Begin Brewing!

I have long been a fan of the more malt-forward styles of beer, and the Scottish 80 Shilling Ale (also known as the Scottish Export Ale) is no exception. The roasty and toasty, caramel, and dark fruit flavors of the malt combine with just enough hop bitterness to bring the beer to a perfect balance. The 80 Shilling is a stronger version of the Export Ale, meant to have enough alcohol to stand transatlantic voyages. I've made three Scottish Ale versions before this. The first version fared poorly in competition, scoring an average of 27 out of 50. The second , to me, was much better. The judges disagreed, scoring it 25.5. The third never made it to competition, so I don't know how it would have scored. To me, it was the best of the three. This, the fourth version, is actually a recipe from Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer's book Brewing Classic Styles . The recipe in the book scales between a 60, 70, or 80 Shilling Ale. According to the authors, the difference betwee...

The only lager I've ever  brewed was a Ttopical Stout. Despite my best efforts with that one, it didn't do that well in competition. Judges noted yeasty notes they did not like, despite the beer never getting above the yeast's optimum temperature range. I suspect that was due to pitching only a single packet of dry lager yeast and not a large starter. I decided to start 2019 by brewing another lager, a traditional German style Pilsner. This time I'll be pitching both a 1 liter starter and some dry yeast, plus plenty of yeast nutrient to ensure a healthy yeast population. I'll also be using a good quality temperature control system to ensure a consistent temperature, Ingredients 10 pounds Swaen Pilsner Malt (the closest I had to German Pilsner) 1 pound Briess Pilsner Malt 4 ounces Cara-pils/Dextrine Malt 0.5 ounces Magnum hops @ 12.6% AA (60 min.) 0,5 ounces Hallertau hops @ 4.5% AA (10 min.) 1.0 ounces Hallertau hops @ 2.5% AA (4 min.) 1/2 tsp. Yeast Nu...

Last year , I took the time at the start of the year to review my homebrewing experiences for the prior year and reflect on what I'd like to accomplish in 2018. What Did I Accomplish in 2018? I brewed almost 50 batches of beer in 2017 (48 to be precise). That's up from 36 batches in 2017, 17 batches in 2016, and 15 batches in 2015. That's well above the supposed average of 8.3 batches per year of the hypothetical "average" homebrewer according to the AHA. I brewed approximately 25 different BJCP styles during the year, including the Tropical Stout, Belgian Single/Dubbel/Tripel/Quad, Saison, Pale Ale, IPA, Scottish 80 Shilling, ESB, Blonde Ale, Australian Sparkling, Irish Red, Cream Ale, English Brown, Dark Mild, Pumpkin Ale, and others. I entered three competitions: Rhinegeist, the Ohio State Fair, and Barley's Ale House. I didn't place at Rhinegeist. At the State Fair, I took home a fourth place ribbon for a Belgian Tripel. At Barley's ...

The finished beer - look at the carbonation! A few months ago, I placed an online order for two batches of grain. One was for an English Dark Mild Ale, the other for a Bohemian Pilsner. As it turned out, I screwed up the order and ended up with a bag of mixed German and Belgian grains. After pondering what to do about this, I decided to try turning the mix into a Trappist Dubbel. The color and malt combination wasn't too far off. I added Munich malt to sweeten it a bit, Special B to add raisin/prune/plum flavors, plus Melany (Melanoidin) and Cara-Pils for head retention. Since I had some dark candi sugar rocks I wanted to use up, I included those. I also included some chopped golden raisins and prunes to (I hoped) help punch up the dark fruit flavor - something that's been sorely lacking in my previous Dubbels. I'm not sure this will be a true Dubbel in terms of its specifications, but I'm hopeful it will still turn out to be a tasty brew. Ingredients 4.75 ...

Having seen the success of my high-gravity ale experiment, I decided to take the process to another level. This time around, the goal is to produce a relatively authentic British Old Ale in terms of its grist, but dial the alcohol content up considerably. The goal here is a 16% ABV and retention of the basic flavors of an Old Ale. Ingredients 6.6 pounds Maris Otter Liquid Malt Extract 4.0 pounds Briess 2-row Pale Ale Malt 1 ounce Black Patent Malt 1 ounce Extra Special Malt 1.5 ounces English Medium Crystal Malt 8 ounces Treacle 0.72 ounces Magnum hops @ 12.3% AA (60 min.) 1/2 tsp. Yeast Nutrient 1/2 tsp. Irish Moss 1/2 tsp. Brewtan B in the mash water 1/2 tsp. Brewtan B in the boil 1/2 (approx.) of a 1-liter starter of White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity Yeast 1 Tbsp. pH 5.2 Stabilizer 1.9 gallons mash water 1.9 gallons sparge water According to BeerSmith, the beer should have the following qualities: BJCP 2015 Style: 17.B Old Ale Original Gravity: 1.135 S...

My step-son and his fiancee love big, citrusy IPAs. They would like me to brew one that could be given away as a favor to guests at the wedding. Not being a fan of IPAs in general, I don't have a recipe ready. Even if I did, I'd want to put a twist on it so that it's unique to them. Reviewing the information I could find on NEIPAs, I learned the following: Include high-protein malts (wheat, oats) in the grist to add body Use fruit-forward hop varieties Few kettle hop additions, more whirlpool hops (a challenge in automated systems) Ferment with low-attenuating, low-flocculating, ester-forward yeast, like London Ale, Dry English Ale, or Vermont/Conan Dry-hop during primary fermentation to allow yeast and hop qualities to bond Stay below 65 IBUs (generally) 1-3:1 chloride to sulfate ratio in the water (150-175 ppm chloride, 75-100 ppm sulfate) Dry hop with 0.5 to 1.3 oz. per gallon, added within 2-3 Plato (8-12 SG points) from final gravity Add most of the hops ...

Early sample of the finished beer A couple of years ago, I received a bottle of Oak Aged La Trappe Quadrupel as a gift from a very thoughtful relative. At $15 for a 12-ounce bottle, the beer was both hard to find and hard to justify buying. It turned out to be absolutely delicious, and I've never seen a bottle since. (The Andersons near Sawmill Road carried it at the time, but they are long out of business.) When I bottled my (non-oak-aged) La Trappe Quadrupel clone on Friday, I decided that I was pleased enough with it to try using the recipe to make a clone of the oak aged version, too. Tonight, I put the Brewie to work on it. My plan is to soak oak chips in Everclear for a few days, then add those late in the primary fermentation. When the desired oak flavor is achieved, I'll bottle the beer and give it some time to age before sharing. This recipe is a slight change from the previous version, intended to raise the alcohol content but otherwise maintain the flavor of...