Lakefront IBA

Lakefront IBA
(10 gallons)
12/18/2011

1.5 lbs belgian caramunich
1.0 lbs belgian caravienne
1.0 lbs weyermann dehusked carafa II
0.25 lbs english chocolate malt

18.3 gold malt syrup

3.0 oz columbus (60 min)
1.33 oz cascade (20 min)
2.66 oz cascade (5 min)
1.0 oz centennial (dry)
2.0 oz cacade (dry)
1.0 oz columbus (dry)

yeast:
Safbrew US-05

Steep grains for 20 min @ 170
60 min boil

1.065 OG on 12/18

Cider

Cider
(10 Gallons)
11/6/11

Baldwin, Northern Spy, Golden Delicious,
Fuji, Refield, Black Oxford

Yeast:
Wyeast WLP775 English Cider Yeast
Coopers pure brewers yeast

1.045 OG on 11/6
1.016 keg 5 gallons on 11/13

Lambic

Lambic
(10 gallons)
10/30/11

6.0 lbs Belgian pils
4.0 lbs flakes wheat
6.3 lbs Pilsen malt syrup
1.0 lbs maltodextrin (10 min)

2.0 oz hersbrucker (in mash)

yeast:
Safbrew WB-05

Infusion mash at 150 for 60 min
60 min boil

1.045 OG on 10/30

Czek Republic Beer

Judy and I toured the Czech Republic for two weeks this summer and were delighted with the history, the food and the beer. It was, after all, about the beer. When we hinted that we liked beer to the person who was introducing us to her country for our self guided tour, she assured us we were in the right place. Her immediate comments was, "Drink the beer, it is cheaper than the (bottled) water." She also thought that the Czech's have come a long way since the fall of communism in 1989 but that there is still a lot of potential, and regarding Budweiser, "They stole our name including the style in which it is printed, but they didn't steal the beer. She was right about all three.

In the Czech Republic it is all about the Pilsner and Urquell rules for good cause. It is available and advertised everywhere. It is clear, crisp, thirst quenching with an appropriate amount of malt flavor, and cheap, as were most things (average price $1.75 per pint ). It was our favorite.

First brewed by Josef Groll in Pilsen on November 11, 1842, after locals dumped barrels of the dark bitter porter of the day onto the street as a protest. Using locally grown Saaz hops, fresh iron rich water and local barley, he produced the "first golden beer". It is still brewed with the same recipe in the same town, "pure original pilsner from Pilsen". Although we never made it to Mecca we turned west and said our prayers everyday.

Our beer adventure in CR, other than drinking a lot of Pilsner, was walking by and almost touring or trying to tour two breweries. I believe our experience would fall under the CR has a lot of potential, or do it in high tourist season.

Eggenburg Brewery in Cesky Krumlov.

While looking at their signs, one would

think that the Eggenburg Brewery has been in production since the 1560's. I think the facts are that beer has been produce in CK since that time, but a lot has changed through the past 500 years, including Nazi and communist control. The bottom line is that the brewery was privatized, the last time, in 1993. Since then the owner changed the name of the brewery to the original families name and has increased brewing. He has also added a US or German style large brew pub and has even added soft drinks to the production line. There production is mostly for consumption by the local communities.

We were there on a cool rainy day in September and after being used to eating local food in small restaurants were turned off by the feel of the large brew pub, and it was almost empty. The tours of the brewery were not in English and not convenient so we also passed on that. We did sit at the beer garden, however, with some locals, and the pictured bar fly to test some of their beer. Granted, we should have called ahead for a tour. The beer was not remarkable.

Bohemia Regent Brewery

The Regent Brewery was another example of "We should have called first". It was another rainy day when our tour took us through Trebon. We found the brewery easily, a massive old fortress/castle like structure, but it was not as easy to get in. There was some language problems when we tried to find out about tours, but the message was clear, "NO". Next we tried to get into the retail store. It was open 12:00 to 12:30, no kidding. People were lined up and bought their kegs and cases quickly. Again, there was a language problem and we only bought 2 bottles of beer, but we felt like we were in an old Motor Vehicle Registration office in the US. There were no smiles for the tourists. Apparently they have a large outside beer garden set up, but in September and in the rain it was closed.

