By
Justin on Friday, March 6th, 2009 |
1 Comment
So I’ve finally got the time to brew up my next batch. My next batch is going to be a celebratory brew, a rather strong, very hoppy IPA but with enough malt to keep it from being one dimensional. I’ll be brewing next Sunday. Here’s the recipe I’ve worked out so far.
Beer Name: 1120 IPA
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.012
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 53
Grains:
10# Maris Otter
1 # Flaked Barley
0.5# Victory
0.5# Crystal 40L
Hops:
0.50 oz Amarillo – 60 min
1.25 oz Cascade – 60 min
0.5 0z Amarillo – 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade – 15 min
0.5 oz Amarillo – 2 min
0.5 oz Amarillo – 2 min
0.5 oz Amarillo – dry hop
0.5 oz Cascade – dry hop
So I wanted to have a subtle, yet noticeable nutty/toasted malt flavor hiding beneath the all those citrusy hops, so the addition Victory malt seems reasonable. To give the beer a silky mouthfeel I thought a pound of flaked barley would fit nicely, this is what they do in a beer like Guinness to give the creamy mouthfeel.
Now the yeast and here enters my problem. Our new basement is quite a bit colder than our old one, I have moved my thermometers around and the basement ranges from 50F to 58F. I wanted to use a British ale yeast, but most varieties recommend mid 60sF to low 70sF for fermentation temperatures, my basement is much too cold for that. I could use Nottingham dry ale yeast or a clean American ale yeast, but I’m hoping for something different. I’m thinking of going with an altbier yeast, it will be a bit different, still relatively clean and dry enough. Although a Scottish ale yeast sounds good too. I have a feeling this yeast selection will be a game time decision. So do you have any comments about the yeast or anything else on the recipe? If you brew it up, drop me a line.
Justin
By
Justin on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 |
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Well it sure has been a while since I’ve last posted. Buying a house and painting sure has taken up a lot of my time! After moving work took me to Phoenix, Arizona. Let me say, it was great to get away from the bitter cold -20F temperatures we were having in Wisconsin in exchange for sunshine and 70s! While in Phoenix I spent some evenings with co-workers at local watering holes, enjoying local brews on the patio. My favorite of the trip was by Four Peaks Brewing Company, the beer they call Kiltlifter.
Kiltlifter is Scottish Style Ale that has a slightly hazy orangeish-amber color and a nice fluffy off-white head. The aroma is quite malty, sweet and bready. The flavor is, as expected, rather malty, just a bit of hop in there and finishes dry with some lingering bready/nuttyness. If you’re in the western US or can find Four Peaks in store by you, pick up a 6 pack, it’s a tasty brew!
Check back again soon! I hope to get back on the brewing horse at my new house soon! I’ll probably update my Beamish Irish Stout with a review and some pictures.
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Justin on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 |
No CommentsSo I was on vacation on the way to Duluth, Minnesota and that took me through Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Chippewa Falls is small town, a few thousand people, but home of the Leinenkugel’s Brewery. My favorite Leinenkugel’s beers are their Oktoberfest, Creamy Dark, Red and Honey Weiss. I really don’t like some of their latest ‘beers’. I don’t care for Sunset Wheat, Summer Shandy or the new Fireside Nut Brown. But enough of my preferences on to the brewery tour!
Since we were going on a Saturday we made a reservation since tours are limited to rather small groups. The tour starts at check-in in the new Leinie’s Lodge. After check-in you are given two coupons for a free 7oz sample, you can sample before or after your tour. The lodge is pretty big, with a nice fireplace, lots of merchandise to purchase and a lot of nostalgic Leinie’s stuff.
The brewery begins outside around all the buildings, some of the buildings on the brewery grounds are the original from the mid 1800s! The tour then proceeds through where the mash is performed, then you follow where the wort is chilled and finally to the huge fermentation room. The fermentation room has a lot of tanks, I believe each holds 400 some barrels of beer! In homebrew terms, that’s about 2500 5 gallon batches! After the fermentation room, we got to see the bottling line and finally warehouse area, where there were thousands of cases of beer, truly a delightful experience.
Overall I enjoyed the tour. It wasn’t overly informative, the tour guide knew their stuff as long as your followed the lines, anything out of the ordinary was given the typical ‘I can check for your response’. Also production only runs Monday-Friday, so if I did it again I would try to stop by on a weekday to see some of the stuff in action.
http://www.leinie.com/tour.html
By
Justin on Friday, November 7th, 2008 |
No CommentsI’ve got a couple beer related places I recently visited on vacation that I want to share with everyone. Recently I went to the Leinenkugel’s Brewery Tour in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and also had some great beer and food at Fitger’s Brew Pub in Duluth, Minnesota. I think I’ll post some on those things this weekend, but first I’ve got some Beer Ingredient resources I thought most brewers would find useful, I hope you do.
So you’re ready to make that next recipe but want to try a new kind of malt. Or you’re worried the variety of hop you’ve used for years isn’t available with the ongoing hop shortage. What about yeast strains? You want to branch out, but want the variety to be appropriate for the style you’re brewing.
A great one place stop for malt, hop and yeast strain guides is the Brew Your Own website. Brew Your Own is a magazine for the hombrewer. I have subscribed for years and always look forward to the next issue. Issues typical have reader questions answered, a different beer style profiled with recipes for all-grain and extract brewers, a few DIY projects and an advanced brewer’s article. These very useful style guides are free and posted on their website. You’ll also find a sample of a few articles from the latest issue. I hope you find these links useful!
Justin
Brew Your Own Hop Guide
Brew Your Own Malt Guide
Brew Your Own Yeast Strain Guide
By
Justin on Sunday, October 12th, 2008 |
No CommentsHi!
Thanks for signing up and becoming a member of the BeerEasy.com Blog.
What you’ll find here are some commercial beer reviews, an update on my latest homebrewing adventures, comments on the brewing industry and beer in general, and some resources any homebrewer may find useful.
I’ll be sure to post some of my favorite website for you all to check out.
Thanks again and Happy Brewing!
Justin
