June 2013 Homebrew recipe

The June 2013 homebrew recipe is Rocky Pale Ale, by none other than Midwest Supplies. It is currently bottle conditioning so I can't tell you how it tastes, but I have high hopes. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/rocky-pale-ale.html

Their description is:
As if a certain West Coast beer were being brewed by you. Brew this up for a masterfully balanced malt and hop flavor experience with loads of caramel malt and accompanying floral/citrus hop flavor. This pale ale will not disappoint! Our ingredients for this recipe include 3 lb. Gold dry malt extract, 3.3 lb. Gold liquid malt extract, 1.5 lb. Caramel 60L, 6 oz. Dark Crystal, 1/2 oz. Magnum bittering hops, 1 oz. Ahtanum flavor hops, grain bag, priming sugar, and yeast.

It sounds good to me. I will let you know later how it turned out.

Embarrassed

Sorry to all of my followers and fans. I have been totally remiss in my updates. I can't believe that the last post I made was last April. I have brewed many delicious batches and if you are on my Purim Shaloch Manos route, you will be treated with some of the freshest brews I have. You can look forward to my Pumpkin Ale, the Kolsch Cologne, Not your Average Blonde rebrew or perhaps the Amarillo Pale Ale rebrew (kicked up another notch since last year).

I entered the annual Samuel Adams Longshot Homebrew contest again this year. I didn't win big that is really hard to do with the number of contestants they have. The professional judges reviews were all pretty good. They samples my Noble Trappist Ale (scored 36 out of 50) as well as my Amarillo Pale Ale (scored 30.5 out of 50). So while they are not ready for the mass brew houses, they are definitely good quality beers.

You can now watch my Youtube video showing an instructional video on homebrewing by yours truly. http://youtu.be/aaeWCLTT_3M

March's Brew: 'Noble' Trappist Ale

Another Midwest Supplies recipe is a regular strength Trappist Ale brewed with pilsner malt extract, Belgian Candi suger (my first time using this ingredient), some specialty grains, Hallertau and Styiran Golding hops (for aroma and dry hopped in secondary).

The result was pretty nice. A mellow beer with a nice light hoppy aroma (nothing like the Amarillo from November) and a mild hop bitterness. In all I think its a little too plain for me, but its still a very good drinking beer.

Passover is Here and the beer is on Hiatus!

Passover is my favorite of the Jewish holidays, yes despite the fact that beer is on the off list as it is totally chametz. Maybe one day us beer aficionados will come up with a brewed and carbonated alternative for the beer. I've got some top secret ideas, but we will save that another day.

Enjoy your Beer abstinence period if your are celebrating. You will enjoy your first brew after Pesach even more.

January's Brew: Cherry Wheat Ale

January's brew is called Cherry Wheat Ale. This is my first attempt at a fruit beer. I brewed the wheat wort as usual and let it ferment in primary for about 2 weeks. When I transferred it to the secondary fermenter I added 8ounces of 100% Natural Black Cherry juice concentrate from a local health food store. It is currently still in secondary so I haven't tried it but it has a slight cherry aroma to it which I presume will come through in flavor as well. I don't predict it to be a super fruity beer as some microbrewers are making. Hopefully the cherry flavor is noticeable but not overpowering.

Honey Bee Ale with a twist of Rye

Decembers homebrew batch is a repeat, it was such a big hit the first time around I am making it again. But making the exact same recipe as a homebrewer might be against Homebrewer code. That being said, since I had some leftover Malted Rye from my Rye Roggenbier recipe, I tossed some into the steep. Only time will tell how it comes out, but it smells good. Stay tuned for the review.

The November 2011 brew- Amarillo Pale Ale

For my November brew, (its still in primary fermentation) I am trying another new recipe called Amarillo Pale Ale. The Ale is named after the Amarillo hop which is "The Amarillo hop is perhaps one of the more uniquely flavored varieties to emerge in recent years, and the only variety that is owned by the farmer who bred it. This pale ale showcases ingredients found in the Pacific Northwest and is a great way to get to know the refreshing flavor of the Amarillo"-Midwest Supplies. Sounds good to me, so I am giving it a shot. I can't taste is but I can sure smell the floral aroma of those Amarillo's. I will let you know how it turns out. Stay tuned.

long overdue update

My oh my, where does the time go. I have been very lax in my homebrew blog postings. But better later than never. My late batch was something called Honey Nut Brown Ale. It was a little twist on what I brewed last winter (Nut Brown Ale). The main difference with this batch is the addition of 2 Lbs. of Honey at the end of the boil. The final outcome was a fairly dark brown ale is an ever so slight hint of honey aroma and taste. I personally think that the honey ended up getting hidden in the darkness maltiness and roastiness of the ale itself. But hey that’s my opinion and after all, I’m on the brew master.

January's Brew is: Not your average Blonde

January's brew was another Midwest Supplies kit clone. I build the kits myself from the ingredient list they provide which gives me the opportunity to tweak the recipe as I like. So the blonde ale has flaked wheat, wheat and barley malt extracts, some specialty grain malts and Williamete hops. Primary fermentation was 2 weeks and secondary fermentation an additional 2 weeks. This recipe is the first time I am trying dry hoping in the secondary stage (Williamette dry hoping in secondary stage). We will see how it turns out.

Decembers brew

December's brew was an smooth nut brown. Brewed with chocolate malt and liquid malt extracts plus a pound of dark brown sugar. 1 week in primary fementer and 1.5 in secondary, ABV is around 5.4% They have yet to be sampled but the coloring is a dark brown as expected.