20081114: Egads!

I haven't brewed since the end of July. EGADS! I've already got my next two recipes that are sitting around waiting for me to get busy again.

Since the last brew, I've gotten the feedback from the Austin Zealot's Inquisition, the Alamo City Cerveza Fest, and the Dixie Cup in Houston. I entered various beers in each contest. I'm at least hitting a consistent "good" rating. But good doesn't win me ribbons. There are a few of the comments on the judged beers that keep coming back: fermentation temperature control and water quality. Some beers may have sanitation issues in bottling. I'm about ready to tackle those two items. First, I need to get rid of my second vehicle, a '72 Ford Bronco. I could just kick it out of the garage and put a cover on it. Then I can get a few more chest freezers with temperature controllers and go to town. I'd want one for fermentation, another for lagering, and maybe a third for storing bottled beers and kegs that are waiting for room in the kegerator.

It's about time to get my kegerator worked up with a collar and put the taps for the kegs on the outside. First things first though.

Since my double chocolate beers are pretty damn good the way they are, I should brew that one next. It will be brew #97. I'm just wanting brew #100 to be special somehow. Closing in on it soon.

Enough meanderings...

20080811: Finally caught up

I've finally caught up my brewing notes for the batches in the pipeline. I'm quickly coming up on batch number 100. I want to do something special but I'm not sure what. I may venture out into making my own recipe from scratch. I need only read up on the malts, pick the ones that sound interesting and try to balance them out enough to make a beer. It may mean I have a batch that isn't worth drinking. I don't like that thought. Instead, I'll likely pick a favorite batch or something with a very high gravity.

A weekend ago (on the 2nd), I went on Lee Nichol's #3 Bus Pub Crawl. Go to his blog for his take on it ( http://i-love-beer.blogspot.com/ ). My video link of the crawl is on the right. Fun stuff!

This past weekend, the Austin Zealots had the yearly picnic out at Emma Long Park. Consensus was that we had 29-30 corny kegs. Two of them floated the night before with all the campers. I know a number floated on the day of the picnic. I was trying to get to all the flavors, but only got to about 18 or 19. A few that I went to try later on were just spewing gas. I've also heard that whatever beer stayed with the campers on Saturday night didn't make it until morning. I took a few pictures and shot a little video. I'll have to see if it is worth cutting to one that I'd post to YouTube. One thing I noted: we had a table full of food, and the kegs at/around another table. There were two people getting food but 14 getting beer. Yup, I'll have to agree that Austin is one of the hardest drinking cities in the USA.


Time to toot my own horn. I had 9 entries in the Zealot's Inquisition and I won a first place for my Raspberry Double Chocolate Stout. Woohoo! While I'd like to win a few more ribbons or medals, the immediate goal is to try to get feedback on all the brews and see if there is a consistent item or two. It will point to some flaw in the process. If I can fix the flaw(s), I'll start nailing the beers and getting the accolades to stroke my ego, etc. Instead, I'll just drink my mistakes. They are still good beers.

Some fun from the Inquisition though, there are a bunch of beers that weren't needed by the judging and so I'll be able to get these three cases of unopened beers and serve them in the HomeBrewer's Corner at the Black Star Social this coming Saturday. It means that we'll have more beer to serve and we will likely last past 8:45pm this time and we don't waste any of the entries.

Brew #96: Spiced Holiday Ale

Now is the time to get this underway so that by the end of October it has aged enough to be less of a spice-bomb. Aging mellows the spices and makes it smoother.

Brewed: 07-28-2008
Racked: 08-08-2008
Kegged: 10-05-2008

OG=1.052@77F
FG=1.012@74F

ABV=5.24%

Brew #95: Pilsner EDquell

Pilsner Urquell is one of my favorite brews. I may have to work out something different though. This recipe calls for five and a half ounces of hops. At today's prices, this brew is $50 for a 5 gallon batch. Still, if it comes out right, it will be worth it.

