Hunington Sachs Brauerei

Westside California Common

2011-10-02T21:56:00.001-07:00

This started out as a classic California Common, which is golden-to-amber in color, but I misread the recipe guide, and used 2 pounds of chocolate malt instead of 2 ounces. Luckily, the chocolate malt provided a nice roasty character that gave this beer a coffee-like back-end, without the burnt aftertaste. Surprisingly balanced and smooth given the mistake. Delightful!

7 lbs. light LME
1.1 lbs. Munich LME
1 lb. Crystal 40L
½ lb. Victory malt
2 lbs. Chocolate malt
1 oz. Northern Brewer 6.5% AAU (bittering)
1.5 oz. NB (flavor)
1.5 oz. NB (aroma)
Wyeast 2112 California Lager, fermented at 62° with diacetyl rest at 68°, then lagered at 36°

Homebrewing is often about experimentation, sometimes accidental. Here, I accidentally brewed a German Schwarzbier, which is a dark, roasty lager. Not usually as dark and roasty as this one, but close. The color here is closer to a Russian Imperial Stout, including the slight sweetness and high alcohol. This one just gets better with age.

Brewed August 2011 and bottled September 2011

Dub Siren Saison

2011-09-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

This is a Belgian/French Strong Ale done with the classic Saison Du Pont yeast. With the acidulated malt, wheat and the bitter orange peel, it has the tart mouth of a classic Wit, but the wonderful phenolic nose of a Saison, plus a pepper bite. Also, because I couldn’t get the DuPont strain to finish low enough, I brewed-up a Belgian Ardennes starter about three-quarters of the way through fermentation, and pitched that to get the beer to finish, so it also has a little bit of that Belgian funk present. Think Avery White Rascal crossed with a Belgian Triple and you get close. The recipe is the Saison Etè from the Woodland Hills HBWC Shop.

4 oz. German acid malt
12 oz. German wheat malt
8 oz. German Vienna
9 lbs. pale liquid malt extract
1 lb. Belgian rock candy sugar
1.65 oz. Styrian Goldings hops (bittering)
2 oz. Czech Saaz (aroma)
1 tsp. coriander seed
1/2 tsp. black peppercorn
1/2 oz. bitter orange peel
Fermented with Wyeast 3724 Saison yeast at 68-80, then finished with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes.

For the label, I started with a Mermaid theme, but found this wonderful Club-Princess mermaid and just cropped the top third of the photo, and “dubbed” her the Dub Siren. It just felt right. The QR code takes you here.

Brewed: June 2011 from a birthday gift, and Bottled July 2011. Excellent result, will definitely brew again. Wife loves it.

Firebreaks

2009-11-07T19:39:00.001-08:00

Wildfires are mixed blessings: they destroy homes and vast swaths of forest and foliage, yet a fire can be a cleansing event, clearing the forest floor of dead debris, and preparing ground for new growth. 2009 has been such a year for people too, killing off old careers and old companies with too many deadfalls, and making room for new enterprise. That’s both terrifying and freeing. That fresh start comes with a human price: lost careers, lost lives, and sometimes lost hope. But the end to things also creates an un-crossable firebreak in our lives too -- there’s no hanging on to something that’s been completely destroyed: you have no choice but to build from scratch and create something new. When the fire’s gone, weep no more for the old things. Sweep the ash from your heart. Build again.

This beer was brewed during the 2009 Station Fires in California, and took its inspiration from that fire. It’s big, red and woody, with a firery intensity from the hops. Miller may CLAIM to be tripple-hopped, but this one really is: hopped for bittering, hopped for aroma, and hopped again after fermentation, creating a coat-your-tongue intensity reminiscent of Pizza Port’s Shark Attack, or Pike’s Tandem Double, both of which are huge, spicy, Imperial Reds. Here’s the recipe:

7 lbs Ultralight LME
2 lbs. 2-row barley
1 lb. flaked wheat
1 lb. Crystal 75L
8 oz. rye
8 oz. Munich
2.8 oz. Carafa
1 oz. Magnum pellet hops (AAU13.1%)(bittering)
2 oz. Centennial pellet hops (AAU10.4%)(aroma)
WLP 002 English Ale yeast
2 oz. Columbus pellet hops (dry hopped)
1 oz. French oak chips

Fermented at 68° for two weeks, then transferred to secondary for dry-hopping and to sit on the French oak chips for another two weeks. Racked again to get the beer off the hops and oak, then cold-conditioned for three weeks. Bottled with 6 oz. corn sugar.

