Naked Gold IPA

Most IPAs I do have the same basic grain bill: 10ish lbs of base malt, some British or germon base malt, some crystal, and then something different. This time I'm tossing in a pound of golden naked caracrytstal oats (hence the name). I also bought some palisades and falconer flight 7Cs hops. I'm not sure how those are going to go together but they're both NWie aromatic hops so they should complement each other well.
I picked up a couple different yeasts I've not used yet and am going to do 5 gallons with one and 5 with the other.

Ingredients (10 gallons)
Grain
22lbs GW NW Pale Malt
4lbs GW Munich (20L)
2lbs Wyermans Carahell
1lbs Simpsons Golden Naked Caracrytstal Oats

Hops:
3 oz CTZ @60
2 oz Chinook @40
2 oz Falconer Flight @15
2 oz Palisades @5

Yeast(s)
White labs 008 East Coast Ale Yeast
And
Wyeast 1882 Thames Valley II Yeast

Elysian The Wise ESB Clone

Just had this beer for the first time the other night and liked it (liked it enough to brew 10 gallons of it!)
Emilie and I got a pitcher of The Wise, but it ended up being less malty for her tastes; as a result, I had to attempt to take down the whole pitcher. I got close, but failed.

ingredients
Grain
21lbs GW Pale Malt
2lbs GW Crystal 80
2lbs GW Munich 20
1/2lbs Wyermans
4 oz Bairds Special B

Hops
1.4 oz Chinook @90
1 oz Cascade @2
1 oz Centennial @2
1 oz Cascade @0
1 oz Centennial @0

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056

Blueberry Steam Ale

I Have been brewing some old favorites lately and I don't see any reason to log beers unless I change the recipe.
That being said.....and don't mock me, I'm making a blueberry steam ale. Steam ales are lagers that are fermented at ale temps. But that's not the embarrassing part. I normally am not into fruity beers and I would have mocked someone for brewing a blueberry beer too, but I'm telling you this stuff is legit! I had it (alongside a peanut butter porter) at brewbrothers and I was blown away.

Grain:
5lbs GW 2row
2lbs GW Pilsen
3lbs GW Munich
1lbs Aromatic
(going from memory, I'm pretty sure I'm missing something)

Hops:
1.12 oz cascade @60
.2 oz cascade @0

Yeast:
Wyeast 2352 Munich lager II

Extra:
1/2 bottle blueberry syrup stuff in keg/secondary

New Homebrew Club

My buddies Andy (logosbrewing.blogspot.com), Scott (beansbrewhouse.blogspot.com) and I are starting a new homebrew club in SE Portland. All are welcome of course. It's called Cana Homebrew Club, we're going to meet on the first Saturday of the month at Andy's house. Come and learn, hang out, teach, chill, whatever.
The name derives from John chapter 2 where Jesus turns water into wine. The basic story is this:
Jesus is at a wedding in Cana, the wedding host runs out of wine and let's Jesus's mom know, who tells her son. Jesus has 6 huge water jars that were used for purification filled with water. When the host looks in them, the water has turned into wine. When the host try's the wine he says, and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now."
This may seem like a neat party trick (which it probably was), but I believe Jesus is declaring the new covenant (which is better than the old) in his blood is about to come. It's not a coincidence that Jesus used the purification jars. He did this to show that when the new covenant comes, which is by grace through faith in Christ, there will not be a need to continue to purify yourself each year, but that Jesus's blood will wash you clean forever.
Anyways, we want to have a club where people can learn to homebrew and, more importantly, find out about this covenant and to meet the real bridegroom who calls all to be apart of His wedding feast!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Randy

Falconers Flight Red IPA

Falconers Flight is:
"an exclusive proprietary hop blend comprised of many of the Northwest’s most unique hop varieties and is perfect for any Northwest-style IPA. Each hop has been hand selected for its superior aromatic qualities, imparting distinct tropical, citrus, floral, lemon and grapefruit tones."
I've had a couple IPAs that used FF, but I thought the hops were only sold to large breweries like simcoe and amarillo...well, I was wrong. Brew Brothers has a butt load of them.
Here's the recipe I threw together:

7 Gallon Batch
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2row
1 lbs Briess Caramunich 60
1 lbs GW crystal 40
.5 lbs GW crystal 120
.19 lbs Patagonia chocolate

Hops:
1.5 oz CTZ @60
1 oz Cascade (or chinook...it's 10% cascade)@15
1 oz Falconers @15
1 oz Falconers @0

Yeast
4 gallons with safale05
3 with WLP02 British ale

Alaskan Amber Clone

I haven't brewed in quite a while (for myself that is). I was up at my inlaws in Seattle area with out any homebrew, which isn't the best idea in the world. I headed to Safeway and picked up a 12 pack of Alaskan Amber for my father-inlaw and me. I haven't had an amber in years--choosing IPAs instead, but MAN that stuff is really good! I downed most of the 12 pack and made upy mind to brew it when I got back, so here I go.
Ingredients:
10lbs GW 2-row (up from 8 for gnarly sake)
1 lbs GW crystal 80
1/2 lbs GW crystal 40
1/2 lbs GW crystal 10
Hops:
1 oz cascade @60
1 oz saaz @15
Yeast
Wyeast 1007 German Ale

Notes:
Seriously the fastest brew day I've ever has! From water heating for strike water, to full clean up, it only took 3 hours. Stoked!
7-19-2011
Had a krausen explosion

Auntie Mollie Lager

My little sister is turning 21 next month and I'm brewing the beer for her party. When asked what she wanted, she said, "something that tastes like PBR." I refuse to brew something I don't like, so this will be my take on an American lager. We'll see how it turns out.

Ingredients
Grain:
8lbs gw 2row
.5 lbs maize

Hops:
.5 oz nugget @60
1.5 cascade @5

Yeast: WLP862 Cry Havoc (new one)

Extra: .5 lbs white sugar

Glitem Free Schmutem Free

My little sister is turning 21 and she wanted me to make the beer for party. Since she's a college student in Portland she's a hipster, and hipsters are all gluten-free because for some reason it's cool to not be able to eat stuff. If that's true I am the complete opposite of cool because I eat all stuff.
Ingredients:
6 lbs Rice syrup
2 lbs dark candi syrup
1 lbs flaked oats

Hops
1 oz Ctz @60
1 oz cascade @30
1 oz cascade @0

Yeast
Muttens

I had forgotten how easy
extract brewing is, I barely had to do anything

Pineapple IPA

Never tried anything like this, but I always thought pineapple or grapefruit would be really good in a mellow IPA. So here goes. I'm going to quarter the pineapple and add it to primary, or at least that's my plan.
Ingredients
Grain
11 lbs gw 2row
2 lbs gw Vienna
1 lbs gw Munich wheat

Hops
1 oz Ctz @60
1 oz chinook @20
1 oz cascade @0

Red Guy IPA

Addie named this one (red guy is the red muppet from sesame street). 110 IBUs
Ingredients
Grain
13 lbs gw 2row
1 lbs bries caracrystal wheat
.5 bries carapills
Hops
2 oz CTZ @60
2 oz centennial @45
2 oz cascade @25
4 oz cascade @0

Coconut Brown

Emilie had Kona's coconut brown and liked it enough for me to try and clone it. Here's my shot at it (grain ingredients were taken odd Internet)

Grain
9 lbs GW 2row
1 lbs GW crystal 60
.5 GW chocolate
.5 breis carapills
.5 GW flaked oats
.31 black patent

Hops:
1 oz cascade @60
1 oz cascade @30
1 oz cascade @0

Extra: in primary
1 lbs toasted coconut flakes in (toasted @ 400 for enough time to make the kids say, "is mommy making muffins?")
1 oz coconut extract

Safale 04 yeast

Sky Guy SMASH

Theres sort of an argument what a SMASH is, some say it's a Single Malt And Single Hop, while some say it's a Sour MASH. I'm certainly not the one to argue semantics or make any decisions. This brew is both a sour mash and a single malt single hop, so I guess it is really a SMASH.
I soured the mash by mashing and sparging on a Saturday then letting the wort sit until Wednesday. Slight sour taste in the ore boiled wort. Last time I did a Sourmash I let the mash sit out in the grain for two days. It was way too sour. The reaction? To quote Andy Shaw, "it tastes like catfish bait."
Mmmmmm

ingredients
Grain
13 lbs GW 2row

Hops
2 oz cascade @60
2.5 oz cascade @5

Yeast
1084 Irish ale

Notes:

Rainbow Dash Barleywine

I really need to stop letting my daughters name the beers I make...

