Batch 8, Moose!

Batch #8, December 31, 2004, the Moose Drool clone again, now just Moose.


Malt extract:
7 1/2 pounds amber gold malt extract

Grain:
1/2 pound crystal malt 80L
2 oz Breiss chocolate malt
1 oz black patent malt

Hops:

1 oz Kent Golding	60 min
1/2 oz Mt. Hood	30 min
1/2 oz Willamette	10 min
1/2 oz Willamette	0 min

Yeast:
Wyeast #1056 American Ale Yeast

OG: 1.050
FG: 1.010

Kegged: January 11, 2005

Comments: Like last time, really good!

Batch 7, Cascade Pale Ale

Batch #7, December 29, 2004

Malt extract:
6 3/4 pounds amber gold extract (bulk)

Malted grain:
1 pound crystal malt 20L

Hops:

1 oz Perle	60 min
1/2 oz Nugget	30 min
1/2 oz Nugget	10 min
1 oz Cascade	7 days
1/2 oz Mt. Hood	7 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056, American ale yeast

OG: 1.044
FG: 1.012

Comments: Really good recipe, it gets better the longer it sits. This is similar to batch #5, but less hops. This is a definite re-do, the hops seems just about right. I like it too that all the hops are local, that is, from Washington state.

Batch 6, Moose Drool!

Batch #6, November 7, 2004, a Moose Drool clone
Moose Drool is a household favorite from the Big Sky Brewing Company in Missoula, Montana.

Malt extract:
7 1/2 pounds amber gold malt extract

Grain:
1/2 pound crystal malt 80L
2 oz Breiss chocolate malt
1 oz black patent malt

Hops:

1 oz Kent Golding	60 min
1/2 oz Mt. Hood	30 min
1/2 oz Willamette	10 min
1/2 oz Willamette	0 min

Yeast:
Wyeast #1056 American Ale Yeast

OG: 1.047
FG: 1.008

Kegged: Dec 16, 2004

Comments: Really good! This recipe leaves 1/2 oz of the Mt. Hood hops left over, which might be just right in the next batch of Cascade.

Batch 5, Cascade Pale Ale

Batch #5, November 7, 2004, a new ale recipe.

Malt extract:
6 3/4 pounds amber gold extract (bulk)

Malted grain:
1 pound crystal malt 20L

Hops:
2 oz Perle, fresh
1 oz Nugget, fresh
2 oz Cascade, fresh

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056, American ale yeast

Cooking instructions:
The minute timer starts when the water comes to a boil.
Bring water to 155 degrees F
Soak the grains, maintaining heat at 155 for 30 minutes
Remove the grains, rinse them into the pot
Bring to a boil
0:00 Add malt extract and Perle hops
0:30 Add half the Nugget hops
0:50 Add the other half of the Nugget hops and 1 tsp Irish moss
1:00 Remove from heat
7 days, add Cascade hops to fermenter

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.010

The original gravity seems high to me, if this finishes at even 1.010, it'll have about 7% alcohol! I also tried another trick that I read about on the internet, it said to use a hand mixer to get more air in the wort to help out the yeast. I used a regular hand-held electric mixer and ran it for a couple of minutes, could be interesting. It did seem to get a lot more air in that just mixing with the big spatula that I usually use.

Added the Cascade hops on Saturday, Nov 13. I just stirred them in, I'm wondering now if I should have put them in the grain bag so they'd come out easier.

Bottled November 20, 2004, with 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming.

This batch did finish at 1.010, so it should run right at 7% alcohol. The hops were no trouble, I siphoned into the bottling bucket, then cleaned out the fermenter, then strained from the bottling bucket back to the fermenter, using my big strainer, then back again to the bottling bucket. That got out all the big pieces, anyway.

Turns out to be a really good beer! Kind of strong on the hops, though, think I'll use a bit less next time.

Batch 4, The Pilsner, one more time

Batch #4, October 16, 2004, a repeat of batch #3, slightly less hops

Malt extract:
6 3/4 pounds Pilsner extract (bulk)

Hops:
2 oz Spalt, fresh
1 oz Saaz, pellets

Yeast:
Wyeast 1007, German Ale yeast

Cooking instructions:
The minute timer starts when the water comes to a boil.
Bring water to boil
0:00 Add malt extract
0:10 Add Spalt hops
0:50 Add Saaz hops and 1 tsp Irish moss
1:00 Remove from heat

OG: 1.042
FG: 1.008

Bottled November 4, 2004, with 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming.

This batch is flat after 2 weeks in the bottle, which concerns me. I skipped the cheesecloth strainer this time (maybe I strained out the yeast?) and rinsed out the bottles better. I've been putting the bottles in the dishwasher with some TSP, which will kill just about everything, I'm wondering if the rinse cycle isn't enough and that TSP was remaining in the bottles and killing the yeast. This time, I took all the bottles out of the dishwasher/TSP and rinsed them with the bottle washer. The flat beer tastes okay, but the lack of bubbles just isn't right.

... I've given up on this batch. I got a keg set, so uncapped all the bottles, poured them into a keg, and attempted to force carbonate. Nothing helped this batch, it wasn't flat, but I think all the handling made the taste go bad. Down the drain it goes... :(

Batch 3, The Wannabe Pilsner Again

Batch #3, September 26, 2004, a repeat of batch #1 with a bit more hops.

Malt extract:
6 3/4 pounds Pilsner extract (bulk)

Hops:
3 oz Spalt, fresh
1 oz Saaz, pellets

Yeast:
Wyeast 1007, German Ale yeast

Cooking instructions:
The minute timer starts when the water comes to a boil.
Bring water to boil
0:00 Add malt extract
0:10 Add Spalt hops
0:50 Add Saaz hops and 1 tsp Irish moss
1:00 Remove from heat

OG: 1.048
FG: 1.004

Bottled October 11, 2004.