The label features an amateur photo taken August 30, 2009, near the Mount Wilson Observatory.

Brewed August 2009, and bottled late-October 2009.

Hacking Sun Tea

2009-08-10T16:36:00.001-07:00

No, this doesn’t qualify as “brewing” under the traditional sense of this blog – no fermentation involved here – but I thought I would pass along this accidental discovery. I love sun tea, but I hate the huge gallon-sized container sitting in my frig, because it’s hard to handle and by the time I get to the end of the jug the tea is stale. There is an alternative – use quart or pint-sized Mason jars for the brewing. Discovered this quite by accident – wanted to do sun tea, but didn’t have the appropriate pitcher on hand, but did have Mason jars. Hmm, big improvement. The jars take up less space in your frig, already have a a good resealable lid (so they’re car friendly), and with the smaller size you can doctor each container to suit personal preferences. When you’re done “brewing”, go ahead and sweeten/add lemon while they’re still warm, then stash in the frig – no more trying to get sugar to dissolve in cold tea. If you like, mark the outside with a Sharpie to show adjuncts. Grab and go! Try it – you’ll never go back to that unwieldy gallon jug.

Father Stimulo’s Slightly Mad Monk – Abbey Single Ale

2009-06-01T23:54:00.001-07:00

Inspired by my Saison Noire and Christmas labels, I coaxed my Father-in-Law into posing as a Trappist Monk for this unusual Abbey Single Ale. He’s wearing one of the nephew’s Halloween costumes. My Sister-in-Law shot the picture. He kind of reminds me of the copy of a copy of a copy clone in Harold Ramis’ film Multiplicity – Michael Keaton’s character duplicates himself until the last copy can only utter words about pizza.

The beer is a clone of Witkap Pater’s Abbey Single, known in Belgium as “Stimulo”. As far as I know, Witkap Pater is the only Belgian Single available in the U.S. I liked the simple, golden, spicy and low alcohol characteristics of this style, so I thought I’d give it a try. Here’s the recipe:

6 oz. pale DME (starter)
6.6 lbs. Pilsner LME
8 oz. sucrose
2 oz. Styrian Goldings 2.9% AAU (bittering)
1/4 oz. Saaz, 1/2 oz. bitter orange peel, 1/2 oz. coriander, 1/2 of a medium lemon (zest only) (flavoring)
1/4 oz. Saaz, 1/2 oz. fresh orange peel, 1/2 medium lemon (aroma phase)
Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II yeast (Rochefort Abbey)

Fermented at 65° for a week, then added 1 lb. sucrose and additional pack of 1762 and bumped the vessel up to 72° to try to get more ‘funk’. Next time I would just start the ferment at 68 and let it rise naturally. Let it lager at 32° for a month to clear and because I wanted a clean, lager-like finish. Still too sweet at bottling, but hoping it will dry out during the conditioning process (the Belgians usually do for me). Bottled with 5 oz. corn sugar and 2 oz. sucrose in attempt to achieve Belgian-like high carbonation levels. Bottled May 2009.

Black Dog Jaggery Ale

2009-04-08T23:59:00.001-07:00

Throughout his life, Winston Churchill would lie in bed for days, crippled by deep depression. He described these periods as his “Black Dog” days. What an incredible man who could still manage to work fiendishly during these bouts, commanding naval maneuvers or orchestrating The Battle of Britain while the “Black Dog came to visit, and lay on my chest”, as Churchill would say. I guess naming his angst was his way of controlling and isolating it – it wasn’t who he was -- he wouldn’t let it define him. It was this “other thing” that came to visit periodically, but could be tricked into eventually leaving, like a stray dog.

This English ale is exactly the kind of drink you might offer a man during those dark days, and our current ones – dark, strong, with a peppery mix of ginger, anise, cardamom and allspice – a tonic to warm the soul. This one is for the strong of heart, as strong as the Lion of Winter himself. My homage:

Fo’ when the black dog crush your vest, Take a nip, Mister, You’ll earn the rest Fo’ kith, ‘n kin, and hearth, and valor Blood, sweat, tears, toil, guts and pallor Take a nip, and tuck it in and face the belt, like Gunga Din So’s brace yourself, with all your might With one good drink, For ONE more fight.

