Homebrewing again.

It's been a while since I have brewed and even longer since I've posted, my last brew was in June of last year. It was a hopped extract that I added cherries to in secondary. It wasn't horrible, but didn't get much conditioning time before I took it to a party. It was consumed, but everyone agreed it could have been a better beer. 

A few years ago I started brewing beer at home. I was unstoppable the first few years brewing almost weekly. A couple years ago I started losing weight and trying to get healthy, so the first thing to go was alcohol. I also got busy with work and taking care of my three kids. Needless to say I haven't brewed much lately, but I would really like to change that. 

I have gained a few pounds back, my kids are getting busy with extra curricular activities, and work is still just as busy. However, I want to get back into brewing at home.  I was inspired last night by a trip to Meijer where I found a Brooklyn Brew House kit half price. The kit is all grain and only brews a gallon of beer. That amount of beer is hardly worth the work but will still be fun.

 One of the reasons I haven't been brewing is because I hate bottling the five gallon batches. Hopefully the one gallon batches won't be as daunting a task and I can actually look toward to it.  I could start kegging but it's too expensive. So for now I will do these smaller batches and slowly work my way back into it. 

Low Blow Pale Ale 2

I brewed another batch of my low calorie ale with a couple of changes. I added some light german munich malt to this batch and also changed up the hop schedule to reduce the bitterness. It looks like the half pound of munich bumps this up 15 calories per bottle to 80 calories a bottle. I used all cascade hops in this one. I got another batch of ingredients with the same grain bill but that one will be all centennial hops. That batch will be brewed later this week.


Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 60.0 %
1 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 2 20.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 10.0 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4 10.0 %
0.50 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 8.7 IBUs
0.25 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 2.2 IBUs
0.25 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Boil 6.0 min Hop 7 1.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 8 -
1.00 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs

Low Calorie Homebrew

From Drop Box

So there it is. One of my attempts at a low calorie home brew. This one is the Pale Ale. According to Beersmith it is 65 calories at 1.7% ABV. I have been trying to lose weight and found that regular craft beer is too high in calories for everyday drinking. I also found that beers that are low in calories are low in flavor. So I decided to create my own after watching this video.
In the video they make a rye wit which I brewed as well. I created the Pale Ale recipe in the photo above based off the technique they used for the wit. Which is using rye to boost the body of the beer.
As far as how it tastes, I really like it. Several people have tried it and found it to be good. One described it as watered down craft beer which I will take as a compliment. I need to tweek this some the next time. I want to take down the bitterness and add some different specialty grains for flavor.
The wit will be ready to drink soon.

Low Blow

So I haven't brewed in a while. I did do a beer kit a couple months ago but it wasn't anything special. I have been trying to lose weight so I haven't been drinking much beer at all. Beer is pretty high in calories and not very good for a low calorie diet. If I brew beer I will have it in the house and drink it and screw up the weight loss, so far Ive lost about 40 pounds.
Lately I have had the brewing bug, and luckily I watched my favorite brewing video/podcast Basic Brewing, and they did a low calorie homebrew. It makes use of the body that rye adds to beer. They did a rye wit which really isnt my style but I drew up the recipe anyway and it looked like this.




Low Blow Rye Witbier
3 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 75.0 %
1 lbs Rye Malt (Briess) (3.7 SRM) Grain 2 25.0 %
1.0 pkg Safbrew Wheat (DCL/Fermentis #WB-06) [50.28 ml] Yeast 4 -
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 9.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 5 0.0 IBUs


This is a BIAB all grain 5 gallon batch. According to Beersmith it is about 70 calories per 12 oz, with an ABV of 2% or so. Now I know this won't be the best beer in the world but it's something I feel comfortable having in the house.

But as I was sitting around and thinking this morning making a list for the brewing store. I decided to try this with 2 row instead of wheat and change up the hops to be more American Pale Ale like. Which is much more to my liking. That recipe looks like this.


