Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Holiday Ale Recipe

On October 23, 2007

Spiced Bourboned Oaked Holiday Amber
For 6.5 gallons final volume.
8 gallon run off, 90min boil.
Anticipated OG is 1060-1065
Mash efficiency is 75%

12lb American 2-row (or 7.5lb DME)
2lb crystal 40L
1lb crystal 60L
0.125lb crystal 120L
0.125lb chocolate malt

1.0oz Nugget (12%AA, pellets) 60-min
0.5oz Nugget (12%AA, pellets) 15-min

4.0oz American Oak Chips
8.0oz Bourbon/Whiskey (see comments below)
1/4 tsp cinnamon-ground fresh
1/8 tsp nutmeg-ground fresh

Mash in at 154F, 90 minute mash.
Boil for 30min, then start with 1st hop addition.
Irish Moss at 20-min mark.

Yeast WLP002 (or WY1028)
Use two vials of yeast or pitch a hearty dose of yeast cake from a previous batch.

Primary ferment at 68F for two weeks.
During primary:
Steam Oak chips in water steamer on high heat, 5 minutes. Steam chips, do not submerge.
Place oak chips and bourbon in a clean mason jar, cap immediately. Let sit in cool place during primary fermentation. Right before transfer to secondary strain the oak out, add spices to the bourbon, and shake well (This will sterilize the spices).
Rack beer to secondary, dump in oak bourbon spice mix. Secondary for two months at 68-70F.

Notes on secondary and Bourbon:
OK, so I don’t actually use bourbon, I have found that Johnny Walker Red Label is sort of smokey and hot, but when mixed with the beer it ages out to a smooth bourbon like quality. But this is where the extended secondary comes in, it really helps move that HOT nasty Red Label taste to the back of the beer, but it keeps a just noticeable supporting role. You can leave the oak chips in during secondary if you want a stronger oak flavor, it’s an experiment I haven’t done. When adding the bourbon mix, you can prime and bottle right away. Then bottle condition for two months and get the same effect. But there is something about bulk aging the entire 6 gallons together that just works for me.

Check out our Christmas Ale Recipe.

Brewing Log Sheet

By Mike

On October 23, 2007

In Brew Log, General

It’s important to take good notes, kids!

Here is my log sheet that I use to keep important information straight. It’s still a work in progress, but it works for me so far! Feel free to print it out and use it. I usually print a formulated recipe from the beer recipator along with one of these logs. Then both the recipe sheet and the log sheet go into a binder with plastic sheet protectors.

Protectors keep me from getting “Sheet” on my sheet in the brew-house!

Brewing logsheet

Brew On Premise

By John Krochune

On October 22, 2007

In General

On Saturday morning, we traveled back up to IncrediBREW to bottle our beer. The place was busy with large groups of dudes bottling case after case of “brew on premise” goodness.

My three cases of cleaned bottles were inspected by the staff to make sure I had done a good job. I felt some sense of accomplishment when no dirty spots were found.

The bottles (24 at a time) were put upside down into a large sanitizing tub. Each one rested on a tube that sprayed a sanitizing solution into the bottle for a cycle that lasted around 10 minutes. After we sanitized all the bottles, we moved on to the next step: filling each bottle with beer.

I am not going to lie, the bottling process is probably the most “unfun” part of the experience. It’s repetitious and uncomplicated work. To keep your mind off the tedium, it’s best to bring along friends to take turns filling and capping each bottle and take short breaks to sample other beers that your fellow brewers are bottling near you.

If you are new to brewing and would like the opportunity to brew a large quantity of beer, I would suggest a brew on premise (BOP) shop. We are lucky to have a few nearby. The other BOP we have used is Deja Brew in Shrewsbury, MA.

All the dudes attended a party that our friends Lyle and Angela hosted, and we provided the beer. From what the hosts told us, it was well received.

Cleaning Bottles

By John Krochune

On October 18, 2007

In Equipment, General

I hate when “Past John” leaves work for “Future John”. It’s strange…we’re the same guy, just separated by time.

“Past John” is lazy…or at least inconsiderate…when it comes to cleaning.

To bottle up our beer that we made at IncrediBREW back on October 6th, I needed to gather up all the 22 ounce bottles I have kicking around in the basement.

I can say the first case looked clean but the other two cases had a lot of funkiness. Ugly white and green clumps of mold were stuck to the bottom of a large number of bottles.

Last night, I got out my PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) and followed the directions on the package to make a nice soaking solution in my bottling bucket.

I used the spigot on the bucket to fill each bottle with the solution and I just let them soak overnight.

This morning, I gave some of the more funky bottles a shake. The PBW had broken up the mold and now big, wildly shaped particles were floating in the bottle.

This stuff works great! No scrubbing needed.

So this time, “Future John” was ok with the work that was left him…but that’s not always the case.

The lesson I need to learn and follow is to clean homebrewing equipment and materials as soon as I am done with them. Don’t leave it for later.

To rid my life of bottle cleaning, I could throw money at the problem and buy kegs and kegging equipment. 🙂

Irish Moss

By John Krochune

On October 16, 2007

In Ingredients

So I was reading How To Brew last night and I read through one of the appendixes (is that how you spell that?) which was written around the theme of beer clarity. I am interested in this subject since I want to brew a clear, sparkling cream ale but my first attempt was cloudy.

There was an interesting bit in this section about irish moss. It stated that it wasn’t effective or shouldn’t be used in extract brews or brews with adjunct in it.

Is that true? I mean, I guess it is. Why would he write that if it weren’t. It’s just the first time I have read that statement.

Does anybody else have any thoughts? Leave a comment and we will open this up.