I got a hydrometer, so now I can track the percent alcohol in the finished product. This batch ought to be right at 5% alcohol. I also got a spigot and a second bucket for bottling, which is a lot easier than siphoning. I siphoned the beer from the fermenter into the bottling bucket on Oct 8 so it would have some time to settle and hopefully make a clearer beer.

The first couple of bottles didn't have much head (again... :( ), so I applied a technique that I read on-line, I shook up all the bottles and got the yeast stirred up, which hopefully will make some more carbonation. That seemed to help some, but not a lot. I think I'll go check that with another bottle right now...

Batch 2, a basic stout

Bottling #2, September 5, 2004

Malt extract:
6 2/3 pounds dark extract

Malted grain:
1 pound crystal malt
1 pound roasted barley
1/2 pound chocolate malt

Hops:
1 oz Colorado, pellets (Jan 23, 2009, I was reviewing my old recipes, and saw this. I have no idea what "Colorado" hops are. This is probably a typo, maybe I meant "Columbus"?)

Yeast:
Wyeast 1084, Irish ale yeast

Other:
1/2 pound malto-dextrin

Cooking instructions:
The minute timer starts when the water comes to a boil.
* Bring water to 155 degrees F
* Soak the grains, maintaining heat at 155 for 30 minutes
* Remove the grains, rinse them into the pot (I think this is called "sparging", one of those terms that is never well defined anywhere.)
* Bring to a boil
* 0:00 Add malt extract, hops, and malto-dextrin
* 1:00 Remove from heat

I got one of those big net bags from the homebrew store to handle the grain. I just put the grain in the bag, then set the bag in the pot to soak, like a big tea bag. That works pretty well for getting the grain back out.

This time I turned off the heat a couple of minutes before adding the malt extract. That did the trick for avoiding burning the malt on the bottom of the pan. I just stirred it in until the malt was dissolved, then turned the heat back on, and it was boiling again in a minute -- gas is great!

Bottled on September 18, 2004 with 1 1/4 cup malt extract for priming.

This beer also came out very well. Not much head on it, though, which was disappointing. Also had a more "roasted" or "burnt" flavor to it than I really like, next time I try this recipe I think I'll substitute a patent malt for the roasted barley. All in all, very drinkable, quite good.

The first batch

Batch #1, August 7, 2004, a Pilsner-like beer

Malt extract:
6 2/3 pounds Briess Pilsner light

Hops:
1 oz Spalt, fresh
1 oz Saaz, pellets

Yeast:
Wyeast 1007, German Ale yeast

Cooking instructions:
The minute timer starts when the water comes to a boil.
* Bring water to boil
* 0:00 Add malt extract
* 0:10 Add Spalt hops
* 0:50 Add Saaz hops and 1 tsp Irish moss
* 1:00 Remove from heat

I had some trouble with the malt extract, it stuck on the bottom as the pan was apparently too hot. I'm using one of those big canning pots, the blue enamel ones with the white speckles. Next time I'll turn off the heat before adding the malt and see if that helps.


Bottled on August 21, 2004, with 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming.


This was an excellent first batch, a very good beer, but nothing like the German pilsner I was hoping for. I had some trouble keeping the temperature down during fermentation, so I set the whole thing in the bath tub and filled the tub with cold water. Our tap water comes from a well and is 59 degrees F, which did a good job of keeping the fermenting beer at about 65 degrees F.

Linda says I should name this "Packer Backer" beer, since it will be ready right at the start of football season. In fact, we went to Phoenix and watch the Packers play (and lose to) the Cardinals while this batch was fermenting.

Intro

I picked up homebrewing again as a hobby in the summer of 2004. It's a lot of fun, the beer is really good, and the cost savings are significant. I don't know why I didn't start this a long time ago -- well, I do...

My first homebrew attempt was a fiasco. Linda bought me a kit for Christmas, must have been in 1981. It came with most of the equipment, bottle capper, airlock, etc, and the ingredients. I had to supply the fermenter (a 5 gallon plastic bucket) and the bottles. I picked up some long neck Budweiser bottles from a local distributor, and got a plastic bucket from McDonalds. Apparently, having a food-grade bucket is essential so as to not get unwanted chemicals in the beer, and McDonalds was throwing them out, so I got one for free. I followed the instructions carefully, waited and waited, bottled the beer, waited some more, then was finally ready to sample one. It was a gorgeous looking beer, nice head, deep golden amber color. But nasty! It tasted like dill pickles, which is what was originally in the bucket that I got from McDonalds.

Twenty-three years later (and 10 moves, including across the country and to Europe), I found some of the equipment from that kit in the attic -- a big strainer, the airlock, a hydrometer, a bottle capper, and some instructions -- and thought I'd give it another try. I got a brand new bucket this time, and bought the ingredients at a local homebrew shop (Larry's in Kent, WA, excellent store, with very helpful people.) Plus there is a ton of information on the internet about how to brew and what you need.

A batch makes 5 gallons, or just over 2 cases (about 52 or 53 12oz bottles), and generally costs $20 - $24, depending on the recipe. That's roughly 50 cents per bottle, or about $3 per six-pack, or less than half the price of a decent beer at the supermarket. And it's really good beer, better than most of what I used to buy at the store.

This blog is intended to track my brewing adventures, recipes, and mis-steps. I had another website with the first 35 or so recipes, so I'll be copying those here, and entering more stuff.