Low Blow Pale Ale
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 66.7 %
1 lbs Rye Malt (Briess) (3.7 SRM) Grain 2 22.2 %
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 5 -
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 11.1 %
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
.75 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 23.1 IBUs


This one is also a BIAB all grain 5 gallon batch. This one is about 75 calories per 12oz and also about 2% ABV.

Some people will ask what's the point in a 2% ABV beer. While you cant get drunk off it but hopefully it will be good enough to keep from drinking higher calorie stuff. This is very experimental for me however, both batches will cost about 30 bucks total including yeast.

I am leaving in just a few minutes to get these ingredients from the homebrew shop and have a healthy lunch with my wife.

Cooking with homebrew

On Wednesday I was craving brats. I rarely make brats since the kids don't really eat them. I was off work and only had the youngest child with me so I decided I would make myself some brats and something else for the child. I also decided that soaking those brats in my Firecracker Cream Ale seemed like a great idea. So I put them in a container and poured the Jalapeno infused ale over the top. I let them soak in the fridge for about an hour and then I grilled them. I also grilled some green peppers and onions. The buns I used were the Kings Hawaiian hot dog buns and the square shape made for perfect toasting on the grill.

My Firecracker cream ale is over half gone and I still have lots of people I have promised bottles to. This batch turned out really good.

Recently I got the Sam Adams Hop-tology mix pack and found the beer to be pretty good. One beer that I liked that surprised me was the Tasman red IPA. I'm not a huge fan of the red ale style but this style hopped up I really liked. I had the crazy idea to make a red ale and hop it up and also add some ginger to it. I don't know if it will work but I think I'm gonna try it.

So we are finally moved and settled in to the new house. I decided a while ago my first brew would be a cream ale to test the temperature control of the basement. I did an easy extract kit from Northern Brewer. I did no gravity readings and used dry yeast to keep everything as simple as possible. I even carbed the beer with the 5 oz pack of corn sugar they sent with the kit.

It was in the primary for about 2 and half weeks. I added 12 Jalapenos to the carboy about 4 days before I bottled. To add the Jalapenos I removed the seeds and the membrane and then chopped them into about 1 inch sections. I soaked them in star san to be safe. I think I got some kind of infection from adding cocao nibs to a batch with no kind of sanitation.

The beer was around 66-68 degrees at the height of fermentation, then when things settled down the temp was around 62-64 degrees. My basement stays at 63 degrees. The hardest part of this brew was getting 12 chopped up jalapenos in a grain bag down the neck of a carboy.

I have actually already cheated and tested a bottle on Monday which was 5 days after I bottled it and besides the obvious lack of carbonation it tasted really good. Due to the low fermenting temperature this one won't need long to condition.

Here is the recipe.


Amt Name Type # %/IBU
12.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 1 10.7 %
4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2 3.6 %
6 lbs Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM) Extract 3 85.7 %
1.00 oz Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 18.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Nottingham (Danstar #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 5 -
12.00 Items Jalapeno (Secondary 4.0 days) Flavor 6 -

One bottle of beer.....

My wife and I are in the process of purchasing a larger house. The one we are in is only about 1200 sq ft. With two adults, 2 six year olds, and a soon to be three year old, the house is getting small. So we are getting a much larger house to fit our family.

I have decided either in laziness or a stroke of genius to drink all my homebrew and not brew anything new. That way when we move in early April I won't have to lug bottles of beer or 5 gallon glass carboys of fermenting beer to the new house.

As I was choking down the Chocolate Milk Stout I brewed back in November, I found a lone bottle of Nanci's Brown Ale. This has been by far the best homebrew I have made in a while. So I decided to save the brew and have it be my first beer in my new house.

Speaking of the new house I will have a fermenting room in the basement. I haven't taken temps down there yet but I assume the basement should stay a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house. So I should be fermenting at 65 degrees or so without temperature control all year round.

