I started brewing all grain beer about a year ago and since then I have brewed 14 unique styles. In my inventory I have the last 10 that I have bottled. One is fermenting and the first three are long gone. Hefeweizen: I was commissioned to brew this for a birthday party for my great … [Read more…]
How could I not make a beer called chocolate hazelnut porter? From the Brewing Classic Styles: Grain Bill: 11.5 lbs Canadian 2-Row (1.5-2.1°L)1.5 lbs Munich (6-10°L)1 lb Crystal Light (40°L)1 lb Crystal Medium (75°L)0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (450-500°L)0.5 lb Black Malt [black patent] (500-600°L) Hops: 2 oz East Kent Goldings (3.4%) 2 oz Willamette (4.7%) … [Read more…]
This is my first real collaboration with another brewer. I was contacted by my brewing mentor a week ago to see if I would like to come brew 4 batches of beer to help use up 50 lbs of left over grain and some aging hops. I supplied the yeast and my brewing equipment so … [Read more…]
When I read that Russian River brewmaster had shared his recipe for Pliny the Elder, I had to try! Pliny is consistently a top rated beer (currently #7 overall at BeerAdvocate). Picked up the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, a must for home brewers. It becomes readily apparent that this is a robust brew considering … [Read more…]
As a beer aficionado, so far I have tended towards the British, Belgian and American ales (india pale ales, abbey ales, stouts, browns, etc.). The only German exceptions to this has really been the hefeweizen which is very pleasant in the summer and the bock (or doppelbock) which I rarely buy, but always enjoy. So, in … [Read more…]
A year ago, I tried my first Tool Shed beers: Star Cheek IPA, Red Rage Ale, and People Skills Cream Ale. I was immediately enamoured with the Star Cheek IPA which was a far more local, affordable, and high quality IPA compared to the west coast American IPAs I have learned to appreciate. Graham and … [Read more…]
The second of the two batches I brewed on November 10 was a Flanders Red Ale. The primary flavour profile of this type of beer is the yeast, but the grain selection adds a whole lot to the mouthfeel, colour, and aroma. I didn’t have a heatstick to raise temperatures, so I had to add … [Read more…]
In preparation for the two brews I did (check out Brew Six-B), I read up on advanced brewing in my handbook: The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. I have the 2nd edition (1991); the fourth came out this year. In it I gained a much deeper understanding of what happens during the … [Read more…]
Brewing an all-grain beer is so much more work than picking up a beer kit. So, the beer had better be that much better! I was commissioned to brew 2 batches of beer for my friend Anne. The first was brewed back in June, a hefeweizen which ended up getting contaminated with lactobacillus and having … [Read more…]
Flew into Victoria Int’l on Friday night after a delayed connection in Vancouver due to fog. The flight from Van was only 13 minutes. The delay was over an hour. I walked off the plane into a light mist and then to the bus stop where the bus rolls by once per hour. I had … [Read more…]