Brewed: 07-20-2008
Racked: 07-29-2008
Kegged: 0?-??-2008

OG=1.045@74F
FG=1.009@74F

ABV=4.716%

Brew #94: Belgian White

Belgian White Ales are strange how they hit the front of your mouth instead of the back. The orange gives it a tangy citrus flavor.
This beer was strange in how long the krausen stayed on the beer. I racked it straight to keg after three weeks when the krausen finally went down. Since this style has a bit of flaked wheat, there may be excess proteins that kept the krausen around longer.
Kegged and waiting room in the kegerator.

Brewed: 07-15-2008
Kegged: 08-05-2008

OG=1.050@75F
FG=1.010@74F

ABV=5.24%

Brew #93: Extra Simcoe Bitter

The original Simcoe bitter that I made rested in secondary for a week before I added the Simcoe to dry hop. I got some really Fruit Loopy aroma off of that one and I want it again. I'll have to see if that makes a difference at all.

Brewed: 07-07-2008
Racked: 07-11-2008
Hops added on 07-19-2008
Racked: 07-29-2008
Kegged: 08-05-2008

OG=1.054@68F
FG=1.012@76F

ABV=5.502%

Brew #92: Hoppy Red Ale

Austin Homebrew had a list of featured recipes. This one caught my eye. It's got Amarillo for bittering and aroma. Challenger and Nugget hops for flavoring and dry-hopping.
I had a taste when I transferred it off of the dry hops. Pretty tasty. It's in a keg now awaiting room in the kegerator.

Brewed: 06-26-2008
Racked: 07-08-2008 (w/ 1/2 oz. Challenger & 1/2 oz. Nugget)
Racked: 07-29-2008
Kegged: 08-05-2008

OG=1.070@74F
FG=1.014@74F

ABV=7.336%

Brew #91: Kolsch

It's hot in Austin, TX in the summertime. Time for some easy drinking beers to help refresh. A Kolsch should be a nice mellow session beer.

Brewed: 06-18-2008
Racked: 06-29-2008
Kegged: 07-24-2008

OG=1.049@72F
FG=1.012@73F

ABV=4.847%

Brew #90: Ayinger Maibock

I've been on a malt kick recently. Bocks, Doppelbocks, Oktoberfests - anything a bit more malty. I really liked the Hofbrau Maibock, but I also like Ayinger's beers. Time for and Ayinger Maibock clone. The original recipe called for Hersbrucker and I had to substitute Mt. Hood. I went straight to keg out of the primary and thought it was still too sweet. I let it sit in the keg in the beer closet for an extra month to dry out a bit more.

Brewed: 06-13-2008
Kegged: 06-26-2008
Kegeratered: 07-21-2008

OG=1.069@77F
FG=1.018@75F

ABV=6.681%

20080524: Rack it, Baby!!!

It started late at night or early in the morning, whichever you prefer. I racked a Chocolate Stout into a keg, then the next Chocolate Stout from primary to secondary. Next, I racked a Porter into a freshly reconditioned keg. I found out that the gas fitting was leaking but luckily I had a spare one. Then I moved onto getting my Prince of Orange racked off of the Summit hops and ended with racking a Cream Ale from primary to secondary. Five racks in one night.

The two kegs are still sitting in the closet because there isn't any room in the kegerator at the moment. I haven't even checked the final gravities on them because all my picnic taps are in use. The Prince of Orange Pale and the Cream Ale are really ready to keg as well. I know that up to three of my kegs in the kegerator are getting down to where I only need to bottle a few and the keg is empty.

Meanwhile, I've still got bottles stacked in the kitchen for a cleaning and then switching to Star-San as the sanitizer. I should run the Star-San through my counter-pressure filler pretty soon. I'm thinking I have less than 6 bottles of my TurboKitty, 1.5 gals of my Red, 2 gals of my Extra Simcoe Bitter.

I moved my Psychedelic Monk in the kegerator but haven't started the force carbonation yet. At least its cold already.

I'm going to have to brew something this weekend. Just don't know what yet. I'm on a Bock kick lately, so I'm leaning towards a Maibock this time.

Brew #88: Cream Ale

I'm just making this one to have another type of beer to push with my beergas. Cream ales aren't the ones that I drink all that often. Still, summertime gets hot and a cream ale might be a nice change from the Chocolate Stout.