Regent is promoted as one of the oldest continuously run breweries in Europe. Monks were brewing in Trebon in 1379. They say some of that original equipment is still being used. The current building was built for the brewery in 1712. The best part of the "tour", however, was the lunch in Trebon. We went into a small restaurant close to the brewery and hit the jackpot. We ended up sitting next to an English speaking older local women who filled us in. It was the place the older locals went for the special soups. I had already ordered baked carp, and Judy the apricot dumplings. The waiter heard us lamenting that we missed the potato leek soup, so he brought us a cup. The fish was boney but excellent, the dumpling were way too sweet for a main coarse, but delicious, and the soup was to die for. From then on we looked carefully at soups when we ordered. The beer was good, although I cannot be more specific, one of the best dark beers I had in the CR. I was having such a good time I asked the waiter if I could buy one of the Regent beer glasses from him. He told me to go to the retail store. It was 1:30.

Fresh Hop Ale 2011

10 gal all grain

brewed with Sunny Croft Hops (total harvest 2011 15 0z dry weight- 5 oz given to Gareth)

Grain Bill:

20# Maris Otter

1# Carapils

2# Crystal Malt medium

Hops:

8 oz 60 min

4 oz 30 min

4 oz 1 min

Safeale S-04

Single Infusion at 155 for 60 min

Boil 60 min

Put into two 5 gal carboys, one will get 1 oz hops into secondary

10/1/11 OG 1080

10/13/11 SG 1010

transfer to secondary, 1 oz hops added to one carboy

10/31/11 FG 1010 to kegs

Roggenbier

Roggenbier
(10 gallons)
9/11/2011

10.0 lbs weyermann rye malt
8.0 lbs german munich malt
4.0 lbs rahr 2-row pale
0.5 lbs weyermann chocolate wheat
0.5 lbs weyermann caramel wheat
0.5 lbs rice hulls

2.0 oz mt hood (60 min)

yeast:
Safbrew WB-06

Infusion mash at 150 for 60 min
60 min boil

1.044 OG on 9/11

Sunnycroft English Style Ale

1/2 lb Valley Malt (7 L) (organic Massachusetts malt)
1/4 lb Crystal 40

6.6 lbs Coopers Malt Extract Syrup

5 oz dried Sunnycroft Farm Cascade Hops (5-6%)

Wyeast 1028 London Ale

Pitched 9/11/11 OG 1.042
Secondary 10/2/11 SG 1.018
Kegged 11/9/2011 FG 1.016

Redbones Refuge From the Rain

We planned a walk during the two hours that were supposed to be dry but we had to abandon ship and take cover at our local!
Brooklyn Brown (2) for Sarah and Hofbrau Dunkel (2) for Gareth.

Great Barrington Brewery

English Ale (seasonal), Ice Glen IPA, Black Bear Stout, Harrington Brown (the English Ale probably got the highest ratings, although all of the beers were solidly drinkable!).

Saison

Saison
(10 gallons)
7/25/2011

9.0 lbs belgian pilsner malt
5.25 lbs german vienna malt
1.5 lbs torrefied wheat

2.0 oz east kent goldings (60 min)
0.5 oz styrian goldings (10 min)
0.5 oz saaz (10 min)
1.5 oz styrian goldings (2 min)
1.5 oz saaz (2 min)

yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Infusion mash at 150 for 60 min
60 min boil

1.036 OG on 7/25
1.012 secondary on 7/31
1.012 keg on 7/31

Black IPA

Black IPA
(10 gallons)
7/10/2011

23.0 lbs rahr 2-row pale malt
1.0 lbs briess caramel 80L
0.75 lbs weyermann dehusked carafa III
0.75 lbs simpson chocolate malt

2.0 oz summit (60 min)
2.0 oz chinook (15 min)
2.0 oz centential (10 min)
2.0 oz cascade (5 min)
2.0 oz centenial (0 min)

2.0 oz cascade dry hop

yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Infusion mash at 150 for 60 min
60 min boil

1.056 OG on 7/10
1.010 keg on 7/17
1.010 secondary on 7/17

Farmhouse Bière de Table

Farmhouse Bière de Table (recipe from Northern Brewer)

5 gallons extract

0.5 lbs Gambrinus Honey Malt

3.15 lbs Pilsen LME

3.15 lbs Pilsen LME (late addition for final 15 min. of boil)

1 oz Tradition @ 6.9% AA (60 min.)

