Well I have finished off the Phat Tyre kit and it wasnt exactly to my liking. I had a few other people try it that enjoy the american amber ale style and they seemed to like it.
I also have the Caribou Slobber going strong at about 6 weeks in the bottle. It has a great brown color with ruby highlights and a great two finger head. I hit the carb spot on with this. The aroma is a little bit of hops and some chocolate maltyness. Flavor is much more complex than the nose. It is a little chocolatey, and has some roasty coffeeness at the end. It has a little bit of hop bitterness but not a lot of hop flavor.
Also in the bottles I have the Sierra Madre. Its a great American Pale Ale. It tastes a lot like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale which is what I was going for. I added about a quarter ounce more bittering hops to this and it came out great. I might do this kit as is next time to see how it compares to this one that is a little more bitter.
I have a Muntons Mexican Cerveca kit in the fermenter right now. I added one lb of light DME and one lb of dextrose to this kit the ABV is going to be low and unfortunalty I didnt make a note of it as I wanted this to be a super simple brew. The whole thing cost me under 25 dollars for 5 gallons of beer.
Next up I want to do a belgian beer. This will suit this time of year when my fermenation temps get up to 74-76 degrees. I will also be using liquid yeast for the first time with this. I hope to brew this in the next couple of weeks.
The cherry beer has been put off for a while. I hope to do it for the fall but I just am not motivated lately.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Quick updates
I went today and picked about 3 lbs of cherries for a sour cherry ale recipe I got out of Extreme Brewing by Sam Calgione. I actually need about 5 lbs, but I was picking them from a tree at my parents house and it had been raining all night. I was getting soaked and had my three kids in tow. So I didn't quit get what I wanted. I may go back or I may just buy frozen cherries to make up the difference. The recipe is listed below.
I have been thinking about the upcoming fall and winter. I am thinking about doing an Imperial Stout and a Milk Stout. I made the milk stout out of Brewing Classic Styles last year and it was great. I will probably brew that one again but in a five gallon batch this time instead of 2.5. I would also like to do a coffee stout or porter and am still looking into recipes for that.
I am trying to hold off on trying the no hop beer until it is at two weeks in the bottle. It is at one week today and this would typically be the day I try it to make sure its carbing and conditioning well. But with only 25 bottles I am trying to save as many as possible. I am drinking my Sierra Madre Pale Ale and it is fantastic. It is two weeks in the bottle and the carbonation is great. It is very flavorful from the hops and alarmingly easy to drink.
I am also working on a blog about the Mr. Beer myth that should be up in a few days. Hopefully someone will read it.
Sour Cherry Ale 2.5 gallon
Brew Type: Extract Date: 4/14/2010
Style: Fruit Beer
Batch Size: 2.50 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 2.86 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.30 lb LME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 86.84 %
0.25 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.25 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 30.8 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
0.25 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Pectic Enzyme (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
5.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
5.00 lb Sour Cherry (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.051 SG (1.030-1.110 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.004-1.024 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 5.3 SRM (3.0-50.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 38.7 IBU (5.0-70.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 5.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.63 % (2.50-12.00 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.65 %
Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.0-3.0 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 1.9 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Recipe from Extreme Brewing written by Sam Calgione.
Steep Munich and wheat malt in 4.5 gallons of water with gypsum. Remove bag after 30 mintues, add LME and bring to boil. Add hops at specified intervels. Take off heat cool to 170 and add cherries. Stir clockwise for two minutes to create whirlpool effect and chill to pitching temp.
Use 10 lb of fresh crushed cherries, 7 lbs of frosen cherries, or two lbs of dried cherries. Add pits to fermenter if available.
Yeast suggestions: Wyeast 1968 ESB or 1388 Begian Strong Ale; or white labs lp002 English Ale/ ESB
I have been thinking about the upcoming fall and winter. I am thinking about doing an Imperial Stout and a Milk Stout. I made the milk stout out of Brewing Classic Styles last year and it was great. I will probably brew that one again but in a five gallon batch this time instead of 2.5. I would also like to do a coffee stout or porter and am still looking into recipes for that.
I am trying to hold off on trying the no hop beer until it is at two weeks in the bottle. It is at one week today and this would typically be the day I try it to make sure its carbing and conditioning well. But with only 25 bottles I am trying to save as many as possible. I am drinking my Sierra Madre Pale Ale and it is fantastic. It is two weeks in the bottle and the carbonation is great. It is very flavorful from the hops and alarmingly easy to drink.
I am also working on a blog about the Mr. Beer myth that should be up in a few days. Hopefully someone will read it.
Sour Cherry Ale 2.5 gallon
Brew Type: Extract Date: 4/14/2010
Style: Fruit Beer
Batch Size: 2.50 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 2.86 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.30 lb LME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 86.84 %
0.25 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.25 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 30.8 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
0.25 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Pectic Enzyme (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
5.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
5.00 lb Sour Cherry (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.051 SG (1.030-1.110 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.004-1.024 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 5.3 SRM (3.0-50.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 38.7 IBU (5.0-70.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 5.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.63 % (2.50-12.00 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.65 %
Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.0-3.0 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 1.9 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Recipe from Extreme Brewing written by Sam Calgione.
Steep Munich and wheat malt in 4.5 gallons of water with gypsum. Remove bag after 30 mintues, add LME and bring to boil. Add hops at specified intervels. Take off heat cool to 170 and add cherries. Stir clockwise for two minutes to create whirlpool effect and chill to pitching temp.
Use 10 lb of fresh crushed cherries, 7 lbs of frosen cherries, or two lbs of dried cherries. Add pits to fermenter if available.
Yeast suggestions: Wyeast 1968 ESB or 1388 Begian Strong Ale; or white labs lp002 English Ale/ ESB
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Super Fly Orange Beer Update
Sunday I added the zest of two oranges and the juice from one orange to my no hop beer which I have namedSuper Fly Orange Beer. Today I decided to give it a sample and see how the flavor was. It was pretty much spot on. It had a nice orange flavor and was pretty tasty. Also, my gravity was around 1.011 which what I was shooting for.
So I sprung into action and sanitized bottles, caps and my filling wand. I bottled straight from the Mr. Beer fermenting keg that I did this batch in. I used some leftover Coopers carbonations drops for carbonation. In total it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish to bottle this beer. The new Mr. Beer locking spigot and bottling wand make bottling from the keg a breeze.
I got 25 bottles of this beer. It will sit at room temp for a total of 4 weeks. I intend to give one of these a taste 7 days into carbonation just to make sure that the carbonation is happening.
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