Some Random Pictures

Nut Brown Ale 1

Bottoms Up! Golden Road Ale

Nut Brown 1

Golden Road Ale

India Pale Ale 2

Here we go, round two of my India Pale Ale. Matty came over to help me out with this last night (Tuesday). It went very well. However, both of my 7 gallon glass carboys are being used (Nut Brown and Pale Ale) so I had to use my 6 gallon Better Bottle. I am not sure if I like the Better Bottle or not. There is something about glass that seems so pure and clean.
Here we have Northern Brewer Plugs and Cascade Pellets. I like to use plugs exclusively, but my Brew Store was out of Cascade plugs.
This recipe was a little different from the last one I did. The grains for this recipe included 5 lbs 2 Row Pale Malt, 2 lbs 6 Row, 1 lb 10 degree Crystal Malt, 1/2 lb Cara-Pils, 1/2 lb Victory (Biscuit) Malt and 1/4 lb Roasted Barley. I also had to go with 3 pounds of Extract Powder due to my small pots that can't fit over 10 pounds of grain (specifically, my sparge pot). I also used Northern Brewer and Cascade Hops. I used 1 1/2 ounces of Gypsum, and I forgot to add the Irish Moss until the boil was over. So, no Irish Moss in this one. I went with Nottingham Ale Yeast once again.

The last IPA I did had a 1/4 pound more Roasted Barley and no Victory Malt. I also used 1/2 ounce of Fuggles included in the aroma hops (sorry traditionalists) in my previous attempt. This one has no Fuggles, just an extra half ounce of Northern Brewer Hops. My first IPA got many rave reviews as possibly the best beer I have made yet. Hopefully this one is as good. Either way, this is beer and I will drink it...even if it tastes like dirt!

The O.G. ended up at 1.052. My last IPA O.G was 1.060! Hmmmm....

LOOK! I am not balding yet, at age 33!!!

Here we have (l to r) India Pale Ale 2, Nut Brown 2 and Pale Ale! Look at that vigorous Pale Ale!

New Brew Created: Pale Ale

Mark and I brewed up a Pale Ale on Saturday. I went with Maris Otter Malt as the base for this one. Other malts used were a bit of 60 Lovibond Crystal, some Cara-Pils and a touch of Honey Malt as well as a few pounds of Malt Extract Powder. I went with Cascade and Amarillo Hops as well. These might not be the "official" hops for a Pale Ale, but I went with them nonetheless. Good old Nottingham Ale Yeast has the honor of devouring this specific grain sugar soup. I have never used Honey Malt and Maris Otter before, so I am excited to see how this turns out. It ended up with an Original Gravity of 1.054.

Dunkelweizen 2 All Bottled Up

On Monday, March 22, Matt and I bottled up the second attempt at my Dunkelweizen. This beer includes Wheat Malt, 2 Row Pale malt, German Munich Malt, Crystal Malt, Chocolate malt and a bit o' Black Patent Malt, as well as 3 pounds of Malt Extract Powder (partial mashing still!). Oh yeah, I also added 2 pounds of Instant Rice as an experiment and to boost the alcohol content. Safbrew Wheat Beer Yeast (WB-06)was the choice here and I used Amarillo hops because I can.

Looks like we have 5.5 percent ABV brew here. I thought it would be a bit higher, but this will do.

Since I brew 7 gallon batches, I have been using 1 cup of priming sugar. This seems to be not quite enough. My beers need more head! I boosted this batch up to 1 1/8 cup. We will see how much more carbonation this adds.

While bottling, we enjoyed some of my recently bottled wine (as an experiment, since it had been bottled only a few days) some Nut Brown Ales and some Golden Road Ales. Very nice. These two beers had been bottled for 5 weeks and they both seemed as if they were not quite ready. My brew closet stays at 67 to 68 degrees constantly. I go by the 1 month in carboy and 1 month in bottles at 70 degrees rule. Perhaps the few degrees below 70 leads to a bit more time needed in the bottles? Either way, this was a fun and successful experience!

