During the past week, I have been working on a bottling experiment. For the experiment, I designed a simple American Amber Ale recipe using dry malt extract and speciality grains. I will have more about the experiment in a future post.

Makes 3 gallons

Ingredients:

5 ounces Crystal Malt 40
4 ounces Cara-Pils Malt
1 ounce Chocolate Malt
3.5 pounds Light Dry Malt Extract
1 ounce Galena hops
1 packet dry yeast
Irish Moss

Procedure:

Crush grains and steep for 1 hour. Strain and pour into brew pot. Add the dry malt extract and bring the wort to a boil. Add 1/2 ounce of Galena hops. Boil for 60 minutes and at the 40 minute mark add Irish moss. Add 1/2 ounce Galena hops to your primary fermenter. Chill wort and pour into fermenter. Pitch yeast and allow to ferment for 3 to 7 days. Bottle and enjoy.


Technorati Tags: Beer, Ale, Recipe, American, Amber, Draft, Experiment

Technorati Tags: Beer, Pilsen, Czech, Revolution

Here's something we all should keep an eye on.

Beer, Hops

It's not beer and it's not wine, but making hard apple cider is always fun. You can do it the old fashioned way by pressing the apples or you can purchase the apple cider. If you purchase the cider, just make sure that there are no preservatives in it. Personally, I buy the apple cider from a local fruit market.

The recipe I found is from Sallys-Place.com and will make a 5 gallon batch. There is also an interesting history of hard cider on that site that is worth reading.

Enjoy the recipe and the reading.


Cidermaking is easy and fun. Here is a basic recipe for a Farmhouse Style cider (ingredients for five gallons):

5 gallons of fresh pressed sweet apple juice (known today as apple cider)
5 cups of sugar
1 package of Wyeast liquid lager brewers yeast (available at homebrew supply stores)

Transfer the juice and sugar using a sanitized funnel or food grade plastic hose into a sanitized glass or stainless-steel container at room temperature. Allow the sugar to dissolve and then pitch the lager yeast and affix a fermentation lock atop the carboy It will soon begin to bubble away releasing carbon dioxide as the yeast converts the sugars into alcohol. Allow the cider to ferment and mellow for at least two months before transferring it with your sanitized food grade hose into bottles, a keg, or any vessel you prefer. Then enjoy. Any homebrew supply shop can get you started with the proper advice and equipment.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Hard, Cider, Beer, Recipe

What better way to enjoy an early October football game than enjoying a tailgate before. Lot's of delicious food and beer before hand. This was inspired by the Green Bay Packers, one of the original teams of the NFL.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs 5 oz Munton & Fison American Light Malt Syrup (boil 60 mins)
• 1 lb Munton & Fison Light Dried Malt Extract (boil 60 mins)
• 1 oz Willamette Pellets (3.9% Alpha) (boil 45 mins)
• 1/2 oz Cascade Pellets (5.6% Alpha) (boil 5 mins)
• 1.75 oz WYeast #2035 American Lager
• 1 teaspoon Irish Moss (boil 10 mins)
• 4 oz Malto Dextrin (boil 30 mins)(note: I have no idea why I used

Procedure:

On commencing of boil, add the Extracts and let boil for 15 minutes.

Add the Willamette and let boil for another 15 minutes.

Add the Malto Dextrin and let boil for 20 minutes.

Add the Irish Moss and let boil for 5 minutes.

Add the Cascade and let boil for the final 5 minutes.

After chilling the wort, add the yeast and ferment for about a week. Bottle and enjoy.

Tech Tags: Green Bay, Packers, Football, Beer,

I've decided to start a new series of beer recipes based on being inspired by football. The first in the series is dedicated to the Cleveland Browns fans. To those loyal fans who cleave to the Browns whether they are good or bad, this beer is for you. Will make a 5 gallon batch

Ingredients:

6 pounds, English Amber malt syrup
1/2 pound, Light English dried malt extract
1/2 pound, crystal malt (40L)
1/2 pound, chocolate malt
1 pound, light brown sugar
10 HBU, Cascade
1 ounce, Cascade (finishing; 5.8% alpha)
Wyeast English Ale yeast

Procedure:

Mash grains in 10 quarts water at 150 degrees for 90 min. Mash pH 5.5. Mash-out 5 min. @ 168 degrees. Sparge with 5 gallons water @ 168 degrees. Dissolved sugar and molasses into runnings. Boil 90 minutes. Add Northern Brewer hops 30 minutes into boil. Turn off heat and add Cascades. Cool. Let sit over night. Rack off trub and pitch yeast. Temp at pitching: 62 degrees. After five days in primary, rack to secondary. Let sit for ten days then rack into bottling bucket with dissolved priming sugar and bottled.

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.052
F.G.: 1.010
Primary Ferment: 5 days at 60--65 degrees
Secondary Ferment: 10 days at 60--65 degrees


Technorati Tags: Football,, Cleveland,, Browns,, Beer,, Recipe