Egads! This one sat in the primary for a month. This is the problem when the pipeline gets full.

Nice and creamy - and this is before I put it on the beergas. I bought the 30' of beer line and another restrictor faucet but haven't yet put those together. At this rate, I may be done with the beer before it gets the nitrogen treatment.

Brewed: 04-25-2008
Racked: 05-24-2008
Kegged: 06-29-2008

OG=1.051@74F
And another one without the final reading.

Brew #87: White Oak Porter

This is batch #3 of the White Oak Porter. Batch #1 was a very good drinking beer. Batch #2 was a lesson that you don't get lazy and leave it sitting on the wood for 6 weeks. It tastes like wood! On this one I'll target two to two and a half weeks. Using French Oak because I've been told it gives a stronger vanilla profile and tastes a bit smoother.

I stole a taste at the two week mark and didn't have enough of the flavors that I wanted, so I let it go longer. It went 3 1/2 weeks. I was getting a nice promising aroma. My production line is a bit behind though. I need to get some kegs empty and swap the picnic taps so I can taste and measure final gravity too.

I have my one older tap with a short hose. I got to taste this one. Yummy! Very smooth. I'm thinking the French Oak is the way to go. I'm surprised how high the FG is. It would normally finish lower. Perhaps the oak adds to the density.

Brewed: 04-21-2008
Racked: 04-29-2008 (w/ 2.5 oz. French Oak cubes)
Kegged: 05-24-2008

OG=1.051@72F
FG=1.018@74F

ABV=5.109%

Brew #86: Prince of Orange Pale

Here I get an APA or IPA out of an English Pale Ale. I dry hop it with 1/2 ounce of Summit. Any of the orange profile is from those hops. This is my second batch to use up the other 1/2 ounce of Summit and because the first batch tasted so good.

I had to substitute Glacier for the Fuggle that the recipe calls for. Yay for the Bluebonnet Brew-Off and winning lots of Glacier in the raffle!

As I racked this off of the dry-hops, I took a taste. I'm not getting as potent an orange flavor. It's still a nice bitter though. Perhaps the aromas and flavors will pronounce more when cold and carbonated.

This one was kegged two days before a party and quick carbonated. It was a very refreshing in the 98+ degree heat and we went through 3 gals. I've been able to draw a few bottles off for entry into the ZEALOTS Inquisition, the Cerveza Fest in San Antonio and perhaps the last three will make it to the Dixie Cup in October.

Brewed: 04-08-2008
Racked: 04-25-2008 (w/0.5 oz. Summit)
Racked: 05-24-2008
Kegged: 06-29-2008

OG=1.051@72F
FG=1.0??@??F Doh! Didn't take a final gravity reading.

ABV=%

Brew #85: Extra Simcoe Bitter

Take an ESB, dry hop it with Simcoe for a week. The first time I made it I got an aroma that was Fruit Loops. Trying for that again.

I took a taste just a couple days ago and the aroma wasn't quite the Fruit Loops but it was pleasant and the taste was great. Can't wait to get some room and get it in the kegerator!

I've been reminded of pineapple in the aroma. Other people have said Tooty-Fruity gum. It's a fun one to smell and taste.

Brewed: 03-18-2008
Racked: 04-04-2008 (w/1 oz. Simcoe)
Racked: 04-10-2008
Kegged: 05-09-2008

OG=1.051@72F
FG=1.010@72F

ABV=5.731%

Brew #84: Double Chocolate Stout

Start with AHS's Double Chocolate Stout mini-mash extract kit, add 3/4 bar of Scharffenberger 82% and 3/4 bar of the 41% at the last 5 minutes of the boil. Scoop off the "butter" at the end of primary fermentation. Add 4 oz. Raspberry Extract at kegging. Carbonate just a little, then put it on the beergas. Great stuff. Here, I took the Chocolate Wheat malt. It gives just a bit extra body.

I will be bottling a bit of this on CO2 before I switch over to beergas. I need a few bottles that I can use to enter into the Zealot's Inquisition.