The first beer I plan on making when I get to the new house is my Jalapeno cream ale. Which I am going to rename Firecracker Cream Ale. Which will imply that it is a good summer beer and also that it has a bit of kick from the Jalapenos. I will make a 5 gallon batch so it will have to be extract. I normally do this is in small batch because I'm hesitant of the Jalapenos, but I always love it and wish I had more.

Chocolate Milk Stout Gusher Infection

2011 Brewing Stats

Stealing an idea from a beer buddy Sheppy, I am going to attempt to do some sort of end of year brewing stats. I am not nearly as organized as he is but I'll give it a go.

About an hour later....

See I am very unorganized. I was going through this and noticed that I had skipped two batch numbers in my Beersmith numbering system. I assign each brew a number which is just the number of batches I have brewed. So for example my 1 hour PA is #54, which is the 54th batch of beer I have brewed. So I went back and found two batches of hopped extract kits I made and didn't enter into Beersmith.

Lets try this again...

In 2011 I brewed 13 batches of beer for a total of 47.1 gallons

4 were 2.5 gallon BIAB all grain batches. All of which were brewed by February 15th.

7 were extract recipes with a hop boil of some sort. Two 2.5 gallon, Five 5 gallon

2 were hopped no boil kits. (One 2.1 gallon Mr. Beer and one 5 gallon Coopers)

I had one mishap when a spigot broke on a Mr. Beer fermenter. I lost about a gallon of beer all over my counter.

I went a span of 98 days between brew days. 7/27/11 to 11/5/11. My homebrew pipeline was completely empty for a while.

Of course I want to brew more in 2012. I would like to do more all grain BIAB, but I'm not set up to do 5 gallon batches which is the size I prefer. I would also like to try a lager.

1 Hour Pale Ale Brew Day

Today I brewed a 1 Hour Pale Ale that is a kit from my LHBS. It supposed to be a clone of DFH 60 Minute. Yesterday I bottled the Brown Ale. I was a little hesitant but the gravity hadn't changed since Monday. I also found out how tough carboys are to clean inside. But after a little Google search I found a suggestion. It said to add a 1/4 cup of rice and a few tablespoons of baking soda to the carboy. Then fill with just enough water to make a sort of past. Then just shake the crap out of it, concentrating on getting the paste around the krausen ring. It was clean after just a few minutes of shaking. Plus the baking soda deodorized the carboy.

I am also making some dog biscuits from the spent steeping grains. I learned of this from some beer friends on the Mr. Beer forum. I took about 4 cups of spent grain, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of peanut butter and two eggs. Mix it all together and then spread on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then cut into biscuits and spread them out. Mine stuck to the bottom of the pan, so I may spray some olive oil to help next time. Then bake for about 2-3 hours until completely dry. I took my temp down to 300 for this long bake. Then keep them in an airtight container. Not sure how long they last, but my dog really enjoyed the one I gave him. So I don't think storage will be an issue.



54 1 Hour PA
American Pale Ale
Type: Extract Date: 12/30/2011
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 3.50 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
End of Boil Volume 3.21 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 0.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs DME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3 93.3 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 3.3 %
4.0 oz Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 1 3.3 %
0.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 19.8 IBUs
0.75 oz Hop Mix [7.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 6.9 IBUs
0.75 oz Hop Mix [7.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 5.0 IBUs
0.75 oz Hop Mix [7.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 2.8 IBUs
1.50 oz Hop Mix [7.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
0.75 oz Hop Mix [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.3 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.7 %
Bitterness: 34.5 IBUs Calories: 223.2 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 5.6 SRM
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Bottle Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 3.93 oz Carbonation Used: Bottle with 3.93 oz Corn Sugar
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
Notes

This is a kit that my LHBS put together. It is a clone of DFH 60 minute. The "Hop Mix" is a total guess on AA. They dont list the exact AA on the kit. The kit does list amarillo simco and warrior as the hops used.

Brewed 12/30/11 OG 1.066
Created with BeerSmith

Why my wife should love Star San.