Bully for you Mr. Churchill. Here’s the recipe:

3 lbs dark dry malt extract
3.3 lbs liquid dark malt extract
½ lb. chocolate malt
¾ lb. crystal 40L
2 oz. Cascade (bittering)
1 oz. Willamette (aroma)
6 gals. spring water
3 lbs. ginger (40 oz. after skin is peeled) – 30 oz. at 45 mins., 10 oz. at 5 mins.
1 lb. Piloncillo sugar (Jaggery)
1 lb. lactose
Wyeast 1968 (English So., because it ferments-out with residual sweetness)
Dry-hopped with black Indian cardammom, sasparilla, star anise, and allspice
¾ cup corn sugar (priming)

Brewed May 2008. With the 3 pounds of ginger I was aiming for a huge peppery-heat flavor, but didn’t realize how astringent ginger can be – waited 8 months for the ginger to drop out, then dosed it with the other spices to develop more complexity and balance in the spice profile. It worked. Bottled April 2009.

La Saison Noire

2009-04-05T21:55:00.001-07:00

Uh, no, I don’t smoke, those are joke photos.

This is my interpretation of a French Flanders black saison, using Wyeast’s private collection #3711 French Saison Yeast. The ingredients are very simple, but develop complex flavors during fermentation as a result of the unique yeast – phenolic, citrusy, peppery, dry with a sweet aftertaste.

1 lb. Belgian Caramunich
0.5 lbs. Belgian Carafa III
6 lbs. Pilsen Malt Syrup
1 lb. Pilsen Dry Malt Extract
2 oz. Argentina Cascade (bittering)
Wyeast #3711 French Saison Yeast - Fermented at 68°F.

The label is inspired by an African independent film, “Une Saison Noire”, literally One Black Season. The lobby poster features black revolutionaries and machine guns, so I had my daughters snap some mock “Che” revolutionary leader photos. The middle photo is licensed from a stock photo company, but the other two are me. The cigarette is not real – I don’t smoke – but every picture of French Resistance Fighters you ever see has one guy with a cig, so I thought it would be funny. My 8-yr-old snapped the left panel pic – I think she shows some real promise.

Brewed November 2008, bottled March 2009 in 22 oz. Bombers.

Sachsen Alt

2009-01-23T22:59:00.000-08:00

If you’ve ever had an Alaskan Amber from Alaskan Brewing Co., then you’ve had a variation of a North German Alt. It’s a clean, dry and malty beer with yeast-bread overtones and a firm hop bitterness. This one is a “sticke” (secret) version, which is served unannounced by pubs a few times year. It’s a bit darker, bigger, and has a larger hop aroma than the regular Alt. With good yeast control, I’ve avoided the sweet, heavy character which is a common flaw in homebrew versions of this style.

.5 lbs. Weyermann CaraAmber
.125 lbs. Weyermann Carafa I
6.3 lbs. Gold Amber Malt Syrup
1 lb. Briess Amber DME
1 lb. Briess Wheat DME
2 ozs. German Tradition pellet hops 5.7% AAU (bittering)
1 oz. Spalt pellet hops 4.0% AAU (aroma)
1 oz. Hallertau Select (dry hopping)
WLP036 White Labs Platinum Series Dusseldorf Alt Yeast

I was looking for iconography for this label when I came upon this symbol, the Niedersachsenross, (a white horse on a red field). I thought it an appropriate image for my interpretation of a Düsseldorf Alt.

Düsseldorf Domination!

2009-01-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

I just brewed a strong Dusseldorf Alt, commonly known as a Sticke Alt, pitching a June 2008 tube of White Labs WLP 036, their Premier Series strain of Dusseldorf Alt. The age of the yeast was a concern, so I built up a 2000ml starter over a week – uhh, not to worry, it’s churning like crazy, and the blowoff jug is now dark with expended wort.