Brewed: 03-25-2008
Racked: 04-04-2008
Kegged: 05-24-2008

OG=1.061@70F
FG=1.010@74F

ABV=6.681%

20080501: May Day

Just a time to note I haven't kept up all the beer events in a while. I've attended the Bluebonnet and come away with no ribbons and no stein. But I think I got famous for my chocolate raspberry chocolate stout served on beergas. It is the fun stuff that keeps me stoked about homebrewing and beer in general. Since then, I've brewed five more batches, attended a couple more Black Star socials, and attended a Dogfish Head thing at the Alamo Drafthouse. 12 Dogfish Head beers paired with cheese. Yum! I especially liked a peppercorn cheese.

Today, Debbie and I tasted her Grapefruit Hefeweizen. Not enough grapefruit yet. I also took a taste of my next batch of Extra Simcoe Bitter. It's an ESB that had 1 ounce of Simcoe as a dry hop. If I do it right, the nose will be Fruit Loops. Great taste to it no matter what the nose turns out like.

I racked a Belgian Summer Saison to keg over the week. I've substituted hops on the recipe and there seems to be a bit of zing where it was normally smooth. I also put my Psychedelic Monk into a keg. I started at 1.098 and was at 1.018. The target was to finish out at 1.014. It's a bit sweet, but at 10.48% ABV already, I don't know if the yeast will do much. I'll wait another month or two. Time will only help smooth this one out.

Now is when I'm getting ready to bring beer to a few events. I have a co-worker going to Denver and he's got a bye bye party. I think I'll bring 10-15 gallons to that. He's expecting 50 people and that would hold a good chance of drinking everything I bring.

Meanwhile, I caught a screening of Ironman tonight. Kick-ass. Enjoyed a Saison Dupont while watching. I love the Alamo Drafthouse.

BTW - Cookies!

20080319: Double Rack Night

TurboKitty and Double Chocolate into kegs. Only room for one keg in the fridge, but I moved the keg with the Vanguard Red and that thing is so light I doubt that there is a growler left. I'm going to go try to get a growler worth out and drink the rest once I get done typing. It will make room for the Midnight Chocolate Bar Stout. I should be able to get both carbonated for the Black Star social this weekend. I'll bring 4-5 growlers of beer to it and man the Homebrewer's Corner again. I'll have to pick another keg of beer to bring to the Bluebonnet in a week and a couple days. I promised to bring the Red, but it's done and its replacement was just brewed last night.

Chocolate Stout is tasting nice! Raspberries are a bit zingy right now, but that will smooth out in a week or two. This should be nicely charged on beergas for the Bluebonnet too.

Cookies!

Brew #83: Vanguard Red Ale

This is AHS's American Red Ale recipe with Vanguard hops instead of the original Cascade. On this last attempt, they've substituted Amarillo on the recipe, but I'm trying to recreate my earlier Red. This is one that is very popular with folks that aren't hop-heads.

Brewed: 03-18-2008
Racked: 03-26-2008
Kegged: 04-11-2008

OG=1.051@72F
FG=1.014@73F

ABV=4.847%

Brew #82: Belgian Summer Saison

It's March in Texas. It's very nearly summertime. Time to get a nice recipe for drinking. The lemon zest grabs your taste buds first, giving a nice refreshing flavor. Then you get the body and ale yeast finish. The recipe calls for 2 ounces of Hallertau and I normally like Hersbrucker instead. Yes, Hersbrucker is a Hallertau cousin. Both of those hops weren't around so I'm trying Vanguard. I added one ounce at the beginning of the boil and the second ounce 15 minutes into the boil. I grind the seeds of paradise rather than crushing them.

I think the Vanguard hops give this one a touch of a zing. I really like the Hersbrucker with this recipe. They just seem smoother.

Brewed: 03-05-2008
Racked: 03-12-2008
Kegged: 04-25-2008

OG=1.067@69F
FG=1.008@75F

ABV=7.729%

Root Beer!

I make my own root beer too! It's the easiest thing. AHS has two types of root beer extracts, one is normal root beer extract and one is a birch root beer extract. That birch one has that ZING!, that bite you taste in Barq's. I mix the two extracts half and half.