Grain
16 lbs gw 2row
1 lbs briess carapils
1 lbs gw crystal 80
2 lbs of sugar

Hops (boiled for 90 min)
2.5 oz ctz @60
1.5 (super 10%) cascade @45
3 oz cascade @5

Yeast
1968 London esb

Boiled for 90 min and yielded 4.5 gallons of 1.12 wort.
Then I let 4.5 gallons of 170* water sit in the "spent" grain for 25 minutes and boiled that for 45 minutes, adding .5 oz galena @45, .5 oz summit @30, and 1 oz hallertau @10. Yielded 3.75 gallons of 1.048 wort

Total domination IPA 2.0

Ingredients:
Grain:
11.5 lbs GW 2-Row
1.6 lbs GW Munich
0.8 briess Carahell

Hops:
1oz Summit @60m
.5oz Summit @30m
1oz Cascade @5m
1oz Crystal @1m

Dry Hops:
1oz Crystal for 14 days
1oz Cascade for 14 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 Slurry

Notes:

Christians and Alcohol: A Response

Pastor John MacArthur of grace to You Ministries recently preached a sermon entitled: Christians and Alcohol. In it he extolled believers that getting drunk is sinful, that anyone who would choose to be drunk is counter to the Holy Spirit's moving in their life. Here, here Mr. MacArthur.
He went on; however, to explain the differences between what we have now and the wine, or oinos, consumed by believers in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
His main arguments was that the wine in the New Testament and the Old Testament was either mixed somewhere between 4-1 to 20-1 water to wine, or boiled into a pace, or jelly, then applied and eaten on bread, therefore it is vastly different than the high alcohol wine that we have today that is in endless supply. In response to his main point: the Bible, as MacArther pointed out, is crystal clear that you cannot get drunk with wine or it is a sin. I guess I don't understand how the Bible says

"Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
In the end it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter perverse things.
You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
"They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink." (Proverbs 23:31-35 ESV)

If this wine that Proverbs is speaking of here is simply a jelly eaten with bread or wine that has been mixed down so much so that it is basically Welches grape juice, how could one be beaten and not feel it? How often do you drink eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and see strange things?

MacArthur also pointed out that their are a multitude of words used in the Old and New Testament that take on different meanings in our present day. His example was slavery. Slavery in the Old Testament and New Testament was a way for poor people to survive, which of course is different than how we view slavery. And how there are a lot of younger reformed pastors who wear a badge of drinking on their chest and who tell their congregations to go and drink (He specifically mentioned Mark Driscoll, who recently publicly repented for not drinking earlier as he was being legalistic). He cited their arguments that alcohol like food, if consumed in moderation is within a Christians freedom to do. MacArther rebutted their point saying: no one I know has ever driven off a cliff after having eaten one too many tacos, or no one has ever killed somebody with their car because of eaten too many cheeseburgers, and no one he knows has ever raped someone because he's eaten too much.
This, of course is a logical fallacy. The sin and aftermath of being drunk is not like the sin and aftermath math of gluttony. Nor is the sin aftermath of being drunk at the same as the sin and aftermath of lying. Using MacArthurs same reasoning no one has ever lied because he's eaten too many tacos or killed or committed idolatry, so does that make any of those sins less damning then drunkenness? No. All sins are damning all sins separate us from the love of Christ.
Using another categorical fallacy and flat out being mean, MacArther ended that section by saying these pastors might as well tell their congregants to go have slaves.

I'm sorry Mr. MacArther I just don't see where you are coming from. I enjoy that you care for the Bible, I respect how much you know about the Bible, but I do not see here why you are misconstruing biblical principles and otherwise ignoring what the Bible says regarding alcohol.
No legitimate Bible believer thinks it okay to be drunk. But to make the increadable and unbiblical jump is simply irresponsible. The facts are these. God gave us the fruit of the vine to enjoy, Jesus made a crap load of wine for a wedding, and we will drunk the fruit of the vine anew in the kingdom.

