Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Mash Tun Accessories Purchased

On February 26, 2009

I finally ordered what I needed to order to convert my cooler into a mash tun that would make transferring large volumes of wort to my kettle a lot easier.

I decided to purchase a bazooka screen and a ball valve spigot from Northern Brewer. The false bottom was an option but I went with what readers suggested and what made my wallet happier.

Once I get these parts attached, it’s all grain — all the time — for me. Well, that’s what I am going to try to do. Hopefully I can get three brew sessions in for the summer season.

My plan is to brew:

Honey Wheat Ale

Saison (I want to have the weather help with the high fermentation temperature)

and Mike suggested I take another shot at the APA recipe from last year.

So, it should be a good spring and summer. Thanks for taking the time to follow along with our brewing adventures.

Patriot Homebrew Contest Results

By John Krochune

On February 23, 2009

In General

I received a letter from the Boston Beer Company and my beer scoresheet for the Brown Porter I entered into the Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Contest.

So, yeah, I didn’t win…but that’s not really the point. The point is to gain experience and to get BJCP judges to give me feedback on my beer. Here are some pics of the letter and scoresheet(s) I got.

So basically, I didn’t make it dark malty enough. I was trying to go on the light side, but I went too light. Now I know to throw in even more chocolate malt. Maybe even some brown malt next time.

Leftover Beer Recipe

By John Krochune

On February 20, 2009

In Recipes

I have all these leftover ingredients. I have small amounts of hops and grains that I have used some portion of what I bought for other recipes…and I have saved the remainder.

Some of these ingredients are kind of old. I wouldn’t say they are stale, but they are really fresh either. I don’t feel right throwing them away and I have no delusions that these ingredients will make a stellar beer..

After taking some inventory of my stockpile, here is my leftover beer recipe:

Ingredients:

8.0 lbs. American 2-row
0.5 lbs. Belgian Special B
0.75 lbs. Carapils Malt
0.75 lbs. American Victory
0.25 lbs. English Chocolate Malt
0.5 lbs. Flaked Maize
0.5 oz. Fuggle Pellets boiled 60 min.
0.5 oz. Casade Pellets boiled 60 mins
0.5 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellets boiled 15 min.
0.5 oz. Cascade Pellets boiled 1 min.
Yeast : White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Instructions:

Mash grains at 154° for 60 minutes. Collect 6 gallons of wort and boil for 60 minutes. Add hops as indicated. Cool to 70 degrees and ferment for 2 weeks.

Specs:

Original Gravity: 1.052
Terminal Gravity: 1.012
Color: 21.20 °SRM
Bitterness: 31.9 IBU
% Alcohol: 5.2 %

I guess this beer could be considered a really bad American brown ale (Flaked Maize??!?). I would rather market it as a Recycled Ale. How very green of us.

Pride Of Ringwood Hops

By John Krochune

On February 18, 2009

In Hops

BYO magazine is doing a profile on Australian beers in their March/April 2009 issue. Pride of Ringwood hops are a variety that was mentioned a lot in that issue, so I thought I would pull together some information. I have never used this hop so I am going on what other sources are stating.

Origin: Bred in Australia as a cross between the English hop Pride of Kent (I wonder if that variety is publicly available anymore?) and a Tasmanian wild hop. There are some conflict dates of when it was released (1958 vs. 1965), but when it was released, it was known worldwide as the highest alpha acid hop variety. It has since been eclipsed by other varieties but maybe it started a trend. Ringwood is a suburb of Melbourne…how about that?

Aroma: Strong citrus aroma. “Strong” is a descriptor that is used a lot when it comes to Pride of Ringwood hops. Robust, coarse but not unpleasant. It appears to have a distinctive aroma and flavor.

Alpha Acid: 7.5 to 10%

Typical Usage: Bittering mainly, but you could make a one hop variety beer with Pride of Ringwood.

Beer Styles: Australian lagers and sparkling ales are the best fit naturally, but who’s going to stop you from using it in a APA? (Does that first “A” stand for American or Australian?)

Favorite Yeast

By Mike

On February 16, 2009

In Yeast

I simply ask: what is your favorite yeast?

I think it’s no secret that I use a lot of S-04 from Fermentis. I tend to brew alot of English style ales, so the S-04 works for me. I really enjoy its flocculating power and its flavor.

I will admit though, that I have not fully explored the wide range of English origin yeast available though White Labs and Wyeast. I hope to start testing some of those strains out in some of my favorite English brews (Ordinary Bitter, English Dark Mild and Oatmeal Stout).

There seem to be a lot of readers these days chiming in with comments, so I put out this post together to hear what others are doing out there.

It can be your favorite yeast, you most often used yeast, or maybe you have a special yeast for your three favorite styles (e.g. American, German and Belgian yeasts)…

So let’s hear it!

BREW ON!