Recipe:
one bottle of extract (half root beer, half birch root beer)
3 cups turbinado cane sugar
3 1/2 cups sugar
15 qts water

bring 5 qts to boil, add sugars to ensure that they dissolve well. Cool it down. Add extract, sugar water, and the rest of the water into a keg. Purge the airspace with CO2. Refridgerate and force carbonate. Bingo! Root beer.

My usual sugar recipe was 2 cups brown sugar, and 5 1/2 cups sugar. It had a creamy quality. This is my first try with the turbinado sugar. Still pretty good.

Brew #81: Vroom Vroom TurboKitty

My Turbodog clone was a hit. Enough so that it is all gone. I don't have a dog, but I do have a kittycat and so I came up with my name. Here's a second batch to make a few of my friends happy. This time, I'm going to have to buy a bottle or two of the real Turbodog, just to see how close this comes.

Whee! More TurboKitty!

Brewed: 02-24-2008
Racked: 03-12-2008
Kegged: 03-19-2008

OG=1.046@72F
FG=1.014@??F

ABV=4.192%

Brew #80: Double Chocolate Stout

In previous brews of this Double Chocolate Stout, I would melt chocolate and add it only at the time I would keg the beer. I always had to deal with a bit of oils that killed the head real quick. After drinking a gallon or two and perhaps sitting for a bit in the kegerator, the pours start coming out with better head.

This batch has the chocolate added 5 minutes before flameout. Since I expect some loss due to the chocolate settling out, I put in 3/4 bar of 82% Scharfenberger and 3/4 bar of 41% Scharfenberger. With the chocolate in the wort already, it meant that all the equipment got an extra good cleaning to clear all the oils that stuck to everything. I skimmed the top of the wort before putting the beer into the primary, hoping to rid myself of more oils. This is still in primary almost two weeks later. There seems to be a foam at the top. It may be that more oils have gone to the top. I'll rack it by two weeks and a day regardless.

There was a thick "butter" at the top. Normally, when a beer still has foam at the top, I leave it sitting in the fermenter a bit more. This one threw me off. I am thinking that the stuff at the top was cocoa butter or the fat content of the chocolate bars that I melt into the brew. I spooned that stuff off then racked the beer. The trub at the bottom of the bucket makes me think that the chocolate is all settled out of the beer. I'll have to see how it tastes when I get it on beer gas.

The next version of this stout may use the actual roasted cacao beans. This is what Rob over at Independence was doing with a porter. Go straight for the source of the chocolate flavor. Someday, I'm also going to use real raspberries instead of the extract.

Kegged on 3-19 and the F.G. is a bit higher than normal. I am wondering if the ABV is actually higher and the extra specific gravity comes from chocolate in the beer. Tastes rather nice whatever the case.

Brewed: 02-17-2008
Racked: 03-12-2008
Kegged: 03-19-2008

OG=1.057@70F
FG=1.020@66F

ABV=4.847%

Black Star: I finally attended a Social

I joined the Black Star Co-op months ago, but online. I knew I was going to join for about a year but I just never made any of the socials. I was perusing their website and they had Pay with PayPal. Well, I had a PayPal account so a few minutes later I was done.

I heard that they had a homebrewer's corner starting on this social. I'm all about getting rid of some of my beer. I brought four growlers but only served three. I served Vroom-Vroom TurboKitty (an Abita Turbodog clone), my Spiced Holiday Ale, and my Bavarian Doppelbock. I had a growler of my Bohemian Red along, but this beer is a rarity. I might not be able to make it for a year or so. I want to savor it properly. I think that the Saaz Sladek was still in supply. I may try to use it all through and see how it comes out.

I had some of the Black Star Vulcan. It's made with rye. Nice flavor.

