BT IPA

I like my IPA's like I like my coffee.




S.G: 1.074
F.G: TBD
ABV: TBD

Ingredients:

8 oz. CaraMunich
8 oz. Chocolate
8 oz. Cristal 50/60
4 oz. Sinamar (flavor/aroma addition and adds black color)

9.3 lbs. gold LME

2 oz. Centennial
3 oz. Citra
1 oz. Ahtanum

Directions:

Steep grains for 30 min.
Bring to boil and add malt extract
Boil for 30 min
Add 1 oz. Centennial hops for 30 min
Add 1 oz. Citra hops and Sinamar
Add 1 oz. Citra hops and 1 oz. Centennial for last 5 minutes

Let sit for 1 week (Andy's basement landing ~68 degrees)
Add 1 oz. Citra and 1 oz. let sit for another 2 weeks.

Parker's Porter

I was thinking that there is no better way to commemorate the first born son of a fellow homebrewer than to name a brew in his son's honor. So, here you go little P-Man, and congrats to the Romer's for a healthy baby boy. Parker Lee can be seen pictured in Ryan's 'Hop Scare' post sitting in a bucket full of beer. (Ryan's always a sucker for a happy hour deal!)

Having a child is a pivital point in one's life. A new chapter begins and the previous chapter fades to distant memory. So, that being said, I added some espresso to this brew to sybolize the coffee Ryan and Kasi will need to stay awake due to the lack of sleep that comes with being new parents, and a vanilla bean to symbolize how simple and "vanilla" their life used to be. Best of luck, my friends....

My twist on the taddy porter recipe from Midwest Supplies:

Ingredients:

8 oz. Crystal 50/60
8 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. Black Malt

6 lbs light DME
2 oz. molasses

1.5 oz. Goldings Hops
1 oz. Fuggles
1 tsp. Irish Moss

Whitelabs Irish Ale Yeast 004

Secondary Additions:
Added 6 cups of cold brewed espresso blend from Trader Joe's. (cold brewing reduces the acidity and is delicous in the summer time)

1 cup brewed espresso (also TJ's espresso blend) and 1 split vanilla bean, boiled for 20 minutes

S.G: 1.056
F.G: 1.012
ABV: 5.78%


Directions:

Steep grains for 20 min at 155.
Add DME and molasses, bring wort to a boil
Add 2 oz. Golding Hops and boil for 60 minutes
Add Irish moss last 15 minutes of boil
Add 1 oz. fuggle hops for last 5 minutes of boil
Add yeast

2 weeks in Primary
Add espresso and vanilla bean let sit for another 2 weeks.

The beer has turned out pretty well, but is getting better as it ages. I've reserved a 6 pack to drink on Parker's 1st birthday. (Just for me, Ryan and Kasi. I think 1 is still a little young to be drinking.)

Hop Scare IPA

This is one of the better beers I have made...granted IPA's are a little more forgiving than some beers but multiple testers told me they would have thought it was a craft brew from a store.  Gotta love the American Flag bottle caps, couldn't pass those up.  Basic recipe with some dry hopping action...

O.G.  1.064
F.G.   1.013
ABV:  6.7%

boiled the grains for 20 minutes and added the extract. 
1oz of Yakima Magnum hops for 60 minutes
1oz of Amarillo hops for 30 minutes
2oz of cascade hops for last 5 minutes

2 Weeks in the primary and then add 2 oz of whole leaf cascade hops for some dry hopping for 2 more weeks then bottled.  only added 4 oz of sugar because it was slightly lower amount than usual (4.25gallons)

Cucumber Pale Ale

This pale ale is made with Amarillo hops that have a very unique flavor.  It will be light on hops and based on our first taste while bottling it will have a pretty bitter bite to it.  We went off the map for this one.  After 6 days we added 5 lbs of sliced cucumbers in the fermenter for 10 days to hopefully add a new spin on pale ale.  Also, transferred it twice before bottling in hopes of having less sentiment at the bottom so you can enjoy it out of the bottle.  Let's hop it turns out...

6 lb Gold liquid malt extract
1 lb light DME
8 oz Carapils
8 oz Caramel 60L specialty grains
1/2 oz Columbus hops
2 oz Amarillo hops

5 lbs skinned cucumber

O.G.   1.052
F.G.    1.014
ABV   4.99%

Urban Assault Pale Ale

This Pale Ale has a little more malty than most. I added the Ahtanum hops the last 5 min for a little grapefruit flavor and dryhopped after 6 days in the fermenter with 2 oz. of Cascade leaf hops.

1 lb. British Crystal 50-60L malt
12 oz. malted wheat specialty grains
6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
1 oz. Mt. Hood bittering hops
1 oz. Ahtanum hops

2 oz. Cascade leaf hops for dry hopping

O.G.
F.G.