Wyeast 3725 Bière de Garde

60 min boil

Pitched: OG 1.043 on June 26, 2011

Kegged: FG 1.004 on July 23, 2011

Notes:

I've never had a recipe before that called for adding fermentables late in the boil, and I'm not sure that I handled it perfectly. The recipe didn't mention anything about turning the brewpot off so I added the syrup straight in and stirred it but even in those few seconds it seems as though some scorching took place, so I hope that the taste impact isn't too significant though the colour is almost certainly going to be darker than intended. Other than that, this was a very easy recipe and the fermentation so far is excellent.

Saison

Saison
(10 gallons)
5/15/2011

17.5 lbs franco-belgs pilsner malt
1.25 lbs simsons golden naked oats
1.25 lbs weyermann aciduated malt
1.25 lbs belgian aromatic malt

1.0 oz styrian goldings (first wort)
1.0 oz columbus (60 min)
3.0 oz styrian goldings (0 min)

yeast:
wyeast 3522 belgian ardennes - plastic
whitelabs wlp550 belgian ale yeast - glass

Infusion mash at 150 for 60 min
60 min boil

1.060 OG on 5/15
1.015 secondary on 5/25

Bavarian Hefeweizen

Bavarian Hefeweizen (recipe from Northern Brewer)

5 gallons extract

6 lbs wheat LME

1 lb wheat DME

1 oz Tettnang @ 4.6% AA (60 min.)

Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat

60 min boil

Pitched: OG 1.060 on April 10, 2011

Secondary: SG 1.015 on May 2, 2011
Kegged: FG 1.014 on June 15, 2011

Notes:

By the morning after I pitched the yeast, there was lots of fermentation activity, as with the previous times I've brewed a hefeweizen: wonder what gets things going so quickly with this style?

Tasted delicious on transfer to secondary, hope it's as good at kegging time.

And I can confirm that it was great at kegging, although I did have a little trouble getting the keg to seal. It seems to be fine now that it has been pumped full of CO2. I'm waiting a week to test it!

Finally, a sample, which was delicious. It needs a tiny bit more carbonation, but summer's here.

Bavarian Dunkel

Bavarian Dunkel
5 gallons)
2/27/2011

1.0 lb dingermans caramunich

6.0 lbs munich malt syrup
1 lbs amber dry malt extract

1.0 oz tradition (60 min)

yeast:
wyeast 2308 munich lager

60 min boil

1.045 OG on 2/27
1.015 secondary on 3/15 (lagered in fridge at around 40)
1.015 keg on 4/21

Breakfast Stout

Breakfast Stout (recipe from Northern Brewer)

5 gallons extract

0.5 lbs Simpson's Roasted Barley

1.5 lbs flaked oats

3.5 lbs dark LME

1 lb lactose

1 oz Willamette @ 4.7% AA (60 min.)

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

60 min boil

Pitched: OG 1.035 on March 6, 2011

Competition Porter

St Paul Porter
(5 gallons)
1/23/2011

0.5 lbs simpsons chocolate
0.5 lbs simpsons dark crystal malt

6.0 lbs dark malt syrup
1 lbs dark dry malt extract

2.0 oz cluster (60 min)
1.0 oz cascade (1 min)

yeast:
wyeast 1026 british cask

60 min boil

1.050 OG on 1/23

1.018 keg on 2/20

Chinook IPA

Chinook IPA (recipe from Northern Brewer)

5 gallons extract

o.75 lbs Dingemans Caramel Pils

0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 120

6 lbs Pilsen LME

1 lb Pilsen DME

1 oz Chinook @ 11.2% AA (60 min.)

0.5 oz Chinook @ 11.2% AA (10 min.)

0.5 oz Chinook @ 11.2% AA (1 min.)

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

60 min boil

Pitched: OG 1.050 on January 1, 2011

Secondary: SG 1.018 on January 17, 2011 (plus 1 oz Chinook @ 11.2% AA dry hop on 1/22/2011)

Kegged: FG 1.014 on February 18, 2011