Ice Wine All Bottled Up

Today I bottled up my first attempt at wine of any kind, a Riesling Ice Wine. The entire experience went very well. I made the wine from a kit, so that helped make it easy for my first time. It is not much different than making beer, except you do not have to boil up anything other than a few cups of water with some specific ingredient packets.

This 3 gallon batch filled twenty two--375ml Ice Wine bottles and six--12 ounce beer bottles, as well as my nice sample glass!

I actually corked up an empty wine bottle in the joyous chaos of bottling. The best part was that I siphoned the last 2 cups or so of wine of the carboy and sampled it in a glass...AMAZING! This 12.25% ABV beauty is sweet and smooth! I will definitely do this again.

Nut Brown 2

Yesterday Mark and I brewed up the second installment of Nut Brown Ale attempts. This included 2 Row Pale Malt, German Munich Malt, Wheat Malt, 60 degree Crystal Malt, Chocolate Malt and Black Patent Malt and a bit of Dried Light Extract Powder. The only hops used were Fuggles. I went with Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast rather than Nottingham, which I usually use. Seven gallons fermenting away. The process went well, and we had fun brewing it up!

Colors

Lately I have been extremely interested in the colors of beer: appreciating the colors other brewers create with their recipes and attempting to do the same.

Findings

• 1/2 pound alone of roasted barley in a 6 gallon recipe makes for a dark amber beer (see above India Pale Ale)
• Seven gallons, composed of 2 row pale malt, 10 degree crystal malt and 1 pound light extract powder make for a lightly, slightly darkened yellow beer (See UnAmerican Ale/Golden Road 2)
• Of course, to reach a lighter color than the previous finding, one must use a small amount (depending on desired lightness of color) of rice and/or corn
• Seven gallons or less: 1/2 pound chocolate malt in a recipe of "light" malts make for light/medium brown color, include 1/4 black patent when attempting Brown and darker recipe style colors

The Brew Closet, Currently

I just wanted to share my brew closet with all of you. The Ice Wine is clearing up nicely and will be ready to bottle in 5 days (see above). I also have a Dunkelweizen that will be ready in 5 days as well. There is the equivalent of approximately 12 cases of beer in here in various forms: 22 ounce bombers, 12 ounce bottles, and I have even been bottling in growlers. We have a Riesling Ice Wine, a Dunkelweizen, UnAmerican Ales, Nut Brown Ales, Oatmeal Stouts and India Pale Ales. I am so proud of my babies!

Oatmeal Stout is Bottled!

Seven gallons of Oatmeal Stout were bottled today. I got off work early, so I took advantage of the time. It is a nice, black as night brew with a hint of coffee (and I did not add any coffee). I tasted some and it was great! I can't wait until it is fully bottle conditioned and carbonated!

Ingredients: 4 lbs 2 Row Pale, 2 lbs 80 degree Crystal, 2 lbs flaked oats, 1 lb Black Patent, 1 lb chocolate malt, 1/2 lb roasted barley, 6.6 lbs Dark Malt Extract Syrup (I prefer extract powder, but my local brew store was out) 2 oz German Hallertauer and 1 oz Tettnanger.

I came up with this recipe by looking at different recipes in my few brew recipe books, as well as Homebrew talk .com, and piecing together what I hope will work well. This is how I have been creating/stealing my recipes over the last year.

However, my notes don't make sense on my ratio for boiling and aroma hops. I'll try to decipher them when I replicate this later. Oh yeah, and I used Nottingham Ale Yeast.

I tried a sort of filter while siphoning into my bottling bucket (thanks Matt), and it caught a fair amount. I have also been bottling in growlers the last few batches and it seems to work well. I guess they are not rated for pressure? So hopefully one won't explode someday...so far so good.

Looks like this brew is only 5 percent alcohol by volume. I was afraid it would be low, but I am limited in the amount of grains I can use because the size of my sparge pot. It is only 3 gallons compared to my 5 gallon brew pot. This is why I still do partial mashes. Nevertheless, I think this is an awesome brew!

I am looking forward to bringing some of this brew to Dark Lord Day at Three Floyd's Brewery to share.

