Dec 12

Beamish Stout Clone- Batch 19

Wednesday evening I brewed a Beamish Stout clone, thanks to the clone recipe we got from a magazine with 150 recipies in it.  We used the extract recipe, not the all grain recipe listed below.

 

Beamish Recipe from Magazine

Beamish Recipe from Magazine

So, gathered the ingredients, put some water on the kettle, and began mashing the grains.

 

Beamish Stout beer ingredients

Beamish Stout beer ingredients

The recipe called for 3.3lbs light liquid malt extract, 1lb light dry malt extract, 1/2lb 2 row,  1/2lb wheat malt,  6oz cane sugar,  4oz crystal malt,  6oz chocolate malt,  4.5oz roasted barley,  and 1.5oz black patent malt.  The hops it calls for are .5oz Challenger (which I didn’t have, so I substituted Fuggles) and .6oz Kent Goldings for bittering hops, then 1/4oz of Hallertauer for aroma hops. Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=249

Dec 09

Holiday Cheer- Batch 18

Last night I brewed my first seasonal beer using Papazian’s recipe for something he calls “Holiday Cheer.”  It uses 7lbs of light malt extract, 1/2lb of crystal malt, 2oz of black malt, 1lb of honey, orange peels, fresh ground ginger root, and cinnamon.  It also uses Cascade and Saaz hops, but since I don’t have any Saaz I substituted Hallertauer instead.

After mashing the small amount of grains and boiling the wort, I added the malt extract and the honey and the Cascades.  It was amazing to see how such a small amount o black malt can add so much color.  The smell of the honey and the malt were quite noticeable.  After the 60 minute boil I added the cinnamon, ginger root, and orange peels, and let them boil for 15 minutes.  2 minutes before the end of the boil I added the Hallertauers.

I aerated and pitched the yeast this morning, after taking the initial gravity, which came out to 1.052.  So, this beer has the potential to be over 6% alcohol.  My guess is that it will turn out to around 5.5%.  Not too shabby.  Definitely enough to warm you over the holidays.

My thanks to Robert for pitching in for this one.  I’ll definitely make it worth your while!

Batch 19 is ready to brew as well, which is a Beamish stout clone.  Oooohhhh, I absolutely love Beamish, so I’m really looking forward to that one.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=246

Dec 04

Batch 17 Bottled- Buckingham Bitter

Bottled the Buckingham Bitter last night, the second time we brewed this.  Final gravity came out to be 1.012, with an initial gravity of 1.042, giving us a .030 difference.  Multiply that by 105 gives us 3.15, the alcohol percentage by weight.  Multiply that by 1.25 gives us 3.94, which is it’s alcohol by volume.

This time I’m sitting on my portion of the batch for a while.  Some people might see some around Christmas time, but that’s about it.  I’m going to hoard it.

Now, the time is approaching to decide on our next beer.  We’re looking at a Papazian recipe “Cherries in the Snow” or doing a Beamish stout clone.  The Cherries in the Snow is dependent on whether or not I can get 10lbs of cherries for free, as there is no way I’m paying for that amount of cherries (this whole homebrew thing started as a way to SAVE money on beer.)  I’m also tossing around the idea of a holiday beer as  well.  Given that this is the holiday season, I’d better decide soon.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=243

Nov 26

Batch 17 Brewed

Today I brewed batch 17, a remake of the Buckingham Bitter. 

A few slight differences in this one, namely when we went to buy the same British crystal malt, there were now two varieties of different color.  A 30-40 lovibond color crystal, and a 50-60 lovibond crystal malt.  We got the 50-60 lovibond one, though some conversation occured as to what we got before. 

Another difference in this batch is that I used some Irish moss in it to help settle it.  I also think I got a touch more bittering hops in than I should have, given the inaccurate scale I have.  But, a 1/4 oz difference won’t affect it much (in fact, it might make it better!)

Tomorrow I pitch the yeast and take the initial gravity (though not in that order.)  Can’t wait to drink it.

I’m also debating on making a holiday beer to hand out for Christmas.  I’d better decide fast, before I miss the window of brewing opportunity.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=241

Nov 24

Batch 16 Bottled, Batch 17 in the Wings

Bottled up batch 16, our Bombay IPA, last Thursday. 