Biscuit ESB

I went to a new brewery a couple of months ago called Coalition Brewing, they have a really good ESB that has a lot of biscuit in it. I really liked it and I wanted to try To make it myself, the brewery is really nice about letting you have their recipes but I wanted to try it myself.
I think I got the grains pretty close but the hops were a complete guess. I use the rest of my fresh hop cascade so don't freak out when or if you read this and you see a lot of hops at the end.

Ingredients:
9 lbs gw 2row
2.5 lbs biscuit
1 lbs gw red wheat
0.5 lbs gw crystal 60

Hops:
1.1 CTZ @60
15 oz cascade

Yeast
Safale 04

Te-Boner IPA

This is (sort of) the same Workhorse clone recipe as before, but I watched Timmy Tebro as I brewed (sorry for the crude name, but come on...how awesome is that guy?) so I dedicated the batch to him. First time brewing with my new quick disconnects from bargainfittings.com. I also got two more taps from kegco through amazon.com.

Since amarillo is no longer available I decided to go with citra, they're pretty similar so I think it'll taste the same. Also, I upped the base grain by a pound. Aside from that, everything's the same.

Ingredients:
Grain:
Ingredients:
Grain:
 14.5 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Crystal 40L
1 lbs Carapils


Hops:
1.5 oz Columbus @ 60
1.5 oz Citra @20
1 oz Cascade @5
1.5 oz Northern Brewer @0
.5 oz Columbus Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Citra Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Northern Brewer Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped for 7 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Water:
5.3 Gallons strike @ 165
3 Gallons batch sparge @175

Extra:
Whirfloc Tablet @20
Yeast Nutrient @20
Notes:

1-8-2012--I really like my quick disconnects. Super glad I shelled out the money for these things. No more switching hoses or tightening hose clamps. Gravity came in at right around 1.070.

Holy Cow, I'm Famous!

The craziest thing happened to me the other day when I was at the brew store: I was hanging out drinking a sampler or two (read: three or four) and chatting with the other brewers. I asked this guy, Ben or Dave or Dan i can't remember, what he was brewing. He said he was brewing a Workhorse clone. As irony would have it, so was I. He went on to say he got the recipe for a guys blog that called the brewer for the recipe. Weird, I said, I called the brewer for the recipe. He said, yeah the guy posts all his recipes on his blog. Weird, I said, I post all my recipes on my blog, Is it poorhouse brewing? It is, Ben or Dave or Dan said. THAT'S ME I shouted (remeber the five or six samplers?)
So anyways. I'm famous. You're lucky to know me if you do that way if someone ever asks you the most famous person you know, you'll have a good answer. Too bad I screwed up my google ads account or I could get some cash off this here blog.

Widmer Snowplow Clone

So...when I was in college, Widmer made an amazing beer around christmas time called Snowplow. It was freaking awesome. Then, for some unknown reason, they decided to discontinue the Snowplow and make a beer called Brrrr. Brrrr's not awful, but it's no Snowplow. On a side not, I had a friend that tried to tell me that the only difference between Snowplow (a dark malty beer) and Brrrr (a pale, spiced winter ale) is that the brewers add candy canes to the Brrrr....what a moron. Anywho, here's how I did a Snowplow clone:

Ingredients:
Grain:
7 lbs GW 2-row
2.1 lbs Briess Carapills
2.1 lbs GW crystal 60
2 lbs Red Wheat
1 lbs Flaked Oats
0.8 lbs Roasted Barley
0.4 lbs Patagonia Black

Hops:
0.5 oz CTZ @60
0.5 oz Cascade @5

Extras:
1 lbs Lactose @20 min.

Im back baby!

I took a break from the blog (reasons unknown) but I'm back and ready to brew. While I was gone I brewed a honey ale, an IPA, and a stout. Later today I'm brewing a Snowplow clone.

Reformation Day Pumpkin Ale

Halloween's coming up...I mean Harvest Day...I mean Reformation Day and Emilie has requested a pumpkin ale. Being the super masculine, ridiculously awesome, provider type I obliged. I'm bottling this half batch because Emilie never really drinks the beers she requests and I don't think I like pumpkins interfering with my beer. We'll see.

