Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Fallen behind on my blogging duties

Epic Beer, "Hoppy Easter" April 3, 2010
via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
The red and brown ale were both a hit at our family Easter get together.  The Oktoberfest/Märzen has been lagering in the fridge for 3 weeks.  I may pull a couple bottles to take down to Houston on May 21.  I put both the Yuengling Clones (Lager and Porter) in kegs as secondary fermenters on Saturday (April 30). The samples I pulled for the FG test were both spot on and tasted amazing.  With a little maturity I think they will be excellent.  I might even try natural carbonation on these.

Thats the major news.  I still have yet to make the Greenbelt Pale Ale or Poor Richard’s Ale they were very delayed in shipping.  Hopefully I can find a day this week to stay home and brew some beer.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

My first order from Brewmasters Warehouse is in

Placed my order on Monday, shipped on Tuesday, arrived in Denton about 12:00 today.  I have 3 starter in the works.  Two normal starters from a single White Labs American Lager - WLP840 and a double starter from a White Labs Edinburgh Ale - WLP028.  The lager starters are for Yuengling Lager and Yuengling Porter clones. The double ale starter is for a Pumpkin Barley Wine I have been formulating for a couple weeks.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Giving a New Supplier a Try

Click to Zoom
Austin Hombrew have been shipping very slowly recently so I'm trying out Brewmasters Warehouse.  I queried Reddit hombrewing and everyone had positive things to say. Just placed my first order and its a doozy. Click on the image to zoom in.

Weekend of April 9th

knittymarie, "Warm Cinnamon Butter Beer"
January 25, 2011 via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
3 items of note this weekend.  Moved the October Fest to a secondary in the refrigerator for lagering, moved the Red Ale into a keg for carbonating, and cleaned my second batch of bottles donated by friends.  Thanks guys!

I stumbled across a Buttered Beere Recipe beer recipe this morning.  I don't think I'll be trying this one.
  • 1500 ml (3 bottles) of good quality British ‘ale’
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 200g demerara (natural brown) sugar
  • 5 egg yolks (yolks only are needed)
  • 100g unsalted butter (diced)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Changes to the Brew Schedule


As happens sometimes when there are so many great styles of beer to choose from my brew schedule took on a life of its own today.  I was listening to an archive episode of Basic Brewing radio yesterday evening and they mentioned Poor Richard’s Ale.  This was a special ale created in 2005 and released on January 17, 2006 by several craft breweries around the nation to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth.
Poor Richard’s Ale has a complex aroma with a pleasant malty, corny, and slightly nutty character, enhanced by a slight molasses-spiced undertone that adds an almost fine tobacco-like quality. The flaked corn will lighten the body and provide a nice counterbalance to the malt flavors. Hop bitterness and flavor are designed to be medium-low.  
-Tony Simmons on benfranklin300.org

Shawn Thomas, "Barton Creek Greenbelt Swimming Hole"
July 30, 2010 via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0
While I was ordering the ingredients for Poor Richard’s Ale I ran across Wyeast Greenbelt, a new yeast strain from Wyeast and Austin Hombrew Supply.  I was intrigued this is a yeast strain created just for AHS and named for the Barton Creek Greenbelt.  No self-respecting, homebrewing, outdoor enthusiast, Texan could pass a new yeast strain so named.

Not having any idea where to start with such an unknown yeast I ordered the All Grain AHS Greenbelt Pale Ale Kit.  Been quite a while since I brewed a pale ale so it was about time anyway.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Red Ale & Oktoberfest Update and Bottles

I racked my red ale to the the secondary fermenter on Saturday.  Should be ready to put in the keg next weekend if everything settles out well.  I also cleaned up my first batch of recovered bottles from friends and family this weekend.  Keep them coming and I keep filling them with homebrew.

I pulled in my Oktoberfest for a diacetyl rest should be ready to move into a secondary fermenter on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I think I'll try something new with this one and use a spare Corney keg for lagering then just chill it and force carb in the same keg.

I'm thinking about using this procedure for all my Ales and Lagers from now on.  It removed one chance for contamination and should make the process a little easier.



Friday, April 1, 2011

My next beer

Combining two of the poll choices I think I am going to try a 2.5 gallon batch of Pumpkin Barley Wine.


5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
2.00 lb Munich Malt
1.00 lb Vienna Malt
0.75 lb White Wheat Malt
0.25 lb Biscuit Malt
0.25 lb Special B Malt
1.00 oz Nugget [11.00 %] (60 min) Hops
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (20 min) Hops
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops
1.81 lb Canned Pumpkin (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Brown Sugar, Light
1 Pkgs Nottingham Danstar [Large Starter] Yeast-Ale


Shooting for an original gravity of 1.120 SG about 12 % ABV.