Begin Brewing!

Last year, one of the beers I earned a silver medal for at the Ohio State Fair was an Australian Sparkling Ale. Although I did not enter that beer this year, I did decide to re-brew it. The beer was a hit with friends and family. This re-brew attempts to reproduce the award-winning beer in the Zymatic instead of The Grainfather. I've attempted to adjust grain volume and hops amounts down to a level that should be equivalent. Ingredients 1.5 pounds Pilsner Malt 1.5 pounds Pale Ale Malt 4 ounces Caravienne Malt 4 ounces Carapils Malt 1 ounce Roasted Barley 1 pound Corn Sugar 1.5 tsp. pH 5.2 Stabilizer 1/4 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient 1 packet Coopers Ale Yeast 0.35 ounces Pride of Ringwood hops pellets @ 10% AA (60 min.) 0.15 ounces Pride of Ringwood hops pellets @ 10% AA (5 min.) 3 gallons plus 8 ounces starting water I added Carapils to this iteration to help maintain a head. The Roasted Barley was added to increase the malt complexity. I'd wanted to add Ca...

A bottle and glass of the finished beer In September 2015, I read an article in BYO magazine about the Australian Sparkling Ale style , which included a recipe for the beer. The main characteristics of the style are the use of Australian hops, particularly Pride of Ringwood hops, a more dry flavor, and lots of carbonation. Update 06/04/2017:  This beer took second place in its category at the Ohio State Fair's 2017 Homebrewing Competition.  It was one of five beers I took to the fair and the first time I've competed in any brewing competition, so seeing the beer do so well is very exciting and makes me feel better about the effort I've put into improving my brewing process and learning about brewing. At the Barley's Homebrewing competition the next day, it didn't fare quite as well, getting scores of 30 and 34 out of 50.  At the Ohio State Fair, it received an official score of 36 and individual scores of 35 and 37. The Recipe 3.5 pounds of Bohemian Pil...