Ingredients:
Fermentables:
5 lbs GW 2-row
0.5 lbs GW crystal 60
0.5 lbs Briess Special Roast
1 medium sized pumpkin cooked at 400 for 60 minutes mashed in

Hops:
0.5 oz Hallertau @60
0.5 oz Hallertau @5

Extras:
0.5 lbs Brown Sugar @20
3/4 Tbs pumpkin pie spice @20 (That Emilie made...I think it's allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
Yeast Nutrient @15
Whirfloc @15


Water:
2.5 gallons strike @163
Collected 1.5 gallons
2.5 gallons sparge @173
Collected 2.25 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast 1272 American Ale II

Notes:
10-22-2011--Brewed in around 4 hours, but about 30 minutes too long (screaming kid and a wife that left). No recirculation due to the half batch. Gravity was around 1.050+ but the bubbles in the wort made it so I couldn't get an accurate reading.
10-29-2011--Bottled. Gravity down to 1.010.

Hop in the Dark

Ingredients-

Grain:
20 lbs 2 Row Pale Malt
4 lbs Munich Malt
2 lbs 8 oz Flaked Oats
12 oz Crystal 120L
8 oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz Chocolate Wheat
4 oz Black Barley
10 oz Dark Belgian Candy

Hops: (all whole hops unless otherwise noted)
4 oz Nugget @ 60 (pellet)
2 oz Northern Brewer @ 60
2 oz Centennial @ 30
2 oz Cascade @ 15
2 oz Simcoe @ 1

Yeast:
Safale 04




Water:
9 gallons of strike @163
Collected
8 gallons of strike @172
Collected 2 gallons off the top and recirculated for 15 minutes with the rest.

Notes:
10-15-2011--
Brewed with my new recirculating pump that I got at the ReShop and it worked really well. Brewed at double batch at Scott's and we split it. Ended at 1.065, I pitched the Safale 04 and Scott pitched 1056.
10-25-2011--Gravity's down to 1.014. Time to keg.
10-29-2011--Kegged

Rye Ale Redo

Back in July, Scott and I brewed a rye ale that was supposed to be 10 gallons of a rye IPA, but we forgot to double the hops from a 5 gallons recipe...anyhoo, I wasn't too fond of it and I didn't want it to sit in a keg forevs so I bottled 2 gallons of it and soured the other 2-3 gallons. I pitched a wyeast pack of 3278, Lambic Blend and I'm gonna sit on it for 4-6 months.
I tossed in the yeast around 2 weeks ago, so I'll start the notes then.

Notes:
9-30-2011--Pitched yeast
10-9-2011--Tons of lambic "spiders webs" yeasty beasties building up. I took a sample, not very sour yet.

10-29-2011--Bottled.

Fresno Lager

It's getting cold out side which means....lager time. I scored 10 lbs of cascade (my favorite hop) so I decided to dry hop the crap out of this lager. We'll see. I'm using a new (to me) yeast, California Lager, and I'm naming this one after my birthplace. I'm going to probably rack this a couple times to insure clarity.

Ingredients:

Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row
0.75 lbs GW Crystal 60 (I meant to get 40, but I grabbed the wrong one)

Hops:
1.3 oz Nugget @60
1 oz Cascade @0
5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped in fermenter for 14-21 days

Water:
4 gallons strike @165
Collected just over 2 gallons
4 gallons sparge--2 for 10 minutes and dumped into the kettle, 2 recirculated for 15ish minutes.
Collected another 3.75 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast California Lager 2112

Extra:
Yeast Nutrient @ 15

Notes:

10-8-2011--Built a new sparge system (see pic) and it worked great! I also picked up another pump at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $3.75! It can handle liquid up to 190* so I'm going to use it for the recirculated and my Chugger for cooling. Ended up with about 4.75 gallons of 1.062 wort.

$9 Ale

I haven't brewed since the big 50 gallon brew weekend because I haven't had any kegs open. I'm calling this $9 ale because I used my home grown hops. I'm not really sure how hoppy it's going to be--they say wet hops are 5 times heavier then dried. I tried to dry them, but it didn't work very well. By the way, Poor Blend are the hops that, when I was trying to dry them, blew all over my yard. Anyhoo...here it is.

