Beer Brewers?? Ale Makers??

[Grimsteinr]

I have 5 cases of Mead in champagne bottles laid by & ready to drink. (I use champagnes because I can use the same crown caps as on my beer bottles.)I have another ten 1 gallon jugs clarifying in the back room.

So now, I'm working at getting all the beer cases full. I have 18 cases. Nine are now empty.
Wednesday, I cooked up a couple 5 gallon batches of Porter, or Dark Brown Ale.
A simple recipe, for a 5 gallon batch:

1/2 # of 120 lovibond Crystal Malt(grain)
1/2# of Chocolate Malt(grain)

6#'s of Amber DME, dry plain malt extract.
1oz. of Northern Brewer Hop pellets- 8.5 Aa- bittering
1 oz. of Willamette Hop pellets- 4.6 Aa- aroma

Crush the grain, add to 7 qt's cold water in brew pot.
Bring to Boil. Strain out bulk of the Grain. Sparge with 2 qt. boiling water.
Add sparging to brew pot. Add in 6# of DME. Add Bittering hop pellets.
Bring back to gentle Rolling Boil. Boil 60 miinutes.
Add Aroma Hop pellets to last 5 minutes of Boil.
Turn off heat..........
Sparge into Fermenter=Carboy, with 2 gallon cold water.
Top of with hot boiled water. Set aside to cool.
When cooled to less than 90 F. Pitch Yeast.
I put the dry yeast dry on top of Wort....Not Recommended!! (Works for me)

Add Blow-off tube with other, lower end, in 5 gal. bucket half full of water.
Bubbling in 10 to 15 minutes. It will be ready for Bottle Conditioning in
7 to 10 days. Bottle condition with 3/4 cup corn sugar, Boiled in 1 pint of water for the batch. Cap & let sit at room temp. for 1 week.
Simple recipe, Easy to make.

Cost for Eight 6-packs........Of Good wholesome Ale
DME, $28
Hops $$4
Grain $3
Sugar, for conditioning $0.50
Total - $35.50
Commercially Cost @ $9 a 6-pack $72+ tax
Mine is Better..........
I Love to Brew!

[ladyDetenebrate]

Thanks for this great post and all of its detailed instructions! I love to make cider and fruit brandy myself. Beer is something I have not ventured into yet, but seeing how little time it takes, I'd be very interested.

Speaking for cider and brandy, they both take a few months, sometimes longer if you're doing specific processes. It's a wonderful experience though: picking the fall harvest, juicing the fruits, mixing various fruit juices (or not), waiting while they ferment for a few months, and then distilling (or double-distilling) if you make brandy (or eau de vie) out of the resulting fermentation. I LOVE IT!

Regardless of what it is you make (beer, cider, liquor, brandy, etc.), I think its a great lesson that nothing should go to waste around the house and that there are many things you can do yourself and usually better than commercial products (at least in the USA!). While these endeavors may take time, they're fun and considerably cheaper in the long run than buying commercial products. Plus, you don't have any regulators breathing down your neck if you make your own brew or hooch. It's all up to your tastes and preferences!

Thanks again for this great post.

[einherjarNZ]

Or maybe it is Schoferhoffer.

Either way it is the nectar of the Gods.

Best brew ever! Ever ever.

Give me death or give me Schofferhofer. Or Schoferhoffer.

Whatever the hell it is!

[theTasmanian]

Nice you might want to put it in here tho



http://forums.skadi.net/showthread.php?t=112423

[drpkckmrphy]

Grimsteinr, your recipe sounds easy enough... I'm getting ready to embark on the beer brewing journey myself here before too long. I've been meaning to for a while. I have had some of your beer and I truthfully would rather drink it than most if not all the store bought beers I've had

Can you give me a recipe for some good IPA?

[Greg]

Can you give me a recipe for some good IPA?

Here is a recipe found in the book "Clone Brews". It is a clone recipe for Shepherd Neame IPA. Which I believe its production has been discontinued.