Brew #79: Psychedelic Monk

This is my name for the Delirium Tremens clone AHS recipe. I had one that hit, one that missed and I'm trying to recreate the greatness of the one that hit. Things are changing a bit though. The hop shortage meant that I substituted Fuggle for the Styrian Goldings and I used Saaz Sladek rather than the Trschitz type. That may add a touch more bitterness. AHS was also out of extra pale extract. Instead of the 8 lbs. of liquid malt extract, I took 7 lbs. of dry malt extract (DME). I have been using late addition for any of the lighter colored brews and I tried with this one too. I put 2 lbs. of the DME in with the 1 1/2 lbs. clear candi at the start and added the last 5 lbs. of DME after the boil. The DME is interesting to get stirred in correctly. I had lumps to work down. In the end I had a wort with an O.G. of 1.098 - much more than the 1.085 the recipe expects. I did leave this a bit more concentrated in the primary to give more head space. The previous two versions blew the lid a couple times. I set up my blow off tube expecting that the foam would spill through the tube into the bucket. Not so. It did give good bits of bubbles for a couple days, but then settled down. I don't have temp. control in my brew closet, but it has been a bit on the colder side these days. I might expect that the average temp is 67F or 68F. Still reminds me that my next beer project is to get another freezer for temp control on fermentation. Still, checking the beer through the airlock hole, I can see that the foam still completely covers the top. I think the yeasties are still happy and working. I'll have to wait a week, maybe two, until I rack it off to a carboy. I fully expect this one to sit for 3-4 months. I'm wondering if I have to wait longer. This beer has the potential of 13%.

Racked into secondary on the 24th. I measured the S.G. at 1.020. At least I know that the yeast was doing its work. It's already at 10% ABV. The taste had me thinking I've got a good batch. There is an initial sweetness followed by the bread/cheese Belgian Abbey yeast flavor and a clean finish. I like it already!

At kegging after two months in a carboy, the beer was such a beautiful ruby color. The clarity was unbelievable it had to be finished. It only dropped another 2 points in that time. I think the yeast is done. The taste that I had from the gravity sample was a touch too sweet. Since then I've had a taste and I think this may be OK. I may have to blend it into Monkenstein again, but maybe not. I'm leaving this one in a keg but in the closet. Let's see if the yeast might push this a touch more. As high in ABV as this one is, a bit more aging won't hurt.

Brewed: 02-07-2008
Racked: 02-24-2008
Kegged: 04-29-2008

OG=1.098@68F
FG=1.018@70F

ABV=10.48%

20080216 - Musings

Thursday night, Dave came over and we racked his "Wilson's Winter Warmer" into a keg. That was tasting very nice even warm and flat. It's been in the kegerator a couple days and now its cold. I did one force carbonation shake session, but with a small air space, I know I'm going to have to do it one or two more times. If I take some off for tasting a sample, I'll have that much more air space for the CO2 to go in. :) I told Dave he has to give me 6 bottles worth. I'll take three and enter them in the Bluebonnet Brew-Off. The other three I'll share with the ZEALOTS at the March meeting.

I also got my Ahtanum Pale Ale into a keg that night. Great aroma, great taste. I love this recipe. Thanks JB at Austin Homebrew. I'm resting up a bit before I give this one a shake session today.

Last night, I had enough time to rack my British Pale that I dry-hopped with Summit into another carboy. I stole a taste of this one. I'm hoping for that taste of tangerine or orange that the Summits are supposed to have. It was dry-hopped with ony 1/2 ounce. The flavor reminds me more of Cascades right now. Perhaps it is just that I can make out the citrus flavors but not distinguish them as yet. I may have to wait until it's cold and carbonated before the flavor really comes out.

I also took my Vanguard Red and racked it into a keg. It is a little quicker than my normal process of one week in primary, one month in secondary, and then into keg. The FG is a bit higher than I expected. Many times I come in lower than what the recipe expects. I'm going to leave this out of the fridge for another week or two. Perhaps the yeasties can finish it out a bit more.

I've got even one more keg open because I got impatient. My last version of White Oak Porter was overpoweringly wood flavored. I know that I could blend it or wait on it until that flavor smoothed out or diminished, but I'd rather not wait or work on it. Chalk it up to experience. Dumping a 5 gal batch sears in the lesson: Don't leave a beer on oak for too long (without really planning on it). A Porter doesn't have strong enough flavors to compete with strong oak flavors.

