FRESH SQUISHED IPA ALL-GRAIN HOMEBREW

This has now taken over as one of my favorite homebrews that I have made in my homebrew career. The aroma, color and taste are awesome.
Check out the beautiful color and head.

This is the description from Midwest Supplies (my ingredient source).
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/fresh-squished-ipa-all-grain-kit
Dripping with vivid flavors, this clone recipe is the beer equivalent of visiting your local fruit stand. Flavors and aromas of grapefruit, melon, berries, lime and passion fruit drizzle into a faint herbal, piney background. Fresh Squished's sturdy malt foundation of sweet crystal malts and toasty munich concedes to this indulgent use of Citra and Mosaic hops to achieve remarkable balance. Pale copper in color, Fresh Squished is overlaid by a fluffy, rich beige foam cap, allowing the juicy aromas to ooze out of this Pacific Northwest inspired clone.

Samuel Adams finally mailed out their score sheets for the 2016 Longshot Homebrew contest. I submitted my Coffee Stout that was brewed with Starbucks coffee. It's kind of funny that one of the judges said that the coffee taste was barely noticeable. Most of the people that I gave this brew to try thought that the coffee flavor was overpowering......Go figure.

Kosher yeast Certifications

Over the last few months, I have been asked frequently about kosher yeast certifications. The best way to find the leading manufacturers LOC's (Letters of Certification) can be found here:

Muntons
http://www.muntons.com/compliance/

White Labs
http://www.whitelabs.com/news/white-labs-kosher-certified

Danstar Nottingham Lallemand[pdf]
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwja7_vbr6bPAhUMLsAKHSNPAlcQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danstaryeast.com%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fpdfs%2Fnottingham_datasheet_0.pdf%3Fdownload%3D1&usg=AFQjCNEvVaM6j6Wdno4XHaZ-FaJ6rvwIfg&sig2=eIFYwhGy1vyrJ31CAtKBWw
check their website for additional information on "kosher" status

Wyeast Labs Yeast: LOC from the OU can be found below. Courtesy of Kyle B. [Thank you].

As I find more, I will gladly post. Please feel free to email me, if you find any updates.

Happy Brewing.

Java (Coffee) Stout

I am trying a new style hombrew this time to kick off the post Pesach homebrewing. I tried the Samuel Adams "Black and Brew" and couple of years back and was inspired. So I am giving a Coffee Stout recipe a shot. Right off the bat, even before adding the coffee (will be a Starbucks specialty bean) to secondary the brew is super dark, as it should  be being a stout. Straight out of the brew kettle it looks like coffee and smells very toasty. Right now its fermenting nicely in primary and once it's done in about a week, I'll transfer to secondary and add about a pot (48 oz) of strong brewed coffee. Stay tuned..if it works out nicely, I will be submitting this one to the annual Samuel Adams Longshot Homebrew contest.

Calypso Single-Hop IPA

This is the recipe kit that I have in secondary as of right now that I ordered from Midwest Supplies. I love the description that they provide and hope that I can get the same flavor and aroma profiles from my batch as they are describing.

"Unlike any other IPA that has come before it, new-age Calypso hops offer brilliant flavor and aroma from lemons, cherry blossoms, black pepper, bitter orange and mint to hints of tropical fruit and sappy, pronounced pear. Versatile, evolving hop character and markedly smooth bittering make for a complex IPA balanced by clean, slightly sweet and bready malt. Capturing fantastic reviews from IPA lovers and light-beer-drinkers alike, Calypso is a flavor odyssey with a serene, unforgettable finish."

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/calypso-single-hop-ipa.html

Jelly Belly-Draft Beer Jelly Beans

As a beer lover I was excited to give this Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor a shot. Unfortunately, they are a super size dissapointment. They taste like skunky beer, granted some beer is skunky and that is a bad thing, but why would we want to be reminder of that in a jelly bean??

Back to the drawing board Jelly Belly creators.

http://www.jellybelly.com/draft-beer-launch

Sam Adams Chocolate Bock (2015)

While I do not usually post this type of thing on my blog, I am sure that it is relevant to many followers. I just bought the Sam Adams Winter Classics mix. Mixes like this give homebrewers inspiration and ideas for homebrews they would like to create or copy. I happen to think that a chocolate beer and a coffee beer are very cool ideas and will at some point give them a shot, homebrew style of course. The issue is that the SA Chocolate Bock does not have a kosher certification on the bottle. The good news is that I followed up with the Star-K who certifies all of the Boston Beer (including Sam Adams), and their reply was: The reason why we do not list it is because it is dairy and they use lactose which is not cholov Yisroel it is cholov stam and we did not want to get involved with Star-D. Therefore, if you are ok with the above reasonings, sip away.

Does Beer need a Hashgacha?

In a recent article in the Kosher Spirit Magazine put out by the OK Kosher, they answer this questions. I agree with them completely as the beer industry continues to expand and brewmaster in the US are always trying to find the new latest and greatest brewing craze in addition to the traditional beers. You really need to be on guard when it comes to beers and kashrus, the old adage of all beer is fine (in the US) is not necessarily true anymore.

http://www.kosherspirit.com/Article.asp?Issue=35&Article=516

My 2015 Samuel Adams Longshot Homebrew contest entry scores

These are my score sheets from my annual Samuel Adams Longshot Homebrew contest entries. The top Three pages are for my Pumpkin Ale 2014 (brewed last fall) [category 21B]. The second set are from my Some Like It Hot [category 21A] brew that was made with my homegrown Thai peppers.

Citral Pale Ale

This months homebrew is called Citral Pale Ale. It's a recipe that has an abundance of floral hops in it. I am also putting my new Father's day gift to use with this batch. My loving wife bought me a conical fermenter, I can't imagine where she got the idea from. But so far it's working pretty nice. The recipe has Centennial hops for bittering and lots of Citra and Cascade hops for Aroma. I can't wait to try this hop bomb!