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While browsing Craft Beer and Brewing, I noticed they'd posted a clone recipe for Avery Brewing's "The Reverend" Belgian Quad. This is one of my wife's and my favorite beers, so naturally I jumped at the chance to capture the recipe here for later use. Note: This recipe differs from the way it's published on Craft Beer & Brewing because I've adjusted it for my own brewhouse environment with The Grainfather. Refer to the link above if you want the "official" recipe. The Ingredients 15 pounds, 11 ounces of 2-row Pale Malt 11 ounces of Aromatic Malt 6 ounces of Cara-20 Malt 6 ounces of Cara-45 Malt 6 ounces of Special B Malt 1 pound of Dark Candi Sugar 1.75 ounces of Sterling hops pellets @ 6% AA 0.35 ounces of Sterling hops pellets @ 6% AA 0.80 ounces of Sterling hops pellets @ 6% AA 1/2 tsp. Super Irish Moss 1/4 tsp. Yeast Nutrient 1 vial White Labs Clarity Ferm Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity Yeast or White Labs WLP530...

There is an old mash technique referred to as "hochkurz" mashing, which stems from the German words for "high" and "short". This mash style starts at a higher temperatures than most and stays at each temperature for less time, thus "high temperature" and "short duration" at each temperature stage. The idea in a Hochkurz mash is to mash in two steps. The first step maximizes the beta amylase enzyme activity, and takes place at 145F. It lasts for 30 minutes (up to 45).  The second step maximizes alpha amylase enzyme activity, and occurs at 158-162F. It also lasts for 30 minutes (up to 45 if needed to complete conversion). These steps are followed by a traditional mash-out at 170F for 10-15 minutes. This allows the mash to complete in 70-100 minutes. Theoretically, this 70-minute mash will result in a more complete conversion than a single-step mash that runs over a longer period of time, since the Hochkurz mash gives each of the two m...

The beer prior to cold conditioning A while ago, I read something about Mandarina Bavaria hops. One of the brewing sites had them on sale at the time. They said the hops can impart a mandarin orange aroma and flavor to a beer. I had no idea what I would do with them, but I bought some anyway. After doing some thinking about it, I thought they sounded like they might go well in a blonde ale. I thought a nice malty blonde ale with some added bitter orange peel and sweet orange peel, combined with a couple of healthy later additions of Mandarina Bavaria hops would create a very nice spring or summer beer. Not having a ton of faith in my recipe creation skills, I decided to do a 3-gallon batch for this one (or 3.9 gallons before shrinkage, trub, and other losses). I also wanted to see if The Grainfather boiled a batch any harder if it was a smaller size, and if this impacted chill haze. Update 06/04/2017:  This beer took second place in the fruit beer category at the Ohio St...

Disclaimer: While searching for a good IPA recipe, I discovered the following on a forum online. I am not claiming authorship of the recipe below. If the forum post I read is factual, and I have no reason to think it isn't, this recipe includes input from one of the Rhinegeist brewmasters. That means it probably can produce a beer very close to the original. I plan to brew it at some point to see how it turns out. For now, I'm just documenting and sharing the recipe here. Update 06/11/2017:  I've actually tweaked the recipe for my equipment and brewed a batch, following as much of the brewmaster's guidance as possible.   You can see the results here . Ingredients 8.5 pounds of Rahr Pale Malt (67.3%) 2.75 pounds of Golden Promise Malt (19.5%) 12 ounces of Briess Vienna Malt (5.3%) 10 ounces of Carared Malt (4.4%) 8 ounces of Flaked Rye (3.5%) 0.65 ounces of Bravo hops pellets @ 15.0% AA (60 minutes) 0.71 ounces of Centennial hops pellets @ 10% AA (20 mi...

My wife is a big fan of pumpkin ales. Some time ago, I purchased the ingredients for one that I never got around to making until today. If you look at the Northern Brewer web site, you may recognize this as being similar to their Smashing Pumpkin Ale recipe. That was my starting point. I added Butternut Squash to it because we had one in the kitchen that we had no plans for. I also added Melanoidin Malt to give it a little bit of the crust/biscuit flavor that you find in Southern Tier's Pumking. I could have added Victory Malt like they do, but I am hoping the Melanoidin will give a more subtle crust-like flavor and some added sweetness to accentuate the pumpkin pie flavor profile. I bought the grain for this recipe over a year ago and hadn't used it. I decided to get it out and make it, not knowing if the age of the grain would ruin the result or not. Even if it did, I figured it would be good practice to make it. The Recipe 7.5 pounds 2-Row Pale Malt 2.5 pounds...

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, it's no secret that I am fan of Belgian style ales. I've made at least six different Tripel recipes that I can remember, several Quadrupels, two or three Trappist Singles, and before this, two Dubbels. One was an extract beer that turned out OK. The other was an all-grain beer that was easy to drink but just didn't hit the mark for me. The recipe I brewed on February 5, 2017, started out as a clone of La Trappe Dubbel. La Trappe's Dubbel is one of my favorites. When I started assembling the ingredients for this one, I began wondering about my Saaz hops. They were a bit older, and were only 3.2% alpha acid to start with. My concerns were that they might not bitter the beer enough, and that adding a lot of them might trigger a grassy flavor in the finished beer. So I made the decision to use some German Northern Brewer hops to handle the bittering. They were fresh and certainly strong enough at 10.1% alpha acid. I wou...

As a home brewer, there is one question that almost every non-brewer asks me: "How long does it take to make a batch of beer?" This question might mean any of the following, or all of them: How much time and effort goes into brewing and bottling a batch of beer? How long does it take to go from grain, water, yeast, and hops to a finished glass of beer? How long does the brewing and bottling process take, end-to-end? They might even be asking a combination of these questions. The unfortunate part is that you can't give a single answer to the question. Brewing effort is affected by: The brewer's experience and skill level The brewer's equipment Whether the recipe is an extract brew, all-grain brew, mini-mash, or extract with steeping grains The temperature in the brewing area (e.g, if it's cold, it takes longer to heat water) The recipe being made The yeast strain being used The availability of temperature control during fermentation What ...