Crush and Steep in 1/2 Gallon (1.9 L) 150 degree F (65.5 degree C) water for 20 minutes:

7oz (.2 kg) British crystal malt
4oz (113 g) torrified wheat
3oz (85 g) Brittish amber malt

Note:
1. I shoot for between 120 degrees and 150.
2. Your supplier should be able to grind your malt for you.
3. When you steep your malts your supplier should have a Grain Bag (loose mesh cloth bag that kinda looks like a tube sock) for you to put your crushed malts in as well as any other ingredients that you will be adding (other than the Liquid or dried malt extract).

Strain the grain water into your brew pot. Some recipes call for "Sparging" this is where the grain water is poured over the grains to bring out more flavor. When you do this pour the water gently to prevent the husks from coming out of the grain bag causing an undesirable flavoring.

When you remove the grain bag allow the grain water to run out by itself DON'T squeeze it. If you squeeze the bag the grain husks could potentially come out into your brew pot.

Add water to bring the total amount of water in your brew pot to 1.5 gallons (5.7 L). Bring water to boil and remove from heat.

Then add:
6.5 lb. (3 kg) Light DME (Dry Malt Extract)
1.5 oz (42 g) Target at 7% AA (10.5 HBU). This is your bittering hop (in a small grain bag).

Add water to bring the total amount of water in your brew pot to 2.5 gallons (9 L). Bring water to boil and boil for 45 minutes.

Then add:
.5 oz (14 g) East Kent Goldings. This is called "flavor hopping" (in a small grain bag).
1 tsp (5 ml) Irish moss (in the same bag as the flavor hop).

Boil for 14 minutes.

Then add:
.5 oz (14 g) East Kent Goldings. This is called "aroma hopping" (in a small grain bag).

Boil for 1 minute.

Remove your brew pot from the stove and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove all of the grain bags allowing them to drain (remember, no squeezing).

Note: From this point on you must sanitize the fermenters, bottlingbucket, bottles, and all tools that come into contact with your wort. Foreign bacteria with give you undesirable flavors.

Strain your wort into your primary fermenter and add cold water to bring your total amount of wort to 5 gal (18.9 L).

When the wort temperature is under 80 degrees F (26.6 C), pitch your yeast.

1st choice: Wyeast's 1275 Thames Valley Ale yeast.
2nd choice: Wyeast's 1968 Special London Ale yeast.

Note: If your supplier doesn't have these recommended yeasts, allow them to make a recommendation from what they do have.

Ferment at 68-72 degrees F (20-22 C) 5-7 days. Then siphon your wort into a secondary fermenter and add:

.5 oz (14 g) East Kent Goldings. this is called "dry hopping" (in a small grain bag).

Allow to ferment another 5-7 days.

When you bottle, remove the "dry hops" (not so dry after a week) and add (to your wort before you bottle):

1 and 1/4 cups (300 ml) extra light DME. Prepare by blending DME into 3 cups (750 ml) of boiled water. Boil water for 10 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the DME. Allow mixture to cool to 80 degrees F (26.6 C) before adding. Don't forget sanitation.

Typically I do this step 2 days before bottling putting the solution in a sanitized jar and letting it cool to room temperature on the counter.

Note: This is where a bottling bucket comes in handy. You need to add the DME with as little turbulence as possible (oxygen at this stage can produce a bad flavor). Put the cooled DME mixture in the bottom of your sanitized bottling bucket and allow the motion of the wort being siphoned into the bottling bucket to blend the DME mixture into the wort.

Once you've bottled into your sanitized bottles, place your bottles in a cool, dark place for 2 - 3 weeks to allow the beer to naturally carbonate.

Serve at 55 degrees F (13 C)

* Recipe from the book "Clone Brews" (ISBN-13: 978-1-58017-077-2), page 108.

Sanitation:

I can't stress the importance of sanitation. I prefer to use a liquid, no rinse sanitizer. There are however several products from which you can choose.

[Greg]

Just brewed up a batch of Amber Ale. I'll pitch the yeast tomorrow after the wort has cooled down.