That high-tech gadget on the carboy is a digital temperature probe with a styrofoam insulator and copious amounts of tape – the insulation is a method to obtain the temp of the wort, rather than the frig. The controller is plugged into a low-heat dehydrator bottom, which supplies enough heat to maintain the wort temp at 60° for primary fermentation of this yeast (if you wanted to cool the wort, you just plug the controller into the frig). Once I finish primary, I will crash both the Alt and the Pils in the background down to 36° for a month-long lager.

Peoples' Pilsner

2009-01-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

A year before I had been denied a visa to Moscow, so I knew it was a long shot as I sat in the Czechoslovakian Embassy in Vienna, waiting for a sweaty, rotund and greasy-faced clerk to review my papers. Just the day before I had been given a stern-faced no from the Yugoslavian Embassy. I had managed travel to East Berlin twice because of the strange “Allied” status we enjoyed there, and didn’t want to leave the rest of Eastern Europe completely unexplored, so it was worth a try. The Czech bureaucrat looked positively disappointed when he said that he was sorry, but no, I couldn’t hop the next train to Coffeehouse/Urquell-Land. His look conveyed the helpless manner of a jovial but otherwise resigned Communist functionary, as if to say, “I know you’re no Yanqee Imperial Dog Spy,” but “Thems the rules, sorry mate.” Was it the Jewish surname? My status as an ambitious young Captain? Leadership of the College Republicans? That unfortunate incident with my soldiers showing their butts to the Czech border patrol when we visited the 11^th ACR garrison? I wasn’t in search of State Secrets, just a beer – I’ve always wondered why they considered me a threat – I knew of many other American officers that had traveled to the Bloc. Seemed ridiculous at the time, even more so today. I consoled myself with a delicious golden Pils from the gasthaus, and booked the next train to Seville via Barcelona (which led to a serendipitous side jaunt to Tangier and southern Morocco). In retrospect, I should probably thank those Godless Commies for the trip of a lifetime. In tribute, I brew this very simple and pleasantly bitter rendition of what I might have enjoyed during my own Prague Spring.

I highlight the absurdity with my own absurd phrase on the label: “In Demokratic Czech Republic, Pilsner drinks you!” Hats off to you Mr. Sweaty Bureaucrat, and hope you enjoyed the crushing defeat of the Soviet Empire by My People. Cheers!

1 lb. Caramel Pils
6.3 lbs. gold liquid malt extract
1 oz. Galena (bittering)
1 oz. Saaz (at 15 mins.)
Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils (fermented 2 weeks at 50°, then at 60° for diacetyl rest, lagering at 36° for a month until clear)

Brewed December 2008.

Crush Dubbel-Wit

2008-12-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

This was supposed to be a classic Belgian Wit with a spicy undertone and easy drinkability, but plussed-up in the style of Avery's White Rascal. I had consulted Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles podcast, which is usually an authorative source, but this one was hosted by a fill-in who suggested that the brewer use a softball-sized addition of citrus zest, and said that "you can never get too much citrus in this beer." Well, I should've known. By the time this one fermented out, the orange flavor was overwhelming, so I decided to make this a bigger beer to try to balance it out by adding more sugar in the manner of Abbey Triples. That helped, but the acid balance was still off, so I dosed it with lactic acid to taste. It wasn't the phenolic Avery I aimed for, but it did have a nice big citrus quench, reminiscent of my favorite orange soda, Orange Crush.

-6 lbs. wheat malt extract

-1 lb. oat flakes (for smooth mouth feel)

-2 lbs. table sugar (1/2 in the boil, and 1/2 during secondary)

-2 oz. Crystal pellet hops (bittering)

-1/2 oz. fresh Chamomile Tea from Market Spice

-2 oz. crushed Indian Coriander Seed (1/2 in last 10 min. of boil and 1/2 dry-hopped in the secondary)

-a whopping softball-sized ball of citrus zest from tangerines, navel & blood oranges, grapefruit & lemon, plus orange marmalade (to mimic the Curacao peel)

-fermented with White Labs WLP410 at 64 degrees

-carbonated with 5 oz. dextrose plus an extra 3 oz. sucrose (to obtain that "Belgian" fizz)

The label is a variation on both the new and old Orange Crush Soda cans. I added Ethiopian Emperor Haille Salassie's image, not because it has anything to do with Belgian beers, but because the colors matched the Crush signature colors so perfectly, and Selassie's larger-than-life reign was so over-the-top extreme that it seemed to fit with this extreme, citrusy, huge Belgian wit.

