Brewnotes » Homebrew

Grateful Red Ale

Ben Brouse — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:45:42 +0000

If you know me, I was bound to have a GD inspired brew at some point. This was brewed back on 3/6/2010.

This recipe is originally taken from Jamil. To quote him, “This is how red ales are done on the West Coast. Just about every brewery out here needs a beer on their menu that has a lot of hop flavor, and many of them turn to this style of beer. They are big, bold statements balancing lots of citrusy hops and specialty malt.”

Ingredients (Single Infusion Mash – 152F):

12.25#	2-row Maris Pale Malt
1#	Munich
1#	Crystal 40L
8 oz	Crystal 120L
8 oz	Victory
3 oz	Pale Chocolate

Hops:

1.1 oz	Horizon	13.0% AA	60 Min
0.5 oz	Cascade	6.0% AA	10 Min
1 oz	Centennial	9.0% AA	10 Min
1 oz	Cascade	6.0% AA	0 Min
1 oz	Centennial	9.0% AA	0 Min

Yeast:

(2) US-05 – ~@67F

Yield:

5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.076

IBU: 66

SRM: 16

ABV: 7.8%

Irish Uprising – Lessons

Ben Brouse — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:24:08 +0000

While the beer itself has great malt flavor and an appropriate amount of hops, this beer turned out way too dark. Turns out I missed the fact that Jamil was calling for 350L roasted barley and I used 500L. Figured this out over here.

Next batch, I will pull back both the Crystal 120L and the roasted barley. Lesson learned.

Irish Uprising

Ben Brouse — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:02:10 +0000

A malt-focused beer with an initial sweetness and a roasted dryness in the finish.

My first hoorah into the Irish Red style (BJCP 9D). Not really my favorite but I had to brew either this style or Scotch Ale for the CRABS March monthly competition. Calling this the “Irish Uprising” due to the yeast tricking me. Very slow to start due to some over chilling but once it got around 65F things really took off.

This recipe is originally taken from Jamil with a few minor tweaks.

Ingredients:

11.25#	2-row Maris Pale Malt
6 oz	Roasted Barley
6 oz	Crystal 40L
6 oz	Crystal 120L

Hops:

0.7 oz	Kent Goldings	5.0% AA	60 Min
0.5 oz	Fuggles	5.0% AA	60 Min

Yeast:

(2) WLP004 – Irish Red Ale ~@65F

Yield:

5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.056

IBU: 25

SRM: 17

Resuscitation Pale Ale

Ben Brouse — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:09:39 +0000

After a long hiatus, the house beer makes a triumphant return. This batch will be a little higher in alcohol as compared to the last few as the efficiency seems to be around 75%. This is a straight forward American Pale Ale. A touch of caramel ending with citrus notes from the hops. Originally derived from Abita’s Restoration Ale. For those of you counting, this is batch #36 on the brew rig.

Brew session went well. Looking forward to having this on tap again!

Ingredients:

20#	2-row Maris Pale Malt
2#	Carapils
24 oz	Crystal 40L

Hops:

1.5 oz	Cascade	7.5% AA	60 Min
1.0 oz	Centennial	9.2% AA	15 Min
0.5 oz	Centennial	9.2% AA	0 Min

Yeast:

(2) US-05 Fermentis Safale – Fermentiing ~@65F

Yield:

10 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.064

IBU: 27

SRM: 9.1

American Brown takes 2nd at CRABS

Ben Brouse — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:25:29 +0000

My American Brown Ale (10C) entry took 2nd place in the monthly competition @ CRABS last evening. Very exciting since I brewed this beer specifically for this event and now feel competent using my counter-pressure bottle filler. Chris G. named this beer “Brown Recluse” since it has good hop bite to it.

If I was going to make any changes to this beer, I would change the Crystal 40L to Crystal 60L to help darken up the color and provide a little more malt sweetness.

Beer Shower

Ben Brouse — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:40:22 +0000

Today I fixed my counter pressure bottle filler from MoreBeer. This is a cool piece of equipment that allows you to bottle already carbonated/kegged beer. That was all fantastic – I commenced to fill a bottle with little to no foam, and then BAM! I forgot to release the pressure in the bottle to atmospheric before removing the device. You guessed it, I got a BEER SHOWER. All over the kitchen ceiling, counter, floor and more importantly me. Lesson Learned.

English IPA

Ben Brouse — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:44:27 +0000

This is my entry for the CRABS Feb competition, brewed last evening. This is a true to style English IPA (BJCP 14A). I was careful to select malts (Thomas Fawcette) and hops that would be used in England.

This is the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles on pg 183 with minor tweaks. “A hoppy, moderately strong pale ale that features characteristics consistent with the use of English malt, hops & yeast. It has less hop character and a more pronounced malt flavor than American versions.”

This batch (#35) has me very excited as the brew day went flawlessly.

Ingredients:

12.25#	Maris Otter Pale Malt
0.5#	Wheat Malt
0.5#	Biscuit Malt
0.5#	Crystal 40L
0.5#	Crystal 120L

Hops:

1.4 oz	UK Challenger	8% AA	60 Min
1.5 oz	UK Fuggles	5% AA	10 Min
1.5 oz	UK Kent Goldings	5% AA	0 Min

Yeast:

(2) WLP013 London Ale – Fermented @67F

Yield:

5.5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.062

IBU: 50

SRM: 11

American Brown Ale

Ben Brouse — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:32:36 +0000

This is my entry for the CRABS Jan competition, brewed on 1/4/2010 You can see from the stats below that this recipe pushes the boundaries of the 10C BJCP guidelines.

This is the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles on pg 145 with minor tweaks. If you like the west-coast style hoppy beers, this one is for you!

Ingredients:

12#	2-row Pale Malt
1#	Wheat Malt
1.25#	Carapils
1.25#	Crystal 40L
0.5#	Chocolate

Hops:

0.9 oz	Northern Brewer	10.4% AA	60 Min
0.6 oz	Northern Brewer	10.4% AA	15 Min
1.5 oz	Cascade	5.3% AA	10 Min
1.0 oz	Cascade	5.3% AA	0 Min
2 oz	Centennial	9.2% AA	DRY

Yeast:

(2) US-05 Fermentis Safale – Fermented @67F

Yield:

5.5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.066

IBU: 63

SRM: 21

Belgian Blonde Ale

Ben Brouse — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:36:06 +0000

I kegged the Belgian Blond Ale (BJCP: 18A) from Jamil’s Brewing Classic Styles book. “A moderate-strength golden ale with a subtle Belgian complexity, slightly sweet flavor, and dry finish.” Really looking forward to putting this on tap. This was brewed on 11/07. Still looking for a name for this batch while I’m in the process of carbonating to 3.7 volumes.

Ingredients:

11#	Pilsener Malt
8 oz	Wheat Malt
8 oz	Aromatic Malt
1.5#	Cane Sugar

Hops:

1.6 oz

Hallertau

4% AA

60 Min

Yeast:

(2) WLP500 Trappist Ale – Fermented @67F

Yield:

5.5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.065

IBU: 25

SRM: 5

Homebrew

Ben Brouse — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:53:43 +0000

Beer is an extremely personal thing. Making it yourself brings a whole different dimension to that. When I brew a batch of beer, it is a challenge to push myself; to craft something as good or probably better than most things that you can buy.

Simply said: I love good beer.

Ever wanted to try but think it is too difficult? Think again. Making good beer can be as simple or hard as you want it to be. Homebrewers share a passion. This video really tells the story. Cheers