Category: Homebrew

Someone at BeerAdvocate.com pointed out this clone recipe for Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale:

Extract Recipe

All-Grain Recipe

Its in PDF format, and it looks like its worth a try. Thanks to MJR and AleKeep for the links.

I’m not planning on doing a lambic just yet, but I stumbled upon this site and decided to link to it for later use.

The lambic style is defined by its locational ties (Payottenland), and its spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast and bacteria. It uses aged hops ( 2-5 years), and there are now places to get yeast starters that don’t require you to culture all the necessary bacteria & yeast. Whew!

It should be noted that if you were to brew a lambic, it would be called a lambic-style, or plambic (pseudo-lambic).

My dad has joined a home brewing guild up at Holden Village. The Guild consists of maybe 10-15 amateur brewers who brew from kits from Northern Brewer. The Guild seems to be quite active, though I’m not sure about what materials and equipment they have at their disposal.

My dad’s first beer was a Nut Brown. It turned out better than my first batch, but was still a little green at the time I tried it. The guild members seem to do a good job because they pit their own beers against some micros in a blind taste-test, and prefered the guild beer over the micros.

Now one of the guild members has asked me to find a clone recipe for a Dutch beer, Texelse. No luck as of yet, and I can’t even seem to find a way to translate the page for any useful information. If you know dutch, or happen to know a clone recipe for one of their ales, please let me know.

Tapping Persuasion Pale number 2 today. It was popular with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law, so IÂ’ve made it to serve on Thanksgiving. IÂ’ve not tried it carbonated yet, but the warm beer had a very nice citrus boquet, with an almost SNPA taste. Lets hope its as good as the first batch, or my ass is grass. Well, not really.

I’ve got a carboy on the floor full of a neglected beer. Its developed a slight cap of mold on the top, but it still seems to taste good, and its at its target gravity. Is this mold a bad sign?

It was in Primary for 2-3 weeks, and Secondary for another 3. I’m not sure whether I should keg it, toss it, or bottle a couple. What’s the worst that could happen? A case of the skitters?

What would you do? Its an IPA. With a pretty high IBU. I guess I’ll just have to clean and sanitize all my vessels again.

I am half way through the production of a chocolate stout. So far it tastes good, and had a moderate Original Gravity (1.054). However, when I racked to my secondary fermentation carboy, I ended up leaving behind about 3/4 gallon of sediment and slurry. Normally I only have about an inch of sediment. Does this sound abnormal to anyone else? Would anyone have racked the sediment with the rest of the wort?

Of course my largest concern is that if it turns out really good, I will wish I had more than 4 gallons of it to drink.

Well this weekend I went a little crazy and decided to brew an Imperial IPA. I used 13.5 lbs of extract and a lot of hops (99IBUs). I used Galena and Cascade hops and decided that in secondary I will add some corainder and orange peels (really going for a citrusy flavor to overpower the alcohol – looks like it might be 9.2% ABV). Its bubbling away in primary, and I had to use a blow of tube rather than a typical airlock for fear of the airlock being blown off. I also kegged my Graduation Kolsch which will be drinkable in a couple weeks. Look for both recipes to be added shortly.

Sunday I kegged the 90 Schilling Scottish with 1 oz. of Cascade Hops for that extra fresh hoppiness. The beer was quite good on its own, but I want to try kegging with hops. I also brewed a batch of IPA using a slightly modified Yakima IPA recipe. Its in the recipes gallery. Added Biscuit for a slightly bolder malt taste.

I’ve managed to get most of the garlick smell off my hands, but its still wafting about the room as I type. I just finished making the marinade for some cheap steaks using my oatmeal stout. Its a simple recipe:

1. Stout Beer
2. 2-4 chopped garlic cloves
3. Olive Oil
4. Steak(s) of whatever quality you can afford.

Let it marinate for several hours, remove from marinade and grill. Serve with veggies, bread, and more stout.

Tonight Alan joined me to brew a Scottish style beer. Its somewhat similar to a standard Scottish 80 schilling, but with more hops. That’s right, more. Its the first time he’s brewed in such a rustic setting, as he’s previously brewed at Atomiq, which is currently closed. He’d like to start brewing, so I’m working on a beginners list of items. There were so many things I replaced from my original kit that I’d like to devise a new kit. It will be the best ever.