I'm PUI too sipping on dubbels that're up around 9% and a first try of my barleywine that is sitting around 14% and as drinkable as an IPA.

Quote jmo
My dubbel is lurking in secondary, mocking me.

(earmuffs, Denny) . . . I can't wait to sip on a bunch of nice, simple wheat beers over the summer . . . they're tangy, tasty, and quick from kettle to glass. If my mango wheat experiment isn't horrible, I'll share the details.

Chris, you also can't go wrong with a munich porter, pretty much any time of the year.

This here Florida boy is interested in that Mango wheat, seeing as I can get them fresh off the tree come summer!!!!!!!

I'm trying to be patient - it's only been in bottles since Sunday. I loves me some mangoes! I'll report soon . . .

Update.....Went to the brew store and ended up on the oatmeal stout and the dubbel. Plus a fifty pound sack of two row,another corny,guess im switching to ball locks. surprisenly had quite a selection of hops, so stocked up till my rhizomes take off again. took them outside to soon,should come back I hope. Nice weather here finally! so I guess outside stuff also.

Chris - I just looked at your profile - I've been up your way often, mostly to Arrowwood Resort - awesome area! My hops are doing great down here in SF - about 3 feet tall now, and curling around the split rail fence just like I told them to. What's your local HBS?

Great to talk with ya jmo, I have to travel to St.cloud, about an hour each way.Yes, Arrowwood is nice, spendy, but if your a fisherman like myself,not many better places than mid and northern MN..

Okay, Jim, a report on the Mango Wheat . . . first accounts are all positive! I had already downed a homebrew or three before the taste test, so my tastebuds were a little biased, but others who tried it thought it was really good. I used the fruit from two mangoes for about 3 quarts, and for my money, it could have used more fruit - or maybe the mangoes needed to be more ripe. But I will be making a full batch of this after the successful experiment . . .

Base Recipe
5 lbs. 2-row
3 lbs. wheat malt
.5 lb. biscuit
.5 oz. Sterling pellets (FWH)
.5 oz. Sterling pellets (60 min.)
WB-06

mashed @ 151* for 60 min, batch sparged to collect 6 gallons.

I usually let this recipe sit in primary for about 2 weeks and go straight to bottles - but for the experiment, I pulled off 3 quarts to a smaller fermenter to add the mangoes, then the rest went to secondary for a week or so.

Compared to the cost of golf, fishing, hunting....brewing is next to nothing. You also don't drink and drive when you are home. My 2 cents.