Ingredients:
Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Crystal 80
1 lbs GW Munich
1 lbs Briess Red Wheat

Hops:
2.5 oz  (semi-wet) Poor Blend @60
5 oz (semi-wet) Cascade @15
5 oz (semi-wet) Brewer's Gold @0

Extras:
Cap full of yeast nutrient @0

Water:
4 gallons of strike @ 165--> 158-->153
Collected 3.25 gallons
4 gallons of sparge @172
Collected 1 gallon off the top
Recirculated the rest for 10 minutes
Collected just under 3 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Notes:
10-1-2011--Pretty aggressive boil since I stated with 7 and a quarter gallons, still ended with over 5.5 gallons. Good brew day. I need to nail down my re-circulation process. Right now it's pretty janky and takes a lot of my attention. I'm going to try and get some quick disconnects, but they're kinda spendy.
10-4-2011--Krausen explosion!

Hop Harvest '11

Much better harvest than last year. As an added bonus, I found some slave labor to do most of the work. Life's good with a full quiver!!!

Bear Republic Red Rocket Clone

For our 8th anniversary, Emilie bought me a couple 22s, one of which was Red Rocket. It's another great beer from Bear Republic. I'm sure hope no one reads this blog, because I'm going to have to admit that Northern California just might have better beer than good ol' Or-y-gun. Not just might....they do: Bear Republic, Russian River, 21st Amendment, Lagunitas, Mendocino Brewing, Napa Smith, Firestone Walker, and Sierra Nevada--FRIG! Anyways, here's the description of the Red Rocket (Don't judge me, but I wonder if they meant anything phallic by the name. I'm not a gay or anything, but that name sure makes me think of a redheaded dude's....enough said). 
"Red Rocket Ale is a bastardized [oooooooo they said a swear word, they're soooo cool!] Schottish style red ale that traces it's origins to our homebrew roots. This full bodied and hoppy brew finishes on the palate with sweet, caramel malt flavors."


Jamil's recipe
Ingredients
Grain:
13 lbs GW 2-row (up from 12.4)
1 lbs GW Munich 10L
1 lbs Maltextro Carmel 38
0.5 lbs Briess Victory 
0.5 lbs GW Crystal 120
0.188 lbs Maltextro Chocolate


Hops:
1 oz Millennium @80
1 oz Cascade @ 10
1 oz CTZ @10
1 oz Cascade @ 0
1 oz CTZ @ 0


Extras:
I keep forgetting to add the yeast nutrient. I gotta remember next time


Water:
5 gallons strike @ 164
Collected 3.75 gallons
3.8 gallons sparge @ 175
~1.8 gallons runoff 
Collected 1.8 gallons
~2 gallons of recirculated (that's right...I got a pump!)
Collected 1.9 gallons


Notes:
8-26-2011--Well the pump worked freaking awesome! I was able to recirculate with the extra sparge water and didn't have to hork the boil kettle up to the 2nd tier. The only down side is, the pump shoots out so much liquid that I had to run it through the chiller twice. Small price to pay for not having to get hernia surgery. I must have had a really aggressive boil because I started with 7.5 gallons, boiled for 80 minutes, and ended with 4 gallons of 1.082 gravity. Anyways, I added a gallon of water to get the gravity to the recommended 1.066 (it actually was 1.070, but i don't think it'll get down to 1.011 like Jamil said).
9-3-2011--Gravity down to 1.018 so it should be right on target. Sample wasn't as hoppy as I was hoping, but we'll see. Kegged.
10-20-2011--Good red, not as hoppy as the Red Rocket though, but good.

Unemployed Artist IPA

I made up this recipe while tasting some malts I'd never used at brewbrothers. We'll see how it turns out.