ABV

Mill Street Double IPA

This one will get you tipsy enough to think you are walking down Mill Street at 3 a.m.. 6 oz. of hops add great flavor. I used the leaf hops for the first time to dry hop they worked well.

8 oz. Victory specialty grains
12 oz. Caramel 60L
9.3 lbs. Gold Malt extract
1 oz. Chinook
1 oz. Cascade
1 oz. Centennial
1 oz. Crystal
2 oz. Cascade Leaf (dry hop)
White Labs California Ale yeast 001

O.G. 1.068
F.G. 1.013

ABV: 7.55%

Ohio Brown Ale

We brewed this one awhile ago, it has just taken me a little while to post.  A version of Newcastle but I think it is a bit different, very good at any rate.  This was a dry malt which is different than past beers.  It tasted like cake batter when the condensation hit the dry ingredients, not bad at all.  The only major change would be to add less sugar before bottling, it has a little to much carbonation when you pour the beer.  It creates a lot of head but after that is fine. 

Ingredients:

6 lb. of Muntons light Dried Malt extract,
13 oz. Crystal
3 oz. Chocolate malt,
1 oz. Challenger,
.5 oz. Kent Goldings pellet hops,
1 tsp. Irish moss

Steeped the grains for 25 minutes
OG was 1.058
let it sit for 14 days in the fermenter
Final reading was 1.020

ABV is 5.18%

Rye Aren't You Drinking This?

Rye adds a whole new demension to the flavor of your beer. I suggest trying a one(or three). You have to give it a couple of sips (think of the first time you had a really dry red wine: you have to give the taste buds a chance to wake up) but it tastes so good once it hits your lips. I have a feeling this one is gonna have a high ABV....


Ingredients:

12 oz. Rye Malt
4 oz. Wheat malt
6 oz. Caramel 40L
4 oz. Flaked rye specialty grains
6 lb. Wheat liquid malt extract
1 oz. French Strisselspalt bittering hops
1 oz. Hersbrucker pellet hops
White Labs American Hefeweisen Yeast

Steep Grains for 20 min at 165. Add Strisselspalt hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add the Hersbrucker hops after 30 minutes.

OG: 1.048
FG: 1.010

ABV: 4.99%

Hoppy McHopperson's Pale Ale

In retrospect, its not as hoppy as the title implies, but still a solid pale ale. The dry hopping is a good technique that adds a nice finish to this beer. It's probably the second best batch yet.

Ingredients:

4 gallons of tap water
8 oz. Caramel 10L
8 oz. Carapils
6 lbs of light malt extract
2 oz. Perle pelle hops
2 oz. Cascade pellet hops
White Labs California Ale Yeast
2 oz. Cascade pellet hops - reserved for dry-hopping


Steep grains at 155 for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil and add LME. Add 2 oz. of Perle bittering hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add 2 oz. of cascade hops the last 2 min of boil. After 3 days in primary add the additional 2 oz of cascade hops directly to fermenter.

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.010

ABV: 4.78%

Full Steam Ahead?? Name, Ideas?

Still working on the name for this one, on 2/26/11 Urban and I had a full beer evening.  We bottled King Romer's Cream Ale and Hoppy McHopperson Pale Ale, sampled the Boundary Waters Wheat and Bavarian Lager AND whipped up a batch of Full Steam Ahead (version of anchor steam) and a Rye Beer (name to come later from Urban, but I think Ry's Beer sounds good)...

Anyways, I bought a 8 gallon stock pot, yea that is a lot of chili, so we would have a big brewing pot as we get better at this brewing thing.  Here is the recipe:

I used 5.5 gallons of water for the boil
Steeped grains for 20 min at 155 degrees

1 oz. northern brewer hops - boil for 60 mins

1 oz cascade hops last 2 minutes

Pitch yeast at 80 degrees

The OG reading is 1.0458 taken at 80 degrees

Let it ferment for a couple of weeks then we bottle in preparation for our Weekend at Wesley's!

 

This turned out to be a really good beer.  Not exactly like Anchor Steam but a good beer that I would make again.

King Romer's Cream Ale

Urban and I decided to kill two birds with one stone last night and bottle the boundary waters wheat and Bavarian lager while brewing King Romer's Cream Ale (the cool thing about making your own beer is naming it too) and a version of an American Pale Ale (waiting on a cool name from Urban).  Overall, a success of brewing, bottling and consuming beer.

This will probably be one of my last Mr. Beer orders before I move up to the AAA ball.  It was a great start to get acquainted.  I found out I enjoy it so now it is time to move up to the next level.  Here is the recipe:

RECIPE INCLUDES:
1 Can High Country Canadian Draft HME
1 Pouch Booster
1 Packet Dry Brewing Yeast
1 Packet Glacier Pellet Hops (used the whole packet instead of half)

We bottled on 2/26/11.  I added 2.5 oz of corn sugar, slightly more than the Bavarian Lager in hopes it has a little more carbonation.  Let it sit for a couple of weeks.  After a prelim taste test the night of bottling we were both pleasantly surprised at this one so we will see how it ends up after carbonation.