Brewed September 2008 with additions in October, November and December. My first "Extreme Beer".

January 2009 Update. The carbonation and bottle conditioning made a huge difference. It's shocking, but the beer is much closer to the Avery than I expected based upon how it tasted in the Carboy. When my Father-In-Law brewed his Celis White clone he initially hated it, waited a few months, then loved it. What is it about Wits that bottle conditioning seems to make all the difference? I'm even getting a nice Belgian funk as well. Wow, I love it. Caution: Truly "Imperial" on the alcohol side.

A Winter's T'Ale

2008-11-28T13:09:00.001-08:00

This is a winter-warmer, done in the style of Pyramid's Snowcap or Redhook's Winterhook. It's a big beer, with 3/4 lb. crystal malt, 1/4 lb. chocolate malt, 9 1/2 lbs. golden liquid malt extract, 3 oz. Willamette, and fermented with the same Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast used for the Christmas beer. The label is inspired by the stark, snowy days of November, and the bare Winter-time deciduous forests of Nebraska. I saw Jeremy Irons play the lead in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale", and I've never forgotten the cool blue lighting used in the Stratford-Upon-Avon set.

I paired the the winter imagery with an equally stark poem. My Uncle Bob is the "knarled tree" in the story. At age 14, my parents were both dead, and I felt overwhelmed and lost. Bob was a rough, harsh character, with lots of crazy ideas in his head, but he was literally the only one among my aunts and uncles who reached out to me. His tales of my parents were like those Greek myths of fierce strength and tenacity, and kept me clear about who I could be. I didn't have my father and mother, but I had their stories, and that kept me whole. Thank you Uncle Bob for providing the windbreak this sprout needed to survive.

Brewed October 2008.

Uncle Buck's Christmas Ale

2008-11-28T12:04:00.001-08:00

Calvin helped me tap my "inner dork" with this pic set next to our barn (that's a goat in the window). Yes, those are Army RPGs (rape prevention glasses). My wife said that she "didn't know this person", and my family got a big kick out of the label. This is the other half of the spiced Scottish-80, and it went well with our Thanksgiving meal. The spice is well-balanced, not overpowering. Serving this set off a round of taste-testing homemade blackberry brandy, french-style cider, merlot, shiraz, and other freeze-method liquors brought over by wife's cousin. I'll quote my friend Gil Meyer and say, "A good time was had by all." Brewed October 2008.

Update December 2008: had this one again with Christmas dinner, which we did Provence-style this year. Went really well with the roast lamb, onion tart, spinach dumplings and Christmas bread. The beer has rounded-out nicely.

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-25T17:38:00.000-08:00

Jeff and Brittany are a lovely couple, and I felt bad that I wasn't able to attend their wedding, so I decided to brew a Commemorative Ale to help them celebrate their first Thanksgiving and Christmas together. You can't just make an ordinary pale ale or a stout for such an occasion, so for the longest time I was stymied on style choices -- that is, until I saw the candids shot by my friend and officemate Patrick. I got this bright, hopeful feeling from the pics, and knew I had to do a Holiday Brew. Click on the label above and you'll see what I mean.

This Holiday Spiced Ale is a Scottish-80 style ale spiced with Ceylon cloves, cracked cinnamon, allspice, cardamom and mace. Made with 1 lb. dark crystal malt, 6 ½ lbs. golden liquid malt extract, 1 oz. Argentina Cascade hops, 14 ozs. Malto-dextrin, spices, and Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast. Fermented at 68 °, and bottle-conditioned with 5 oz. corn sugar for carbonation.

Brewed October 2008. First tasting: a nice champagne-like dryness on the front end, with a sweet finish accented by the mélange of spices. A very suitable Holiday Ale.

Hella-Güt Hefe

2008-09-01T22:33:00.001-07:00

Here we go again, will we obtain that wonderful clove-like and bananna flavor so characteristic of Southern Germany, or will it be Goat Gluwein?

-5 oz. Munich Malt
-3 oz. Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)
-1 oz. Carafa II (412.0 SRM)
-1/2 lb. wheat DME (in the starter)
-6.5 lbs. wheat LME
-1oz Hersbruker Hallertau
- White Labs Liquid Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (WLP380)

Bottle-conditioned. Brewed July 2008. Goat approved.

