My wife, who loves ginger Belgians, got me some ginger-infused honey for Christmas, specifically to add to a beer. So...here it is!
Brew Day: 6 Feb 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
8 oz ginger-infused honey (flameout)
Hops: 7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
1 oz thinly-sliced fresh ginger (@ 5 min)
Yeast: BE-134
Addendum, 15 Feb: Racked to secondary.
Addendum, 16 Mar: Bottled tonight, on 30ml of light corn syrup dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Tangerine Wheat
Okay, trying again...
Brew Day: 6 Feb 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2.5 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian Wheat DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops: 7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
4 g dried orange peel (@ 5 min)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 15 Feb: Racked to secondary, on 20 ml of tangerine extract.
Addendum, 20 Feb: Bottled today on 2.5 T of table sugar dissolved into 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles and one partial fill of a re-purposed soda bottle.
Brew Day: 6 Feb 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2.5 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian Wheat DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops: 7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
4 g dried orange peel (@ 5 min)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 15 Feb: Racked to secondary, on 20 ml of tangerine extract.
Addendum, 20 Feb: Bottled today on 2.5 T of table sugar dissolved into 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles and one partial fill of a re-purposed soda bottle.
Monday, January 27, 2020
Saison Wit
I really enjoyed the Lithuanian farmhouse ale I made not long ago, and wanted to try the recipe with a saison yeast.
Brew Day: 27 Jan 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
7 g German Perle (@ 5 min)
2 g sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
2 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Danstar Belle Saison
Addendum, 2 Feb: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 12 Feb: Bottled today, on 2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles, and one partial fill on a re-purposed soda bottle.
Tasting Notes: So far, I've really liked this beer. It's light, with a good head, and a bit of citrus in the nose. The flavor is very peppery, which is different. Definitely a good one to try again.
Brew Day: 27 Jan 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
7 g German Perle (@ 5 min)
2 g sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
2 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Danstar Belle Saison
Addendum, 2 Feb: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 12 Feb: Bottled today, on 2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles, and one partial fill on a re-purposed soda bottle.
Tasting Notes: So far, I've really liked this beer. It's light, with a good head, and a bit of citrus in the nose. The flavor is very peppery, which is different. Definitely a good one to try again.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Another Hobgoblin Ale Clone
The first time I tried this recipe, it turned out surprisingly well. I can't say that I'm usually a fan of British ales, nor of brown ales, but I have really enjoyed this particular beer. It's been easy to drink, with subtle notes of toffee and chocolate. I wanted to try the beer with a dry yeast to see if there were any notable or remarkable differences, so I asked for insight from the proprietors of my local homebrew supply store. Their recommendation was the Nottingham ale yeast, as it would reportedly allow the maltiness of the beer to come through a bit more. However, Windsor (a bit more dry) and S-04 were also good options; in fact, S-04 may be a good option for a third round of this beer.
Brew Day: 16 Jan 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz caramel malt
1.5 oz chocolate malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops: 14 g German Perle @ 20 min
Yeast: Nottingham Ale Yeast
Addendum, 17 Jan: Maybe 15 hrs after pitching the yeast, I checked on the fermentor and the blow-off bottle was almost full! The yeast had really taken off! I used a clean Gatorade bottle with a bit of sanitizer in the bottom for the more active part of fermentation, and ended up replacing the bottle with a new one.
Addendum, 26 Jan: Transferred the beer to secondary.
Addendum, 2 Feb: Bottled on 2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles.
Tasking Notes: Good flavor, good body. Smooth, the malt really comes through. The beer isn't as carbonated as I'd like, though...maybe the beer was in secondary too long, or shouldn't have gone into secondary.
Brew Day: 16 Jan 2020
Partial Mash:
8 oz caramel malt
1.5 oz chocolate malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops: 14 g German Perle @ 20 min
Yeast: Nottingham Ale Yeast
Addendum, 17 Jan: Maybe 15 hrs after pitching the yeast, I checked on the fermentor and the blow-off bottle was almost full! The yeast had really taken off! I used a clean Gatorade bottle with a bit of sanitizer in the bottom for the more active part of fermentation, and ended up replacing the bottle with a new one.
Addendum, 26 Jan: Transferred the beer to secondary.
Addendum, 2 Feb: Bottled on 2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles.
Tasking Notes: Good flavor, good body. Smooth, the malt really comes through. The beer isn't as carbonated as I'd like, though...maybe the beer was in secondary too long, or shouldn't have gone into secondary.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Combination Ale
I got to the point where I had enough wort from different beers left over to go ahead and make a combination ale. This one has two sours, two brown ales, and a mishmash of different hops, as well as some dried orange peel and crushed coriander seeds.
