Jan 28
After the poll I put up, the most popular name was “Fat Guy Beer.” So, in the democratic tradition, I have decided that’s what I’ll brand my homebrew with.
And, in honor of the brand, a friend at work created this great logo to go with the brand.
Click on the image to get the full size view. And, hopefully, in time the brand won’t ring true for me (I’m keeping on with the morning workouts.)
Thanks to all who voted, and thanks to Bryan who created the graphic.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=58
Jan 18
Tuesday night I bottled up my oatmeal stout I made. Let’s just say it starts like a Guiness and finishes with a smoky bitter taste. I won’t blame anyone if they don’t enjoy it. I think it will be an OK drink, but not what I was hoping for (my next one will be brewed with a grain bag).
Last night I brewed some Framboos (the name on the extract label), or Framboise as my family calls it. It is a rasberry Belgian ale. Very sweet and fruity, and my wife loves it. So, I had two malt extract kits of the stuff ($9.95 each at the beer store, since they were technically expired.) Made some Belgian candy sugar, boiled the malt, added the candy sugar, and away we went. I took a sample of it and let my wife and daughter have a sample as well. It was very good, it did have some of that fruity bitterness to it that real fruit has, but it was still yummy! Pitched the yeast this morning, and away we went.
Now, all this brewing, and you think I’d have tons of beer to drink. Well, not yet. It takes time to ferment and bottle ferment. But I did crack open a bottle of my first batch last night, the Old Flemmish Brown, and DANG! It was good! I can tell it will be much smoother after it ages a bit, but it was still yummy, and very strong!
My next beer after the Framboise will be a hefeweisen, and then I’ll probably do an IPA. I absolutely love IPA’s!
There is still time to vote on your favorite brand name for my beer! So, click the link and give me your opinion!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=51
Jan 14
After a round of comments suggesting what to name my beer brand, I thought I’d put it up for a vote.
So, follow the link here to vote on your favorite name for my beer brand.
Go now! Follow the link and vote! Let your voice be heard!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=49
Jan 11
A co-worker of mine asked me if I thought of a brand name for my home brew. Wow, good question. I wanted to label them just so I knew what was in each bottle, but I never thought about branding it (that’s what digital designers who worked for Nike think about.)
So, I had some ideas. Brett’s Brew. Gorley’s Grog. But that’s it.
So, this is a call to everyone in the blogosphere. What should I name my beer brand? Mind you, it’s not for sale, it’s just for posterity.
Leave your comments here with your ideas. I would appreciate it!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=48
Jan 09
Last night my friend Jared came over to show me how to bottle the beer I brewed and also to help me make some oatmeal stout.
Things went a little weird, as I didn’t know what I was doing and Jared was too tired to think straight. So, I’ll relay the brewing first, then the bottling.
We started with sanitizing stuff (the bucket, the hose, the beer dispenser thingeymajigger, etc.) Then, we got my stock pot, added 2-1/2 gallons of water, and brought it up to a rolling boil. Added the bag-o-malt stuff, then some corn sugar, then the oatmeal and let that brew for a bit around 190 degrees.
Now, of course, brewing beer makes you thirsty for some. And not having any, we went to the store to get some. Jared settled with a Fosters (he likes lagers more than I do), and I got something a bit arrogant…
Now, once we were done with that we attempted to bring the pot back up to a rolling boil. That’s when we smelled something. We pulled the pot off the stove, scraped the bottom with a spoon, and sure enough some of the oatmeal got a bit scorched. Ugh! I almost panicked, but we took a sample from the pot and tasted it and it wasn’t too bad. Definitely salvageable. We strained the oatmeal out and poured the rest into the bucket. Then I scrubbed the pot and we started with the next part.
Opening the can of Coopers Irish Stout malts, we put a touch into the pot with 2-1/2 gallons of water and added some Irish moss (to help the head of the beer.) After 15 minutes, we added the rest of the stout can and boiled for a bit.
We strained that again, adding it to the bucket. Then we topped the bucket off with water, put our air thingeymajigger in the top (I forgot what it’s called), and mission complete! Six gallons of oatmeal stout.
Then it was time to bottle my last batch of beer, a nice Belgian style Flemmish Brown ale. Tanisha was there to help as well. We sanitized the beer bottles earlier and proceeded to start filling them with beer.
Tanisha did the honors of capping the bottles
Then we labelled the bottles with some cheezy labels I made (I wanted to keep track of what I brewed and when I bottled it.)
On the whole, it was a fun evening, but a very, very long evening.
Many thanks to Jared for his expertise, tired as he was, he was a big help!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=46
Jan 01
Just made my first batch of beer last night. Pitched the yeast right before bed, so just have 6 to 10 days till I can bottle it.
Thanks for the help getting started, Jared. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.brettgorley.com/?p=35
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