I normally use Oxyclean Free to soak commercial beer bottles in to clean and remove labels after I drink them. The Oxyclean Free does a great job, but if you use too much it can leave residue. The only way to remove that residue, at least that I can find, is to soak the bottles in Star San. So I just cut a step out. I read somewhere that you can soak bottles in Star San to remove the labels. So I tried it with some New Belgium Ranger IPA bottles. The Star San worked amazingly well, labels were coming off cleanly after about a 5 minute soak. Then just a little scrub with a dish brush to remove the glue from the bottle. It could not have been easier.

After that I tried something I read on a blog or forum. Not sure which, so I can't give proper credit. I soaked the black plastic spatulas and such in the Star San. The spatulas had gotten a white residue on them from being used and washed in the dishwasher. A quick soak in Star San took that right off. I also soaked all the regular drinking glasses in Star San. They have the same problem as the spatulas. They get cloudy and have spots on them. Again another quick soak in Star San and the glasses were as good as new.

I was going to take a before and after photo but neglected to do so. In a few weeks when these things get all nasty again I will do so.

So if you're getting ready to toss out a batch of Star San, put it to good use before you do.

Christmas Vacation

I am on vacation this week. The kids are off of school this week. However the wife has to work. So it's just me and the kids. I have been cleaning, baking, and cooking. I made some banana bread and some ham and bean soup. Both of which turned out really good. Lots of laundry has been done as well, however I have not folded it and put it away. Which in my estimation is what they make you do in Hell.

We got a couple of inches of snow yesterday, so the kids and I went outside. We made snowman and had a snowball right. A good time was had by all.

I bought myself a 12 pack of New Belgium Ranger IPA, a bottle of Sam Smith's Winter Welcome, and a bottle of Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale. I was gifted a bottle of Lump of Coal Stout from my parents. All of which have been consumed and there wasn't a bad beer in the bunch.

On the brewing front I have the Chocolate Milk Stout that I am starting to drink and it turned out well. It's a little roasty which I think prevents the chocolate from being detected as much as I want it to be. I also have Nanci's Brown Ale in the new glass carboy. I dry hopped this on Monday and am trying to patiently wait to bottle it. The gravity was about where I wanted it to be and I have another recipe sitting in the pantry waiting to be brewed. I guess I could brew it and put it into a plastic fermenter but I want to use the glass since I paid for it.

I also need a Brew Hauler. I had moments while I was using the carboy for the first time that I thought I could drop it. Like when I filled it with sanitizer and then had to dump it. I felt it slipping out of my hands as I was carrying it to the sink. I just think having the handles would make breaking it a little less likely, and also make transporting it from the kitchen to the fermenting closet and back much easier.

Merry Brewmas to me!

Today I went to my LHBS and picked up my Christmas present to myself. Basically it was a shopping spree. I finally got myself a glass carboy after wanting one for a couple years. I also picked up ingredients for a couple of 5 gallon extract with steeping grain batches. The one I am brewing today is from Jamil's book Brewing Classic Styles. It is the recipe called Janet's Brown Ale which I am renaming Nanci's Brown Ale after my wife, even though she does not like beer. It is a crazy hopped American Brown Ale. I had no plans on going for a brown this hoppy but for some reason all the recipes I was contemplating brewing were hoppy.
The recipe starts out with a lot of steeping grains, almost 3 pounds. Which includes some crystal 40, carapils, and some nice chocolate malt. Then for the extract it is 6 pounds of light DME and 1 pound of wheat DME. Then the hops. It is just over 9 oz of hops. A nice mix of Northern brewer, and what was supposed to be centennial and cascade. But I love cascades and it looks like when I was adding the brew to beersmith I typed cascade for all three of the finishing hops. Oh well, It will still be awesome. For the yeast I am using WYEAST 1056. Its 62 IBUS, about 6.5% abv and on the BU:GU scale its a 9.5. WOW.