Contributions:
Pacifica Sour
Hobgoblin ale clone
Jovaru Wit
Tangerine Wheat
Brown Sour IPA
Brew Day: 17 Dec 2019
Boil (20 min):
Hops: N/A
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 24 Dec: Transferred to secondary, racked on to 14 g Hallertau Blanc hop pellets.
Addendum, 29 Dec: Bottled on ~1 1/2 T table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water. Got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Contributions:
Pacifica Sour
Hobgoblin ale clone
Jovaru Wit
Tangerine Wheat
Brown Sour IPA
Brew Day: 17 Dec 2019
Boil (20 min):
Hops: N/A
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 24 Dec: Transferred to secondary, racked on to 14 g Hallertau Blanc hop pellets.
Addendum, 29 Dec: Bottled on ~1 1/2 T table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water. Got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Brown Sour IPA
One of the great things about being a home brewer is that I can not only make beers to have available when what I like isn't "in season", but I can create new beers, as well. This is one of those beers.
Initial Brew Day: 14 Dec 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Special B
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb DME
4 oz table sugar
Racked the wort on to ~1 1/2 Goodbelly Straight Shots, and then placed on a warming plate. I don't want an over-powering tartness, and this will likely be subtle enough to just give a bit of tartness and let other flavors come through.
Second Brew Day: 17 Dec 2019
Boil (20 min):
Hops:
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 20 min)
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 5 min)
4 g dried sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
3 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Omega Hot Head
After boiling the wort and pitching the yeast, I placed the beer on a warming plate.
Addendum, 24 Dec: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 29 Dec: Bottled on 2 T table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water. Got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 7 Jan: Put a bottle in the fridge this morning to chill, thinking it would be fine. The re-purposed soda bottle is clearly under pressure. However, the beer came out flat, and tasted "off". I'm going to remake this beer, using US-05 yeast.
Initial Brew Day: 14 Dec 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Special B
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb DME
4 oz table sugar
Racked the wort on to ~1 1/2 Goodbelly Straight Shots, and then placed on a warming plate. I don't want an over-powering tartness, and this will likely be subtle enough to just give a bit of tartness and let other flavors come through.
Second Brew Day: 17 Dec 2019
Boil (20 min):
Hops:
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 20 min)
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 5 min)
4 g dried sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
3 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Omega Hot Head
After boiling the wort and pitching the yeast, I placed the beer on a warming plate.
Addendum, 24 Dec: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 29 Dec: Bottled on 2 T table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water. Got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 7 Jan: Put a bottle in the fridge this morning to chill, thinking it would be fine. The re-purposed soda bottle is clearly under pressure. However, the beer came out flat, and tasted "off". I'm going to remake this beer, using US-05 yeast.
Monday, December 2, 2019
Tangerine Wheat #2
The first time I attempted this brew, I wanted to be a "purist"; instead of using extract (I'd read that that's how Lost City made theirs), I wanted to use orange zest. Which I did. And it didn't work, at least not in the sense that I'd replicated the flavor. Not long ago, we'd been to a restaurant that offered the beer, and after tasting it, I thought, "yeah, okay, they use extract." So, I picked up some Brewer's Best tangerine extract, and decided to give it a run.
Based on some online reading, I'll add about an ounce of the extract to the beer at bottling; put the bottling sugar in the fermenter, add the extract, and then rack the beer onto them both just prior to bottling.
Note: 1 oz ~ 30 ml
Brew Day: 2 Dec 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops: UK Fuggle (@ 20 min)
Yeast: Horindahl Kviek
After pitching the yeast, place the fermenter on a warming plate.
Addendum, 3 Dec: It's been about 11 hrs since I pitched the yeast, and the beer is fermenting enthusiastically.
Addendum, 10 Dec: Transferred the beer to secondary, taking it off of the warming plate.
Addendum, 24 Dec: Bottled today, on 3/4 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water, and 40 ml of tangerine flavoring. Got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 7 Jan: I put two regular bottles and the re-purposed soda bottle in the fridge to chill last night, and noticed that the soda bottle did not seem to be under pressure. I opened one of the regular bottles for my wife tonight, and noticed there was no distinctive escaping of air. The beer was flat, and even though it had a strong aroma of tangerine, it tasted "off". I'm going to empty and clean all of the bottles, and then re-do the beer, using US-05 yeast.
Based on some online reading, I'll add about an ounce of the extract to the beer at bottling; put the bottling sugar in the fermenter, add the extract, and then rack the beer onto them both just prior to bottling.
Note: 1 oz ~ 30 ml
Brew Day: 2 Dec 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops: UK Fuggle (@ 20 min)
Yeast: Horindahl Kviek
After pitching the yeast, place the fermenter on a warming plate.