Ingredients
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2row
3 lbs Bairds Marris Otter
1lbs MFB Kiln Amber
0.7 lbs Crisp Crystal Dark 77L
0.5 lbs Briess Carapils

Hops:
1 oz Nugget @ 60
1.5 oz Centennial @35
1 oz Cascade @15
1.5 oz Simcoe @3
0.5 oz Centennial dry hopped for 10 days
0.5 oz Cascade dry hopped for 10 days
0.5 oz Simcoe dry hopped for 10 days

Water:
4 gallons strike @165 for 60 min
1 gallon mash out @212 for 30 min
4 gallon double batch sparge @171

Notes:
8-10-2011--Brewing went fine, the kiln amber smells really nice. Gravity at 1.079
10-11-2011--Yummy. Bright grapefruity-simcoe taste.

Rye IPA the revenge

Emilie bought me a HUGE beer mug. That's my iPhone case next to the glass

Since this was accidently messed up when Scott and I brewed it, I thought it was only fitting that once a fermenter opened up (I kegged the 50 gallons in my garage), I give it another go.


Ingredients:
Grain:
11 lbs GW 2row
3 lbs GW Rye
2 lbs GW Munich 10L
2 lbs GW Crystal 15L
1 lbs Briess Red Wheat
0.5 lbs Grain Millers Flaked Wheat

Hops:
1.5 oz Chinook @ 60
1.5 oz Chinook @ 40
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 20
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 5
1.5 oz Simcoe Dry Hopped.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056


Water:
4.2 gallons strike @ 162
Collected 2 gallons
4.3 gallons sparge @170
Collected 2 gallons on the first half and 2 gallons on the double batch


Notes:
7-28-2011--Small stuck mash. I redid my mash strainer and am going to rig something up to not have this happen again. OG was just under 1.090.
8-3-2011--Gravity at 1.011 and tasting great. I need to get to drinking to empty a keg. What a wonderful predicament.

Freaking Nuts IPA

Again, Scott brewed this one. We're not sure what hops were used when, nor do we know how much was used. We went a little nuts here (hence the name).
Ingredients:
Grain:
32 lbs GW 2row
3 lbs Briess Carapils
2 lbs GW Crystal 40

Hops: (again, total guess)
2 oz Millennium @120
2 oz Millennium @90
8 oz Mystery Hops (home grown in Scott's yard) @60
6 oz Mystery Hops @ 40
5 oz Willamette @30
2 oz Cascade @15
3 oz Willamette @0

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Notes:
7-4-2011--Gravity at 1.094.
7-27-2011--Kegged in two cornies. Gravity down to 1.019. I'm going to force carb both cornies and start drinking on one, for quality control purposes.
8-3-2011--Holy crap. Holy freaking crap.

Rye IPA 1.2

Scott brewed this but it was part of the epic 50 gallon brew weekend at my place :)

Ingredients:
Grain:
22 lbs GW 2row
6 lbs GW Rye
4 lbs GW Munich 10L
2 lbs Briess Red Wheat
1 lbs Grain Millers Flaked Wheat

Hops:
1.5 oz Chinook @ 60
1.5 oz Chinook @ 40
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 20
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 5
1.5 oz Simcoe Dry Hopped.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056

Notes:
7-4-2011--Gravity at 1.074.
7-6-2011--Realized that we didn't do the right amount of hops for a 10 gallon batch, we used the 5 gallon amount. Lame.
7-13-2011--Gravity down to 1.021
7-26-2011--Kegged.

Paul's Stout

Batch #2
Ingredients
Grain
14 lbs GW 2row
2 lbs Maltextro Black Malt
2 lbs Briess Roasted Barley
1 lbs GW Crystal 30
1 lbs GW Crystal 120
1 lbs Maltextro Dark Chocolate

Hops:
.7 oz Millennium @60
1 oz Cascade @20
1 oz Cascade @5

Yeast:
Pacman Slurry

Notes:
7-4-2011--Everything went smoothly, gravity came out to 1.052.
7-6-2011--Gravity's already down to 1.012
7-11-2011--Gravity still at 1.012, kegged.

Last Red Cent Imperial NW Red Ale 2.3

Same recipe as before, except I bumped up the first hop addition. This was the first of a 45 gallon brew day.