53 Nanci's Brown Ale
American Brown Ale
Type: Extract Date: 12/18/2011
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 3.15 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
End of Boil Volume 2.86 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 0.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs DME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Dry Extract 4 60.6 %
1 lbs DME Wheat Bavarian (Briess) (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 5 10.1 %
1 lbs 1.1 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.8 %
1 lbs 5.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) Grain 1 13.3 %
8.3 oz Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.3 %
1.84 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 36.5 IBUs
1.84 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 18.1 IBUs
1.62 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 7.6 IBUs
1.99 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.99 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml] Yeast 10 -

Chocolate Milk Stout Hydro

Sample with the stupid thief



I just took a sample for my Milk Stout to get a hydro reading and taste test. I had to use my thief which I hate and now I remember why. First I have to sanitize it and then put the hydrometer in it. Then I can't get the sanitizer to flow out of the bottom because the hydrometer is blocking the hole. Then I have to try to open the lid on the fermenting bucket with one hand while I hold the sanitized thief in the other hand and try to keep it from touching anything. Then I have to get the sample into the thief without getting too much gunk, while making sure I still get enough beer for the hydrometer to float in. Much easier if you have a fermenting bucket with a spigot.
Anyways took the reading and after two weeks its at 1.034. I don't know how many gravity points lactose adds but that still seems kind of high to me. I still plan on leaving it in the fermenter for another week at least. Most likely won't be bottling next weekend because of family things, so it looks like Wednesday the 30th will be bottling day.

I let the sample sit in the freezer for about ten minutes then tasted it. It smelled a little "hot" from the alcohol when I was taking the sample and it tastes of that as well. That's basically all I get. Maybe some chocolate undertones but it could be me just wanting to taste that. I don't think there is anything wrong with this beer, it should mellow over time. I just need to get some more beer going so I can stay out of this one.

Finally brewing again!

I finally brewed a batch of beer on Sunday 11/5. The last batch of beer I brewed before that was July 27th. I have just been really busy with work, and the twins started kindergarden. But my Dad purchased a Mr. Beer kit and has been going crazy. I talked to him about maybe going to the LHBS and he said he wanted to go, so that made me get a recipe together.
I decided on a Chocolate Milk Stout which is a recipe I have been wanted to mess with for a while. I started with the Milk Stout recipe from Brewing Classic Styles and then looked at the Chocolate Milk Stout recipe on www.northernbrewer.com and I made my own. I wanted to do extract for the ease, this time.
I wanted to use cocoa nibs since that is what the northern brewer recipe used. They used to include chocolate extract in that kit but it got lots of negative reviews for tasting like fake chocolate.

Here is the recipe from Beersmith. This was a five gallon batch with about a starting boil of 3 gallons.

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs DME Dark Traditional (Briess) (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 4 80.0 %
4.0 oz Crystal, Dark (Simpsons) (80.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.3 %
12.0 oz Pale Chocolate (200.0 SRM) Grain 1 10.0 %
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.7 %
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 26.1 IBUs
1.0 pkg Whitbread Ale (Wyeast Labs #1099) [124.21 ml] Yeast 7 -
1.00 lb Lactose (Boil 0.0 mins) Flavor 6 -

My OG was high at 1.072 but I attribute that to the lactose and it should be right around 5% ABV. I let this ferment a week and then added 4 oz of cocoa nibs in a hop sack. I'm not going to transfer to a secondary but I will leave it in the primary for three weeks total. Two of those with the cocoa nibs.
I also want to make a Jalapeno beer. My dad made the Fire in the Hole Mr. Beer recipe and it got me thinking about the all grain Jalapeno Cream Ale I did last year that was awesome. I also want to do another batch of the Amarillo Face.

It would be nice to get the pipeline going again but with money and time, I don't know if that is going to be possible.

Sun King Barleywine

The other day I got an interesting opportunity to try a local beer. Sun King Brewery which is about 10 minutes from where I work, cans their beer. One of the first beers they brewed when they started production was a Barleywine called Johan the Barleywine. They served this mostly on tap, but they did release a limited number of cans and I was lucky enough to get one. It was actually given to me by a guy that I work with who got two cans and didn't like it. So I lucked out.

