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Brew #12 INTERNATIONAL Collaboration Cascadian Dark Ale / Black IPA

24 Aug

This was my first collaboration brew! My friends Greig McGill (he’s in New Zealand!) and Stephen Freshnock and I came up with a recipe together and each brewed our own batch of the same beer. The only difference between the beers is the type of hops used. I brewed this just last week so it won’t be ready for a couple weeks, but I’m quite excited for the results. We will be swapping our beers once it’s complete.

We decided to try our hand at brewing the much talked about “new style” Cascadian Dark Ale aka Black IPA. It’s similar to an IPA but (duh) darker in color due to the darker, roastier (I guess that’s not a real word) malts. If you want to read more about the style, go here.

Here’s the recipe with my hops selection:

http://hopville.com/recipe/311944/home-brew/cda-collabrewation

I will update once we have swapped and tasted all the variations!

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Posted in Beer + Life, Beer Education

Brew #11 Stadium Red Rye (aka Rubber Ring Red Rye)

24 Aug

For my 11th brew, I decided to use my original Stadium Red Ale recipe and modify a bit to include rye. I was pretty happy with the way the original red ale turned out, but thought it might need a little something to make it unique. I tried a bottle of it this afternoon and was pretty pleased, but I will give it a few more weeks to condition before I give it a full review.

Stadium Red Rye

I also call this one “Rubber Ring” red rye due to the rubber ring I found in one of the bags of grain… and because I’m a Smiths fan. :)

Rubber Ring

The recipe for the brew can be found here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/278568/american-amber-ale-recipes/stadium-red-rye—-rubber-ring-red-rye

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Brew #10: Canasta Dry-Hopped American Pale Ale

22 Jul

For my 10th brew, I decided to make a beer dedicated to my favorite local band, Canasta. Not only was this beer dedicated to them, but I also gave them half the batch, as they needed some cold brews to cool them off in their stiflingly hot practice space.

For any interested homebrewers, the recipe can be found on Hopville at: http://hopville.com/recipe/253508/american-pale-ale-recipes/canasta

I gave it a try last week an was quite pleased with the results. A simple pale ale dry hopped with some Centennial hops for the final 7 days of fermentation. This was also my first experience using Wyeast Northwest Ale yeast. Pretty good clarity, excellent aroma, and the flavor was bitter yet refreshing!

Canasta Dry-Hopped APA

I also received some very nice feedback from them, as noted below:

“The results are in… We shared a twelver of this brew at tonight’s practice and all six of us agreed it was great! Not only was it a *god send* to have something frosty on-hand in our stiflingly hot rehearsal space, but the moment I took the first sip, I swear my first thought was, “Mmmm, dry and hoppy…” (forgetting, for a second, just how … accurately the beer had been named). We were all pretty blown away.

I gotta say… Practicing in our sauna-of-a-rehearsal-space twice a week for three hours at a time can get to be a real drag. But then suddenly, someone comes along, brews us a batch of super tasty beer and even goes so far as to name it after us… And then just like that, being in a rock band once again seems like the greatest thing in the whole world.”

Needless to say, I was very flattered and am glad they enjoyed the beer. Hopefully when I open Robey Street, I will be able to offer the Canasta beer as a seasonal brew! :)

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Posted in Beer + Life

Brew #9: KRK ESB

12 Jun

For my 9th beer, I made my version of an ESB. During the Craft Brewer’s Conference, I received some Riwaka hops from New Zealand, so I was eager to try those out.

This beer is named KRK after an acquaintance of mine who passed away on April 10. I only met him once, when I was working for a trading firm (he was a trader on the CBOE), but we stayed in touch via Facebook and had a few discussions about beer.

The special thing about John, however, was not his interest in beer, but his amazing willpower in his fight with cancer. He was fighting cancer for many years (the first time was over 10 years ago) and had a relapse over the past few months. He also helped a lot of people who were also fighting cancer, through his charity, Chicago Fight Club.