Addendum, 3 Dec: It's been about 11 hrs since I pitched the yeast, and the beer is fermenting enthusiastically.
Addendum, 10 Dec: Transferred the beer to secondary, taking it off of the warming plate.
Addendum, 24 Dec: Bottled today, on 3/4 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water, and 40 ml of tangerine flavoring. Got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 7 Jan: I put two regular bottles and the re-purposed soda bottle in the fridge to chill last night, and noticed that the soda bottle did not seem to be under pressure. I opened one of the regular bottles for my wife tonight, and noticed there was no distinctive escaping of air. The beer was flat, and even though it had a strong aroma of tangerine, it tasted "off". I'm going to empty and clean all of the bottles, and then re-do the beer, using US-05 yeast.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
JOVARU Wit
I was preparing for a trip to my local home brew supply store not too long ago, and I ran across an Omega Labs yeast called OYL-033 Jovaru Lithuanian Farmhouse. This sounded very interesting, in no small part due to the fact that a friend of mine spent a great deal of time in Lithuania. When I got to the store, I asked about the yeast and they said that they'd order some for me. A couple of days later, I got an email saying that yeast was in. Fortunately, Omega Labs also has a recipe for a Jovaru Wit beer, and it sounded too good to pass up.
Brew Day: 7 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 20 min)
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 5 min)
2 g dried sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
2 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Jovaru Lithuanian Farmhouse
I followed all of my usual procedures for cooling the wort and pitching the yeast, and placed the fermenter on a warming plate, wrapped in a towel.
Addendum, 19 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 10 Dec: Tried one of the bottles tonight. After the initial pour, I got a note of citrus in the nose, and the beer poured with a big, pillowy head that dissipated quickly. The beer is medium body, with a hint of citrus and pepper. Very nice flavor, very drinkable beer, and definitely one I'll do again.
Brew Day: 7 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 20 min)
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 5 min)
2 g dried sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
2 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Jovaru Lithuanian Farmhouse
I followed all of my usual procedures for cooling the wort and pitching the yeast, and placed the fermenter on a warming plate, wrapped in a towel.
Addendum, 19 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 10 Dec: Tried one of the bottles tonight. After the initial pour, I got a note of citrus in the nose, and the beer poured with a big, pillowy head that dissipated quickly. The beer is medium body, with a hint of citrus and pepper. Very nice flavor, very drinkable beer, and definitely one I'll do again.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Using Chocolate Malt
I have some chocolate malt sitting around from when I tried to make a red ale, and I wanted to use it up. I'm not a fan of stouts and porters, but I have had a brown ale or two that was pretty good. This being the fall season, going into the winter, I thought it would be a good time to use the malt up, and so I went looking for a recipe. I ended up finding a Hobgoblin dark ale clone (scroll down) recipe, and went about collecting the ingredients.
Brew Day: 2 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
4 oz Caramel malt
4 oz Crystal rye malt
1.5 oz chocolate malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Fuggle hops (FWH)
7 g Fuggle hops (@ 10 min)
Yeast: WLP-005 (recipe calls for Wyeast 1187, but this chart let me see an equivalent from White Labs)
Addendum, 3 Nov: It's always interesting to try a new yeast, because you never quite know how it's going to go. I've used US-05 where it's started active fermentation within 2 hrs of pitching the yeast. I've also used White Labs yeasts before (WLP-300, -380, etc.), but British ale yeast is new to me. I had followed the instructions on the packet, and when I went to pitch the yeast, it came out as a sludge. I hadn't seen that before and was a little concerned, and when I checked on the fermenter last night about 10 hrs after pitching, there was no visible activity. This morning, however, there is clearly active fermentation.
Addendum, 16 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 16 Dec: I'd opened a bottle last week, and found it to be flat. I opened a second bottle tonight, and it was similarly flat. I then opened the re-purposed soda bottle, and it was only very mildly carbonated. So, it seems that the issue wasn't the bottle caps, or the bottling process, as much as it was a result of this is the first time I've worked with this yeast, and I'd likely left it sitting too long.
Overall, the flavor is pretty good, a bit of chocolate and toasted toffee. The body is good, and with the exception of the dearth of carbonation, the beer is actually pretty drinkable and enjoyable, and I'm not a huge fan of brown ales.