Three Mädchens Oktoberfest

2008-09-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

It was the Munich Oktoberfest 1987, and I was there with my regular crew of officers from my Battalion. We drank and sang, and drank and sang, and . . . well, you get the picture. I was never so happy in my life to be with my friends -- the Germans have a word for it -- gemuchlicheit -- it means that warm happy feeling you get when you're with family and friends. We didn't know it then, but our Red nemesis would soon die a welcome death, and in a small way my friends and I helped make it happen. When the wall fell, I cried with tears of joy and remembered those warm happy days in the Bavarian sun with my friends. Gott mit uns.

- 1 lb. Weyermann Caramunich II
-2 lbs. Pilsener DME
-6 lbs. Munich LME
-1 oz. Sterling (bittering)
-Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager Yeast

This one was brewed and lagered alongside the Helles, but didn't finish as dry as the Helles. Still enjoyable, but will give it more time to condition in the bottle and perhaps dry out. Dark, sweet, and very flavorful. Brewed June 2008.

Update September 18th: Bottle conditioning did the trick -- additional carbonation balanced the sweet malt character. This one's going to be great with age. Interesting that modern German Oktoberfest's are not this big, and have more in common with my Helles than this brew.

Big Honkin' Helles

2008-09-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

I lived in Germany for three years, where I discovered that I actually liked beer. It was a wonderful contrast to that pee-colored rice and corn syrup swill that they served in America. In Bavaria, the beer man delivers a rack of beer to your door each week, and you return your empties, just like the Milkman. I drank Pils, Hefeweizens, Crystalweizens, Dunkelweizens, Dunkles, Alts, Bocks, Doppelbocks, Eisbocks, Berlinerweisse, and my favorite, Helles. This was my first lagering experience, and it matched my taste-memory of my days in Neu Ulm and Stuttgart. This was fermented at 50° for 3 weeks, then moved up to 60° to finish out, and then dropped to 36° for a month to lager and clear out.

-1 lb. Pilsener DME
-6 lbs. Pilsener LME
-1 oz. Argentina Cascade (bittering)
-1/2 oz. Argentina Cascade (flavoring at 30 min.)
-1/2 oz. Argentina Cascade (aroma at 10 min.)
-Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager Yeast

Light-bodied and refreshing, modest bittering. Exactly as I remembered. Would definitely brew again. Favorite of my in-laws. Brewed June 2008.

Löwensaft auf Frühling

2008-09-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

My mother was "Low German" rural poor, and grew up in Depression-era Nebraska, where every bit of flora and fauna you could forage was canned, dried or cured. Each year, my Aunts would gather in my mother's kitchen to lay down quarts of spiced apples, apricots, beans, corn, tomatoes, kraut, pickles -- whatever they grew or picked from our farm and neighbors' farms. In homage to that thrifty spirit and my Bohunk Mother, I brew this Lions Juice of Spring.

My wife and girls helped me pick for two hours on the first day of the new season. Our goats, Panny and Billy, would ignore the millions of yellow heads around them, and wait for us to lay down a picked bag, then gorge.

- 3 1/2 gallons of dandelion heads (no stems), steeped for 45 minutes in hot water
-4 lbs. golden raisins, chopped
-8 oranges, zest and juice
-8 lemons, zest and juice
-12 lbs. sugar
-3 tsp. yeast nutrient
-boiled with 3 1/2 gal. spring water, cooled to 70, then topped to 5 gal.
-pitched 1 pkg. Côte de Blanc and 1 pkg. Champagne yeast

Laid down April 2008. Re-rack off the lees every 3 months. Condition until March 2009.

Crack-It-Back Ale

2008-09-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

Redmond's Mac and Jack's Brewery makes one of the finest examples of highly-hopped Northwest pale/amber ales, so I endeavored to clone their example with this effort. Success! Dry-hopped with Cascade, the nose is Juicy-Fruit, floral, and not overpoweringly bitter like most pungent Seattle brews. I love the smell of hops, but in an ale they should be in balance with the fruity character of the yeast.

