All posts by becausebeer

Batch #28 – ApfelWine

Batch# 28 – ApfelWine (AKA apfelwein)

Date Brew:12/04/2014 Rack:0/00/0000 Bottle:0/00/0000
Days 0 0 0

Recipe:

Here is EdWort’s recipe. It’s also mentioned here in popular mechanics?!

I don’t know much about how this recipe tastes, but I know that the forums seem to be going insane over it. The only way to find out is to brew some! It’s a pretty cheap and super easy recipe, so here goes nothing!

Goals:

Put something in the fermenter on a day that we were doing a double-batch bottle and some other housekeeping.

Continue reading Batch #28 – ApfelWine

Batch #25 – Pumpkin Porter

Batch# 25 – Pumpkin Porter

Date Brew:10/16/2014 Rack:none Bottle:12/1/2014
Days 0 0 47

Recipe:

Extract kit from strange brew. We waffled on adding the pumpkin, but ultimately decided to go for it.  The people at strange brew are super nice and they have an interesting stock of new and used kegging gear. I only wish they were closer to my house.

Goals:

After both of our houses flooded, we hadn’t brewed in a few months. We decided to start back up with a simple extract kit. This was also our first test of Ross’ Electric kettle.

Continue reading Batch #25 – Pumpkin Porter

The selfish gift guide for homebrewer’s wives.

disclaimer - not all brewers need to be men, and not all gift-givers need to be married. I just titled it that way to sound catchy :) If you are looking for homebrewer gifts for your significant other (who happens to be a woman) BUY HER EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST. You are in a relationship with a talented woman and you need to do everything you can to encourage her to continue being awesome!) Now, back to the list

So, you’re married to / dating a homebrewer?!

First off: you have my condolences. Sticky floors, steamy kitchens, and closet after closet of bubbling concoctions are a plague that many significant others have to deal with. This list is a sneaky thing, because it is entirely designed to show you how each “home brewing gift” specifically can give you back your kitchen, reduce their total brewing time, or get rid of those piles and piles of bottles. There are also a few general gift ideas thrown in at the end, just in case your little home brewer has been very, very good this year.

Making less mess

The single biggest complaint about homebrewers is making a mess in the kitchen. Brewing can be messy, and sometimes it’s better to focus on safety over spotlessness. The single easiest way to keep the kitten clean is to move the brew operation out of the kitchen! It will also give them more horsepower to get the temp up to boiling faster (and therefore cut down on total brew time.)

Here is a Blichmann outdoor propane burner – You could go with one of those cheaper turkey fryer ones, but you could also probably walk to work, right?

 

 


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Batch #23 – Hop Hammer

Batch# 23 – Hop Hammer

Date Brew:7/26/2014 Rack:0/00/0000 Bottle:0/00/0000
Days 0 0 0

Recipe:

Brewing Classic Styles, Hop Hammer. We previously brewed this in batch #15. This is our first re-brew of this recipe, but this time we are doing it as all-grain. I didn’t end up putting this recipe into beersmith because I was lazy.

Goals:

Recreate the big DIPA that we knew and loved last time around (, but with more complicated ingredients this time!)

Continue reading Batch #23 – Hop Hammer

Batch #22 – BYO SMaSH Citra IPA

Batch# 22 – SMaSH Citra IPA

Date Brew:7/22/2014 Rack:7/24/2014 ttle:7/25/2014
Days 0 22 23

Recipe:

BYO Magazine issue Vol 20, #4

PDF from Beersmith

If you don’t have a subscription to BYO, you should. They have great articles that apply to homebrew, and they don’t get overly bogged down in commercial beer stuff. I really look forward to every new issue.

BYO Magazine

Goals:

Work on a simple SMaSH IPA and better understand the flavor that the hop and malt provide.

Continue reading Batch #22 – BYO SMaSH Citra IPA

Considering buying a Beerbox?

Screen Shot 2014-07-10 at 4.19.11 PM

I fell down an internet wormhole recently and found myself looking at the Beerbox from Brewing Tools. It’s a ~2 gallon plastic keg that you can fit in your fridge and pressurize with a hand charger. For $199 you get a charger, 2 beer boxes, and some co2. Screen Shot 2014-07-10 at 4.18.52 PM

At first glance it seems like an easy way to get in to kegging, but not a particularly cheap way. The plastic (HDPE?) box will be difficult to sanitize, and it will definitely require replacement at some point. You probably can’t force carbonate in it, and those co2 cartridges are much more expensive than a bigger tank.
Continue reading Considering buying a Beerbox?

P.S.A. Beer in Freezer? Set a timer!

photo 1

On most brew days, Chris or I will pull out a beer or two and stick them in the freezer in order to chill them down quickly. Last time we seem to have forgotten about it for a bit too long, and it froze! I’ve seen 12 oz bottles freeze and start to leak from the cap a tiny bit, but this 22 absolutely BLEW UP.

So this is a friendly reminder to myself and others. If you’re going to freeze it – put a reminder timer on. I think this one exploded in less than 40 minutes. Such a sad day, and such a pain to clean!

photo 2 photo 3

Batch #21 – Mexican Lager

Batch# 21 – Mexican Lager

Date Brew:06/10/2014 Rack*:7/15/2014 Bottle:8/12/2014

Recipe:

Ken Lenard has been doing some interesting work on brewing up Mexican-style lagers (pacifico, imperial, corona, etc) over on his Blog. Here’s the page we got his recipe from.

Goals:

Make something light and very drinkable for summer. We will probably add fruit to at least half of this, if not all of it. Current considerations are watermelon,  strawberry, cherry, peach, raspberry, or citrus. This was our second BIAB batch, so we’re getting more all-grain practice.

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Homebrewers gift guide 2014

Homebrewers are easy to buy for, right?

Wrench Bottle Openermagnetic cap catcher and bottle openerbench capperbike 6 pack holderdual tap kegerator amazon

All we want is brewing gear! Well, that’s not so easy for someone who lives with/loves/is married to a brewer, but isn’t a brewer themselves. Also, some people have pretty bad cases of gear acquisition syndrome, and they shouldn’t really be given any more stainless steel tanks or kegerators. This list has lots of small things and big things, cheap things and expensive things. Regardless of if it is a birthday, christmas, or “just because,” these gifts will be sure to put a smile on your homebrewers face.

The list is roughly arranged in increasing value. Click on the headline type or the photo to link to the product.

Wrench bottle opener

Men love steel. I think most women homebrewers do as well. It’s practically required! Either way this is a fun and functional way to open up a bottle of beer.
Wrench Bottle Opener

Continue reading Homebrewers gift guide 2014