Tasting notes - home brew batch 1

Ok, since it is from a kit it is not like I have a lot of control over the taste, however I was pleasantly surprised at what a crisp flavour it has. Although not very dry in absolute terms, it is certainly drier than most red ales I have tried. iRob lists it as one of his favour beers (full disclosure - he just started drinking beer a few months ago). However, it was better than I expected - especially given the brewing snafus

Beer o' the day

The beer o' the day is "Wilco Tango Foxtrot" by Lagunitas (think about it). The beer is great, the bottle excellent. The tag line is "A Malty, Robust Jobless Recovery Ale." Deep red in colour, dry in taste with caramel notes. Buy it if you see it.

Bottling batch number 2

Bottled batch number 2 yesterday. Added 3/4 cup of dextrose to the brew - began foaming almost immediately. I assumes this means the yeast is still alive...

Grow beer at home

Interesting...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/dd60/?cpg=133H&image

Beer Fest 2010!

'nuff said

Racking batch #2

Last night I racked the latest batch from the primary fermenter to the carboy. It was about 5 gallons of brew into a 6 gallon carboy, so there is about 4 inches of head space. Hopefully this does not negatively impact the taste of the beer. I may need to get a 5 gallon carboy.

Home brew batch #2

On Sunday I attempted to make another batch of home brew. This time I used ingredients as opposed to a kit. I am trying to make an English bitter. Here are my notes:

HOME BREW (May 23, 2010)

Beer attempted: Palace Bitter (Papazian page 170)

Extract: 2kg light dried malt extract
Malt: 1lb Crystal Malt 70/80L
Hops: Fuggles (5.1) and Northern Brewer (8.9)
Yeast: Nottingham Brewing yeast (dry)

Notes:

Recipe called for Crystal 60 and Kent Goldings hops. Substituting the Northern Brewer. Result should be a hoppier beer than as per the recipe

STEPS

11:00 am: added 12.1 oz Crystal Malt to 1.5 gallons water @ about 70 degrees C

Note: the temp got up to about 77 degrees. Hope that causes no ill effects

11:30 – strained out the malt

11:36 added the malt extract. Has to stir quite a bit due to clumping

11:54 – boil over (dammit – busy combing dog) Added hops

12:24 – added 7 grams each of Fuggles and Northern Brewer

12:39 – added 14 grams Northern Brewer

12:52 – added 14 grams Northern

12:53 – suspended about 14 grams yeast in 8 oz water

12:55 – placed the wort pot in ice water

13:45 – strained wort into primary fermenter. Added about 3.5 gallons cold water, and poured back and forth between pot and fermenter (once).

14:00 – added yeast and water mix

OG – between 1038 and 1040