-1 oz. Munich
-1/2 lb. Crystal 80L
-1/2 lb. Carapils
- 3 lbs. Briess DME
-3.3 lbs. light Coopers LME
-1/2 oz. Columbus leaf hop (substituted for unavailable Centennial) (bittering)
-1 tsp. Irish moss
- 1.25 oz. Cascade pellet hops (aroma) at 2 min. left
-WLP 005 British Ale Yeast (fermented at 68 degrees)
-dry hopped with 1/2 oz. Cascade pellets for 14 days

Beautiful amber color, terrific floral hop aroma, nice mouth feel -- a perfect Northwest amber ale. My Father-in-Law calls the hop flavor "Ju-Ju-Bee", which is exactly the fruit character I wanted from the dry hopping. Used an old fridge with a digital temperature control to keep the wort at 68 -- controlled ferment seems to have made a huge difference in yeast flavor. Would definitely brew again -- a new favorite. Brewed March 2008.

I Curse Thor!

2008-09-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Lured again by the Teutonic siren call of Dunkelweisse, I venture back into the land of Hefeweizen brewing. Curses, you Weihenstephan yeast! Foiled again. I lament the waste of 8 oz. of German Munich Malt, 7 oz. Belgian Caramunich, 1 oz. British chocolate malt, 6 lbs. of Briess wheat DME, and 1 oz. of Tettnanger pellets. Fermented Wyeast 3638 at what I thought a respectable 68 degrees (the fool I am for following fermentation recommendations from the manufacturer!). Ayeeee! Hot phenols again! Hefes, you elude me!. Oye vay, down the drain! Brewed January 2008.

Molass-Anilla Porter

2008-09-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the cold dark Seattle nights, porters called to me, so I tried a hand at my own. Benjamin Franklin said that beer was proof that God loves us, and here was my confirmation.

-3.3 lbs. liquid dark malt extract
-3.3 lbs. amber
-1/2 lb. chocolate malt
-1/2 black patent malt
-1 cup organic blackstrap molasses
-3 tbl. Indonesian vanilla extract
-1 1/2 oz. Fuggles pellets (bittering)
-1 oz. Tettnager leaf (at 10 min. left in the boil)
-Whitelabs Irish Ale yeast
-1 1/4 cups DME

Let the ferment go naturally to 72 degrees. Franklin was right. Incredible molasses and vanilla flavor, clear dark appearance, huge cappuchino head. A Worthy Winter Warmer! Brewed November 2007.

Jacked-Apple Cider

2008-09-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

My neighbor's apple tree beckoned. Every day I would watch 2 pound braeburns fall to the ground unused -- I almost wept. He was never home, so I could never ask permission. Finally, the Midwest spendthrift in me couldn't take it anymore -- my girls and I took a wheelbarrow and a ladder, and liberated 120 lbs. Mother-in-law came over and we spent 4 1/2 hours juicing with two Olympic Juicers going full blast. Let the press sit on campden tablets for 24 hours, then filtered through a muslin bag and heated to 160 degrees with 2 lbs blackberry honey and 2 lbs. organic brown sugar. Ph tested at 3.8, so no need to balance. Added a little wine tannin for bite, and 2 oz. pectin for clarity. Pitched dry Champagne yeast. Beautiful clear golden cider, plenty of wonderful small bubbles, ended at an over-the-top 12% alcohol. Nice bright English-style dry cider. Incredible. Brewed October 2007.

Heavy Hefeweizen

2008-09-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hefeweizens are the reason I got into homebrewing, so for my first full extract, I tried my hand. Can you say rubber shoe? That's what it smelled like. Me and Weihenstephan Weizen Yeast (WLP 300 or Wyeast 3068) have an unfriendly relationship. Brewed this one too hot, and got lots of unpleasant phenols. Tried long conditioning, didn't help. Made with 3.3 lbs. of Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt, 3 lbs. Briess wheat DME, 12 oz. Crystal 10L, 2 oz. Hallertau pellet and 1 oz. Hallertau leaf hops. Very fun to watch ferment, as the wort circulated impressively like a thunderstorm. Brewed September 2007.

Erste Bier

2008-09-01T17:12:00.001-07:00

Like the title says, the first beer, and first beer label, that I made. Like most first-timers, it was made from a kit, and not very good. An American Wheat Beer, made with Thomas Coopers Wheat hopped concentrate, Munton's malt extract, and dry yeast. Flat taste and unimpressive. It's a wonder I didn't give up. Brewed July 2007