Popular Posts

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Happy Holiday Ale


Description:

Once a year folks eat, drink and are merry. We think this is a great time to impress your friends and relatives with homemade beer. This spiced ale will make egg nog a thing of the past. 
Ingredients: 6 lb. Dark liquid malt extract, 3.3 lb. Amber liquid malt extract, 8 oz. Caramel 60L, 8 oz. Special B specialty grains, 2 oz. of hops, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger, yeast, priming sugar and a grain bag.
Custom Yeast: White Labs Burton Ale 023
Additional Information:

Origin of Style USA
Color Dark
Gravity Level High
Hop Rating (1-4) 1

Can't wait to get started!

Kit spread out, kit in a box


Fresh ingredients equals fresh beer! Grains and extract turn over weekly at Midwest. 


The small pouch contains the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.



Grain soak 


Spent grains



Here you can see the added color a grain soak gives. Smells amazing.


Adding malt extract

Adding hops





Time to add the spices


Then the finishing hops


By this time the first hops additions have stopped floating


I run the wort through a strainer to remove all the pelletized hops


Pitching yeast directly into wort. Between 100-150 million cells, no need for a starter.


A few days later, here is the krausen


Cant wait to taste this one! Extra time may be needed for flavor mellowing. Will report back when it's ready to pour in the glass! Thanks for stopping by!


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

American Dream Ale

Description: 
Based off the old forgotten American Cream Ale style. Rich and creamy with a hint of citrus undertones. 

Kit includes:
Malt Base: 3.3 lbs. Northwestern's Gold Malt Extract & 2 lbs. Munton's Extra Light SDM
Specialty Grains: 6 oz. Crystal & 4 oz. Victory
Hops: 5 HBU Cascade (bittering) & .5 oz. Willamette (finishing)
Yeast: Ale (dry)


Everyone is excited to get a new beer kit!

Let's see what's inside!

Grain soak

Liquid and dry extract



First hops


Finishing hops

Tuckered out

Muntons Nut Brown Ale - Extract-Only Kit

Description:
Dark and smooth, a brown ale with a slightly "nutty" character. To really enjoy this ale serve at cellar temperature.

This is the first kit I have done that is extract-only, which means there are no hops to add as the can of extract has already been hopped. All you do is boil water and mix in the can of extract. Cool, top off fermenter and pitch yeast. Very simple. However I have not been impressed with the taste at all so far, although it has only been three weeks. I will let it age before passing judgement. I only let it ferment two weeks before moving to the keg for conditioning, which is sooner than I would like.











Update:
Fermented three weeks, keg conditioned one week. I am still not happy with the taste of the brew. Live and learn, no more corn sugar.