Im not good at describing what I smell and taste so if you interested in that I will let you read the reviews on Beer Advocate. I will say that I'm not a huge fan of barleywines, being that I am a hophead, but I did find the complexity of the beer nice. I'm not one to let a beer reach room temp before I drink it. I like to pour it cold right out of the fridge and be amazed at how the beer totally changes its flavors as it warms up.

What I think is particularly cool about this beer is the fact that it's a barleywine in a can. Probably one of the first of its style to be canned, if not the first. It's not just any can, but a can that Sun King has made for limited run brews. I guess when they order from the Ball can factory they have to order a ridiculous amount of each can design. So for the smaller batches they had a generic can made and they place a sticker on each can to identify the beer. I find that pretty cool.

So here are some pictures of the can.

BP ale spill label

I don't usually make labels for my beer because they seem like a waste of time but I thought this was a funny name that I came up with today as I was bottling this beer. So I made a label using Gimp. If you have not heard of gimp then you should check it out. I found it today as I was searching for alternatives to expensive photoshop. I use photoshop a lot at work and I find this software very much like photoshop but it's free so that's very nice. So anyways here is the label I made.

BP Ale Spill

From Instant Upload

BP Ale Spill Sample at bottling.


I don't like Belgian Beers. But for some reason I decided I wanted to make one. I think I was inspired by one of my beer buddies Esheppy, who says one of his favorite homebrewed beer is his Buckwheat Belgian Pale Ale. I have never made a Belgian, but always wanted to, so I picked up a kit from my LHBS Great Fermentations. I am calling this BP Ale Spill.
I bottled this today and I was completely surprised by the smell. I don't know why, because it smelled exactly like a Belgian beer should. It was kind of meaty, spicy and farmish. I used Wyeast Belgian Ardennes. I don't know exactly how to describe it but it doesn't make me excited for this beer. We will see in 2 weeks when I give this one a taste test.

From Instant Upload

BPA in the bottle.

From Instant Upload

Amarillo Face

I just finished the best batch of beer I have made to date. It was the Amarillo Face, which is another kit I picked up from the LHBS. The thing that this beer and the Belgian have in common is that I used liquid yeast.

New LHBS in Indy.

Somehow a new Local Homebrew Shop called the Tuxedo Park Brewers opened just a few minutes from where I work and I had no idea. I haven't been there yet since I just found out it was open last night. I plan on going and browsing later this week and checking the place out.

There is also a winery downtown that's pretty close to my work. It carries a few homebrew supplies but their stuff is always prepackaged grains and hops which I am a little leary of because I'm not sure of the age. It's a good place to go and pick up a hydrometer or a quick pack of yeast if I'm in a pinch.

I love my normal LHBS which is called Great Fermentations, but the problem is the location. I live on the southwest side of town and it is located on the north east side of town. It takes me about 45 minutes to get there and 45 minutes back. But the customer service and brewing knowledge are impressive. One of the guys that used to work there even opened a brewery in the same building a few months ago. I also have done a couple of the in house kits that Great Fermentations puts together, and they have been complete, easy to use and so far very tasty.

AHHHH crap!!!

I brewed an APA that just had a 15 minute boil and then a 5 minute addition of amarillo. It was supposed to be dry hopped with another .25 oz of amarillo hops but I FORGOT! I bottled it yesterday and was inputting the FG into beersmith today and realized what I had done. This was a recipe created to use up the .5 oz of amarillo I had left but now I still have .25 oz. Oh well it will still be a good beer but I love dry hopping especially with amarillo.
Heres how it looked after my mistake.

Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3 75.0 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 12.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 12.5 %
0.50 oz Apollo [18.60 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 4 36.4 IBUs
1.0 pkg Nottingham (Danstar #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 -
0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 5 3.0 IBUs