This weekend I have to bottle my Ice Wine as well as my Dunkelweizen. Sounds like fun! If the funds work out...I need to buy wine bottles, corks and more beer bottles. I have about 12 cases worth of beer in my closet!!! Only half is ready to drink... Praise Jesus for the art of zymurgy!

Insanity

Once you realize life is insane, you are able to deal with it! Just wanted to share that. Just keep breathing...just keep breathing. Sit back, relax and have a homebrew!

A Lot of Work to Do--help anyone?

This weekend I have to bottle the Ice Wine, the Dunkelweizen and the Oatmeal Stout! Anyone willing to help!

I think I am going to brew another batch too! In light of this, I hope to have a day off this week to take care of some of this awesome work! The best part is that I have plenty of beer to drink while doing it.

The Nut Brown is ready, the IPA is ready, and the UnAmerican Ale is ready!

Bring it on! What should I brew next? I have a new Nut Brown recipe figured out. That is a strong possibility....suggestions?

India Pale Ale

The India Pale Ale that Matt and I brewed is amazing! A great malt flavors mingles with the citrus-like tone of the Northern Brewer and Cascade hops. We actually added some Fuggles with the aroma hops as well!

I am not a hophead by any means, but this has the perfect balance of hops and malted grains..simply amazing.

This is a very clear beer...no chill haze here! If you look closely in the pictures, you can see my work truck through this dark amber brew. I did something right!

All of the darkness came from 1/2 pound of toasted barley. All other grains were light (2 and 6 row Pale, Carapils and 10 degree Crystal). I was surprised at how dark it turned out. I wonder if you can toast barley to a lesser degree to get this a little lighter. Either way, this is the best beer yet, and I will make more of the same recipe!

A Visit to Three Floyd's

I finally had a chance to visit Three Floyd's Brewing Company. It is about time since I live 30 minutes from the place.

I was surprised at the size. It was smaller than I thought it would be. I brought my two kids as well (2 and 4 years old) and it was fairly family friendly.

I had the Topless Witch, a nice dark beer with hints of coffee and even a nutty/caramel flavor. Great beer. I then tried Ham on Rye, a beer that tastes just like the title, a Ham Sandwich on Rye bread. It appears they smoked some of the grains used in the recipe to get the ham flavor. It was another great beer as well! Good job! I also had a few drinks of my wife's beer: Pride and Joy. It seemed to be the lightest beer on the menu and it had a great citrus, slightly hoppy taste. Another great beer. I was not disappointed at all.

I also really liked the decor of the place: slightly psychedelic, with a lot of interesting art and photos of various Three Floyd's beers and characters as well as other friends of the brewery. Overall, I give this 4 1/2 out of 5 stars/beers...I don't know, I need some sort of rating system I guess.....

India Pale Ale taste test

One day early...However, this is amazing! I love this beer. I am not usually a fan of "hoppy" beers, so India Pale Ales are never a favorite of mine. But the hops are on the mild side in this one. Great tasting beer. I am happy with this one!

Great website that ties up Christianity and brewing beer

http://blog.homebrewbeer.net/2008/04/home-brewing-beer-christianity-part-1.html

What's up next.

Wisdom Nuts Brown Ale II is the next beer we will brew next. It is similar to the previous, first part version of the same beer, which will be ready to drink in 4 days, Friday March 12. The difference will be no Victory Malt as well as the additions of Black Patent Malt and Wheat Malt. We also plan to use 60 Lovibond Crystal malt, rather than the 10 Lovibond used in the previous version of this recipe.

I'm starting to get excited for Wisdom Nuts Brown Ale I, ready in 2 days. I'm not sure if I should post recipe lists or not....

A lot of brewing on the horizon

Ready to drink: India Pale Ale, ready on Wednesday March 10, 2010; Wisdom Nuts Brown Ale ready to drinK on Friday March 12; UnAmerican Ale ready to drink on Tuesday March 16, 2010

Ready to bottle: Oatmeal Stout ready to bottle on Friday March 12, 2010; Dunkelweizen II ready to bottle on Friday March 19, 2010; Ice Wine possibly ready to bottle on Friday March 19, 2010...