When I have my brewery, I will be donating proceeds from the sale of this beer to the Chicago Fight Club (or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).

The recipe for the beer can be found here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/205323/extra-special-strong-bitter-english-pale-ale-recipes/krk

This beer may very well be my best beer yet. I absolutely loved the hoppy aroma and the very unique hop bitterness imparted by the Riwaka hops. If I could describe the flavor better, I would, but it’s citrusy and different than the typical hop-citrus flavor. That’s all I can say. :)

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Brew #8: Batch #008 Wheat & Rye

12 Jun

Back in March, during the height of the Batch 9000 frenzy, I made Batch #008. My 8th batch was an American Wheat & Rye beer.

The recipe can be found here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/174968/american-wheat-or-rye-beer-recipes/batch-008

Overall, I was quite pleased with the way this one came out, but it could have used a bit more hop aroma. The rye adds a bit of spiciness (peppery?) which I like, and the wheat adds a softness. I’ve received quite a bit of positive feedback on this one.

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Posted in Beer + Life

Next Up: Chicago Hot Dog . . . Lager?

22 Feb

Vienna Hot Dog

A VIENNA Lager fermented w/ sport peppers. GET IT?

Although Hot Dog beer doesn’t sound too tasty, so I have to rethink the name. . .

8 lb Vienna Malt
1 lb German Dark Crystal
1 lb Caramunich II

1 oz Hallertauer pellets @ 60 min
0.5 oz Hallertauer pellets @ 40 min

Wyeast 2206 GF Bavarian Lager Yeast

Fermentation: SPORT PEPPERS (amount as of yet undecided)

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Brew #7: Belgian Rose Witbier

24 Jan

So, I planned a new recipe over the weekend. I hope to brew it in the next week or so.

I got a little inspired over the weekend while thinking about a rose-flavored drink that was very popular when I lived in Singapore. It’s called bandun (bahn-doon) I believe. Evaporated milk, ice, and rose syrup. A lovely pink and sweet drink. Rose flavored drinks/snacks are quite popular in Asia and the Middle-east but don’t seem to be very prevalent here in the U.S.

T. G. Kiat & Co (Pte) Ltd Rose Syrup

So, how about a beer with rose flavor and aroma? Could it work?

I started thinking about this rose syrup, and rosewater, and did some research if anyone has made a rose-flavored beer. Nothing really came up, but I didn’t look that hard.

I think in order for this to really work the beer has to be a bit sweet and light, so I decided to try my hand at a Belgian witbier. While I have finalized the grain bill and hops, I have yet to figure out if I will add rose syrup or rose water, and if I will do it during the boil, during the fermentation or both. I’m leaning towards putting some rose syrup in at the end of the boil. As for fermenting, that depends on how much I want the rose aroma/flavor to come out. I don’t want to it to overpower, but I do want it to be noticeable. So, we’ll see.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Please note: I’m listing the amounts of grain by percentage for now.

40% 2-Row

40% White Wheat

10% Flaked Wheat

10% Acid Malt (sour)

Rice Hulls*

*(Adding rice hulls to the mash to prevent stuck mash from the high percentage of wheat)

60 minute mash.

60 minute boil.

1 oz Saaz hops added at 40 mins.

Tentative: 8 oz. T.G. Kiat & Co. Rose Syrup at end of boil.

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Posted in Beer + Life

Brew #6: MLK & Cookie Stout

20 Jan

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. day this past Monday and to celebrate the day I decided to brew the “MLK & Cookie Stout”.

I like oatmeal stouts a lot. I like chocolate stouts, too, but I tend to be very picky about them. I also was eager to experiment by making a milk stout. So what better, than to combine all three to make a milk and cookie stout!

I put the recipe together after having done some research on various homebrew websites, taking notes from various recipes and combining all the best into one.