My Psychedelic Monk surprised me when it didn't blow the top off the primary. It didn't even foam up into the blow-off tube that I had set up. I was thinking this might be a stuck fermentation, but I can peek inside through the airlock's hole and see that foam still covers the entire top of the beer. This one I may have to let sit up three to four weeks before transferring to carboy. Even there, I expect to wait 3-4 months before kegging. This has the potential to get to 13%.

I'm rested now, off to shake up my Ahtanum Pale Ale.

20080208 - The tally from last year

2007 was a pretty gung-ho brewing year for me. I've been brewing quite a bit and also purchasing some new equipment. I was wondering just how much I spent on brewing and brewing equipment. So here's the tally:

01/29/2007 65.53
02/12/2007 36.01
02/20/2007 43.63
03/12/2007 40.69
04/02/2007 73.63
04/16/2007 47.90
04/24/2007 60.97
05/07/2007 251.94
05/11/2007 44.64
06/18/2007 120.06
07/06/2007 94.34
07/13/2007 36.51
07/16/2007 15.64
07/23/2007 66.87
08/03/2007 38.46
08/13/2007 37.53
08/20/2007 43.30
09/04/2007 54.69
09/08/2007 43.31
10/09/2007 33.69
10/12/2007 453.45
10/15/2007 -108.24
10/15/2007 66.80
10/19/2007 205.30 *Praxair
10/27/2007 76.29
11/05/2007 33.43
11/19/2007 42.69
11/24/2007 9.73
11/30/2007 31.19
12/17/2007 274.00
12/24/2007 38.89
=======
TOTAL $2372.87

With that total I made 150 gallons of beer. I think I had one or two gift certificates that saved just a touch and I know that one batch was commissioned by a friend (he paid for the recipe). About $1000 was for equipment that I can use the rest of my life - I got another CO2 tank and a beergas system.

Simple math of 8 pints per gallon gives 1200 pints and $1372.87 in recipe costs so my beer is costing $1.14 per pint? Hmm. Premier beer - it's worth it!

Ed

Brew #78: American Red Ale

THe AHS recipe calls for Cascades but we know that those are in short supply. Vanguard hops are one that can be in supply and it is said that they can be used as a replacement for Cascades. So here's a red with all Vanguard.
When I was steeping grains, I let the temp go to 180F. Oops. Opinions are that the grains may have converted quickly enough that I got most of the sugars out. The OG wasn't too bad, I'm historically low and an adjusted 1.051 instead of 1.053 isn't too far off. Tastes pretty good at the rack into secondary.

I racked into keg on 2-16 and the SG at the time was 1.018 at 70F. The recipe expects an FG of 1.014 (so 1.013 @ 70F). I'm leaving the keg out of the kegerator to allow the yeast to finish up a bit more. I'll measure the SG next week, and maybe wait one more week. I may just push it up to be able to draw off some bottles to enter the Bluebonnet.

It's now in the kegerator and carbonated. Bottles have been drawn off for the Bluebonnet. This one has a mellow flavor that I think is more popular to folks that aren't hop heads like most brewers. It still has a zing to it.

Brewed: 01-27-2008
Racked: 02-05-2008
Kegged: 02-16-2008

OG=1.050@70F
FG=1.015@70F

ABV=5.895%

Brew #77: British Pale Ale

The AHS British Pale Ale is near a Bass Ale. I've brewed this using the late addition for the extract to keep the stuff from carmelizing on the bottom of the brew pot. It works well - there was hardly anything there at cleanup. I'm also going to dry hop with 1/2 ounce of Summit. I'm trying to pull the orange/tangerine flavors out of those hops.

This has a flavor like an IPA. The Summits give it a nice hoppy flavor, but it still hasn't dinged "tangerine" on my palate. It is pleasant whatever the case. Still, that was warm and flat. It is in the fridge now and ready for force carbonation. I have dubbed this one "Prince of Orange Pale".

Brewed: 01-21-2008
Racked: 02-05-2008 (dry-hopped w/ .5 oz. Summit)
Racked: 02-16-2008
Kegged: 02-26-2008

OG=1.047@70F
FG=1.010@68F

ABV=4.847%