Bombay IPA

Bombay IPA

The final gravity was 1.010, initial gravity was 1.050, giving us a .040 difference.  Multiply the .040 by 105 gives us 4.2, which is the percentage by weight.  Multiply 4.2 by 1.25 gives us 5.25, which is the percent by volume. 

Sampling the beer it had a great hops taste to it.  The aroma hops could have been more pronounced, but I’ll wait until it’s done bottle fermenting before I make any final judgements.  It should be a great beer.

Now, our next batch will be a redo of the Buckingham Bitter.  It was so good we can’t get enough of it.  In fact, it’s all GONE!  The fastest a beer has ever been drank at my house.  At least I get to make more!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=238

Nov 14

Batch 16 – India Pale Ale

Wednesday evening my friend and I brewed batch 16, which is based off of Papazian’s recipe “Laughing Heart IPA.”  We did a hops substitution, as we had no Centennial hops but had Chinook, so we used them for the bittering hops.

The recipe is a mini-mash, so I started with the grains, doing the stepped infusion process that Papazian recommends.  After the protien rest and during the extraction, I had an issue with the heat, as though I was stirring the grains I wasn’t getting all the grains from the bottom of the pot, which caused a large heat build up.  Once I stirred these up the temperature jumped from 145 degrees to 165 degrees!  OUCHIES!!!!  I quickly pulled the pot off the burner and added some cold water to get the temp back down to 150 degrees where it needs to be.

During the extraction my friend/investor came over, and he took over babysitting the grains while I took care of my kids.  Once our mash was done, we sparged the grains and got our wort to a boil.  Once the boil began we added 4 lbs of light malt extract to the mash and the 1-1/2 oz of Chinook hops.  The final 5 minutes we added some Irish moss and the 1/2 oz of Cascade aroma hops.

Thursday morning I took the initial gravity, pitched the yeast, and life was good.  We have a new hydrometer and a hydrometer tube to do the measurement in, which turned out to be a GREAT investment!  I tested the measurement tube ahead of time, and water was coming up as 1.000 initial gravity, just like it was supposed to.  The IPA had an initial gravity of 1.050, which will give us the potential for over 6% alcohol.  No doubt it will be closer to 5%.  I’m looking forward to it being done and drinkable.

News on the English bitter:  We tried a bottle before it was technically ready, and it was good.  Another week in the bottle and this baby will be money!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=221

Nov 06

Batch 15 Bottled- Buckingham Bitter

Just bottled my 15th batch of beer, the Buckingham Bitter.  Had a taste before it being carbonated- I’m definitely in for a treat!

Here’s the label I created for it:

Buckingham Bitter Label

Buckingham Bitter Label

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=212

Oct 28

Beer Labels

Here are a few samples of my beer labels, that I now affix to the bottle cap on each beer, thus saving myself a lot of work scraping labels off of beer bottles.

Righteous American Pale Ale

Righteous American Pale Ale

Wild Thing Beer Label

Wild Thing Beer Label

 Best idea I’ve ever had!  Put the label on the bottle cap!  Perfect for a guy like me!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=203

Oct 28

Buckingham Bitter – Batch 15

Sunday my friend (and investor) and I brewed a bitter, after having received 1lb of fuggles and Kent Goldings hops for free (thanks, Erica!)

The recipe called for 12oz of crystal malt and 4.5lbs of light malt extract.  We used a touch over a pound of British caramalt and 5lbs of light malt extract.

All went well, except for when I went to take the initial gravity.  I was running some experiments with my hydrometer to see if it was working correctly (it was slightly off) when I went to set it down it broke.  I realized after the fact that the glass measurement floaty thingey is more fragile than it appears.

So, no initial gravity or final gravity on this one.  I pitched the yeast yesterday and it has taken off wonderfully.  Looking forward to this one.  We’re naming it Buckingham Bitter.

Also, we came across a revelation as far as beer labelling.  Putting a label on the side of the beer bottle entails way too much work, as you have to remove the label later.  So, at the office supply store I found some 3/4″ round Avery labels that fit perfectly on a bottle cap.  With a little help from Photoshop and Word I have some great labels that clean up easy.  You just throw them away with the cap!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=200

Oct 22

Probably the Best Presidential Candidate At This Time

Forget the issues!  Let’s vote for the best party!  The B.E.E.R. party!  And Les Vilda!

Click here for the story.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=198