Boundary Waters Wheat

If there are three things I love, they are the Boundary Waters and Beer and Beth (the three B's). So when I saw this recipe on midwestsupplies.com, I had to try it. Romer came over ate some chili (see bobcatchow for recipe) and made a batch of brew. I plan to bottle it in some plastic bottles and take it on my Boundry Waters Canoe Trip this year. Whos in?

Ingredients:

6 lb. Wheat liquid malt extract
1/2 lb. Caravienne
1/2 lb. Carapils
1 oz. Sterling hops
1 oz. Palisade aroma hops
White Labs American Hefeweizen WLP320

OG: 1.042
FG: 1.009

ABV = 4.3%

Fermentation Temp: 68

Bavarian Lager

Next up is a Bavarian Lager.  I brewed it on 1/19/11.  This recipe is from Mr. Beer, called Prince Ludwig Lager, and I followed the directions pretty close.

RECIPE INCLUDES:
1 Can Octoberfest Vienna Lager HME
1 Can Whispering Wheat Weizenbier HME
2 Packets Dry Brewing Yeast
1 Packet Saaz Pellet Hops (only used 1/4oz and froze the rest for later use)

I plan on letting it ferment for about 3 weeks and will keep you updated on the progress...

So we had a brew night, 2/11/2011.  We bottled the Bavarian Lager and started the next brew as well.  I added 2.25oz of corn sugar to the beer before bottling so it would be evenly distributed (opposed to adding sugar to each beer). 

Tried the first one this past weekend, and overall it was pretty good.  You can smell the wheat in the beer before but has a good finish. 

Columbus Beer Festival

A group of us went to the Columbus Beer Festival last weekend.  It had about 150 different beers from a ton of small craft breweries and some that you have heard of.  It was a great opportunity to try some beers before you pay $12 for a six pack and realize you don't like the beer.  We tried to rate them on a scale of 1-5 as we tasted them so we could buy them later.  Jeff have you tried Rivertown Brewery in Cincy?  They had a couple of really good beers...here are some of our favorites:

Brewery                           Not so Scientific Rating          Beer                        Style

Rivertown Brewery                    4-4.5                        Dunkel                 Munich Dunkel
Rivertown Brewery                    4                             Vienna Lager              Lager

Rivertown Brewery                    4-4.5                        Amber                       Amber

DogFish Head                            4-4.5                     90 Min IPA                  IPA

Wooden Shoe                             4-4.5                       Canoe                      Wheat 

Left Hand                                  4-4.5                        Milk Stout                  Stout

Heavy Seas                                4                          Letter of Marque         Rye Beer

Fat Head's                                  4                          Head Hunter IPA            IPA

Fat Head's                                  4.5                     Bean me up Koffee     Coffee Stout

Founder's                                  4.5                           Porter                   American Porter

Treogs                                     4                           HopBack Amber            Amber

Ferocious IPA

Bought this Shaefer beer glass from World Market because it reminded me of buying an $18 six pack from Tony's bar at 3:00 a.m. (I hope this doesn't incriminate him). The beer is a Ferocious IPA clone from midwestsupplies.com. (best homebrew website ever). Turned out great considering I poured in an extra gallon of water by mistake and blew the top off my fermenter. However, I learned that beer is resiliant and you should never throw out a batch. Just give it a little time and TLC. I let this sit in the primary for 2 weeks and 3 weeks in the secondary.

Ingredients:

6 lbs. of Gold liquid malt extract
3.3 lbs of Amber liquid malt extract
4 oz. of Crystal malt 50-60L
1 oz. Warrior hops
2 oz. Amarillo hops
2 oz. Simcoe hops
1 oz. Ahtanum hops
White labs yeast
priming sugar

Original Gravity: 1.066
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBUs = 82

My first brew!!

So here is my first attempt at brewing...

I start with the basics, a Mr. Beer kit, the standard pale ale, and no idea what I was doing.  Lucky for me, I have friends that are a few brews ahead of me and good instructions.  Followed the directions to the tee so no deviation on this one.

I let it ferment for 15 days and bottled the beer.  We collected glass bottles (pry off) to use for the beer.  Ran them through the dishwasher and started bottling.  A little sugar in each bottle for carbonation and let it sit AGAIN.

I tried my first beer 5 days after bottling, mostly because I couldn't wait any longer.  My first impression was, Holy shit I didn't completely mess this up!  It needed a bit more carbonation, a few more days to sit, but overall it was good.  A very crisp taste, some people said a slight sweet taste, but very drinkable.  It tastes much better if you use a glass and leave the butt of the beer in the bottle, there is a lot of sediment that settles at the bottom.  If you try to pour it more than once you will get that in your glass giving it a yeasty, "homebrew" taste.  Overall, very simple, but a good introduction to the process.