Grains:

7 lbs Briess Organic 2-Row
1 lb Briess Flaked Oats
1 lb Briess Roasted Barley
1 lb Briess Caramel 80L
½ lb Briess Chocolate Malt

Hops:

1 oz Goldings (UK) @ 60min.
½ oz Goldings (Yakmia) @ 30 min.
½ oz Goldings (Yakima) @ 15 min.

Yeast:

Irish Ale (Wyeast 1084)

Misc:

½ lb Lactose at flame out.*
1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min.

60 min mash @ 158F, sparge @ 168F, 60 minute boil.

OG: 1.055

*For those who aren’t brewers, lactose (milk sugar) is added to the beer because it is an unfermentable sugar and thus keeps the beer sweet. You can read more about milk stouts here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stout#Milk_stout

Brew notes:

It was my first time using the new Barley Crusher malt mill that I bought and I’m already glad I invested in it. My numbers were SPOT ON. Everything else went well on brew day, and the wort alone smelled great so I’m eager to try it in about 8 weeks!

Barley Crusher Malt Mill

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Brew #4: Jingle Bell Hop

26 Dec

So, my 4th brew was for my own consumption and not an experiment for production. I was craving something hoppy and having not experimented with a super hopped up beer, I thought it was time.

Grains:

10 lb 2-Row
1lb Munich 10L
1 lb TF&S Crystal (I)

OG: WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT 1.06, but mine was 1.03 (see Notes below)

FG: 1.01

Hops:

3 oz Cascade (pellets) [1 oz @ 45 min, 1 oz @ 15 min, 1 oz DH @ 7 days]
3 oz Amarillo (pellets) [1 oz @ 60 min, 1 oz @ 30 min, 1 oz DH @ 7 days]

Yeast: Wyeast American Ale

Primary Fermentation: 14 days

Secondary Fermentation: 7 days (+dry hop)

Brew Date: 12/14/2009
Bottle Date: 01/04/2010
Taste Date: 01/15/2010

Notes:

I messed this one up, royally. I mill my grains at the store where I purchase them, and I guess the spacing was off on the malt mill that day and I didn’t think about why it was SOOOO easy to grind them. Needless to say, it wasn’t until I didn’t reach my OG numbers that I figured something was wrong. A very helpful homebrewer online helped me narrow it down to the grains not being properly milled. I checked the spent grains and sure enough, half weren’t even cracked. :(

We shall see how this India Fail Ale turns out. Updates to come … :)

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Brew #3: Blommer Chocolate Stout

26 Dec

The third beer I brewed was a chocolate stout. I used some chocolate from the Blommer chocolate factory Outlet Store. Recipe below.

8 lbs 2-Row
1 lb German Munich
1 lb Flaked Oats
1 lb Black Patent
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt

Original Gravity: 1.05

Final Gravity: (I suck at keeping notes)

Hops:

Bittering: 1 oz Golding (pellets) @ 60 min.

Aromatic: 1 oz Golding (pellets) @ 15 min.

1 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 min.

8 oz Alpine Dark Chocolate (Blommer) @ 15 min.

Yeast: Wyeast London Ale

Brew Date: 11/11/2009

Bottle Date: 12/10/2009

Taste Date: 12/24/2009 (just a sneak peak) Letting the bottles condition another 2 months before this is actually DONE.

Notes:

After realizing I didn’t have the proper chocolate (I wanted to find something unsweetened, but they didn’t have any), I only put the chocolate in at the boiling, and chose NOT to ferment with any.

This was my first time using Irish moss. I’ve had good clarity with the previous two beers so I wasn’t too concerned but mostly just wanted to see if I’d notice a difference. (I didn’t).

Robey Street Blommer Chocolate Stout

Tasting:

I sampled a little on Christmas Eve and it’s tasting good! Reminded me a lot of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. Good head, dark chocolaty flavor. I think it needs a couple more months for the flavor to develop further but so far so good. Will update later.

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Posted in Beer + Life