Brew Day: 2 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
4 oz Caramel malt
4 oz Crystal rye malt
1.5 oz chocolate malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Fuggle hops (FWH)
7 g Fuggle hops (@ 10 min)
Yeast: WLP-005 (recipe calls for Wyeast 1187, but this chart let me see an equivalent from White Labs)
Addendum, 3 Nov: It's always interesting to try a new yeast, because you never quite know how it's going to go. I've used US-05 where it's started active fermentation within 2 hrs of pitching the yeast. I've also used White Labs yeasts before (WLP-300, -380, etc.), but British ale yeast is new to me. I had followed the instructions on the packet, and when I went to pitch the yeast, it came out as a sludge. I hadn't seen that before and was a little concerned, and when I checked on the fermenter last night about 10 hrs after pitching, there was no visible activity. This morning, however, there is clearly active fermentation.
Addendum, 16 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 16 Dec: I'd opened a bottle last week, and found it to be flat. I opened a second bottle tonight, and it was similarly flat. I then opened the re-purposed soda bottle, and it was only very mildly carbonated. So, it seems that the issue wasn't the bottle caps, or the bottling process, as much as it was a result of this is the first time I've worked with this yeast, and I'd likely left it sitting too long.
Overall, the flavor is pretty good, a bit of chocolate and toasted toffee. The body is good, and with the exception of the dearth of carbonation, the beer is actually pretty drinkable and enjoyable, and I'm not a huge fan of brown ales.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Pacifica Sour
I picked up some Pacifica hops not long ago, due to the flavor profile, and I'm really looking forward to trying them out. I'm going to use them in a sour, but I'm going to back off the bacteria I add, in that I'm going to go with just one GoodBelly Straight Shot instead of two.
For this one, I'd made a run to my local homebrew supply place, and had been leafing through the bin of Omega Labs yeasts...I'm looking to make another tangerine wheat soon, and wanted to get some more yeast. I ran across the Tropical IPA yeast, and it sounded good, so I'm going to give it a go. I'm sure that it's going to be hard to pick out the yeast contributions with everything going on...sour, Pacifica hops, and the yeast...but we'll see what comes of this one.
Brew Day: 22 Oct 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Boil #2 (20 min): 26 Oct 2019
Hops:
14 g Pacifica, FWH
1 oz Pacifica, 10 min whirlpool
14 g Pacifica, dry hop
Yeast: Omega Labs Tropical IPA
Addendum, 28 Oct: This is one of those Omega Labs yeasts that reportedly does better at higher temperatures, so I placed the fermenter on a warming plate after pitching the yeast. I checked on it this morning, and the fermentation is best described as "enthusiastic".
Addendum, 5 Nov: Transferred to secondary today, not so much because I had to for the beer, but because I want to use the warming plate for another beer in the next day or two. As I was finishing cleaning up after transferring the beer, I realized that it's almost time to dry hop the beer, which I hope to do tomorrow sometime, and then I'll try to bottle it on Saturday.
Addendum, 16 Nov: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 9 Dec: Tried one of these beers tonight. The bottle opened with a nice escape of gas, and as expected of a sour, the beer poured with good carbonation but no real head to speak of. The beer itself was mildly sour, not overpoweringly so, with subtle hints of the hops peeking through. I'm a fan of sour IPAs, and this one did not have the overpowering tartness in previous beers; this time it was much more subtle. Tasty, easy drinking sour beer.
For this one, I'd made a run to my local homebrew supply place, and had been leafing through the bin of Omega Labs yeasts...I'm looking to make another tangerine wheat soon, and wanted to get some more yeast. I ran across the Tropical IPA yeast, and it sounded good, so I'm going to give it a go. I'm sure that it's going to be hard to pick out the yeast contributions with everything going on...sour, Pacifica hops, and the yeast...but we'll see what comes of this one.
Brew Day: 22 Oct 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Boil #2 (20 min): 26 Oct 2019
Hops:
14 g Pacifica, FWH
1 oz Pacifica, 10 min whirlpool
14 g Pacifica, dry hop
Yeast: Omega Labs Tropical IPA
Addendum, 28 Oct: This is one of those Omega Labs yeasts that reportedly does better at higher temperatures, so I placed the fermenter on a warming plate after pitching the yeast. I checked on it this morning, and the fermentation is best described as "enthusiastic".
Addendum, 5 Nov: Transferred to secondary today, not so much because I had to for the beer, but because I want to use the warming plate for another beer in the next day or two. As I was finishing cleaning up after transferring the beer, I realized that it's almost time to dry hop the beer, which I hope to do tomorrow sometime, and then I'll try to bottle it on Saturday.
Addendum, 16 Nov: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 9 Dec: Tried one of these beers tonight. The bottle opened with a nice escape of gas, and as expected of a sour, the beer poured with good carbonation but no real head to speak of. The beer itself was mildly sour, not overpoweringly so, with subtle hints of the hops peeking through. I'm a fan of sour IPAs, and this one did not have the overpowering tartness in previous beers; this time it was much more subtle. Tasty, easy drinking sour beer.
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