Ingredients:
25 lbs GW 2-row
4 lbs GW Light Munich
1 lbs GW Crystal 30
1 lbs GW Crystal 50-60
1 lbs GW Crystal 120
0.5 lbs Simpsons Pale Chocolate

Hops:
3 oz Millennium @60
2 oz Nugget @30
1 oz Cascade @10
1 oz Cascade @0

Yeast:
Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 yeast slurry

Notes:
7-4-2011--Stuck mash. But I ended up with really good efficiency. Gravity ended up to be 1.080
7-13-2011--Gravity at 1.010. I need some kegs to open up fo' real!
7-26-2011--Kegged.

God Judge America Pale Ale

Scott and I are gearing up for a 40 gallon brew day for the 4th of July. What better way to get ready, then to brew early? We decided to do a pale ale so we adapted Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. If you're wondering what's up with the name, I got into an argument with a friend the other day as to whether God has blessed America or if he is storing up wrath on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. You'll never guess which side I'm on. Anyways, that and that it's almost America's birthday is the reason for the beer's name.

Ingredients:
Grain:
11.4 lbs GW 2-row
1.2 lbs GW Crystal 60

Hops:
.8 oz Milenium @60
.6 oz Chinook @30
1 oz Cascade @3
4 oz Willamette dry hopped 10 days

Yeast:
WLP 051 California V Ale slurry

Water:
4 gallons strike @ 162
Collected 2.25 gallons
4 gallons double batch sparge @170
Collected 1.25 gallons first sparge, 2.6 second sparge, then recirculated 3 times

Extra:
Whirfloc @20
Yeast Nutrient @20

Notes:
7-2-2011--I caved in and changed my sparge technique under Scott's recommendation. I used to heat my sparge water up to 180+ and recirculate (empty the sparge water and dump it back in again). I guess a true double batch sparge is sparging with half the water, dumping that in the kettle, then sparge the rest. I worked out well. Efficiency was around 80%.
7-17-2011--Bottled. FG was around 1.015+
8-1-2011--Had my first pint. Really, really tasty. Sort of a carmelly-hoppiness with a smooth finish. Yummy fo sho!

Jockey Box Build (and use)

Camping season in upon us my friends. And what is camping without beer? More than that, what is camping if you have to bring a crap load of growlers or bottles? Even more than that, who wants to bring a keg of homebrew and drink it warm? Not me.
The answer? Jockey Box.
The essential premise is kinda like a counter flow chiller, but colder. Beer goes in warm and comes out cold. And again, I don't actually want to spend good money on things like this. Dude, 350 bucks for that? I set out to spend less than $10. The picnic tap was $4 and the quick release was $5.95, so I had to call on some friends for the rest of the stuff :) My buddy Jon had an extra cooler and my buddy Andy had the coil. Throw in some spare line and BAM!,!, camping bliss.
Here's the finish product and a picture of it in action. 

Emilie Cider

6-26-2011--Made a cider for the wife. 4 gallons apple juice, a cup of sugar, and a packet of champagne yeast.
7-2-2011--Bottled.

You Bug Me!

My first shot using Brettanomyces. Everyone is mocking me because sour/bug beers are lame, I beg to differ. I'm using a basic amber ale recipe, fermenting in ale yeast, then gonna leave it in fermentation for 3-6 months with the brett.
Ingredients:
Grain:
7 lbs GW 2row
.75 lbs GW Crystal 60
.50 lbs Castle Special B

Hops:
1 oz Nugget @45
.5 oz Willamette @ 20
1 oz Willamette @1

Water:
2.9 gallons strike @ 165
1 gallon sparge @ 190

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB for the first 10 days
White Labs 645 Brettanomyces claussenii for 3-6 months

Notes:
6-22-2011--Well, I went to brewbrothers today and they were suuuuper busy putting stock away. I took that as an indication that they wanted me to weigh my grains and serve myself (just another reason I love going to brew bros). I brewed the next day and was pouring the grain into the mash when I realized I forgot to mill it. Lame. I went back and we tried to mill it semi-wet. That didn't work. I bought more grain, brewed, and everything turned out fine.
7-2-2011--Racked to sour bucket and pitched the brett with 10 oz of granulated sugar to sit and ferment/sour for 4-6 months.
8-1-2011--The whole 4-6 months was a pipe dream. Bottled today. Tasted...well, not good. We'll see how it conditions in the bottle

PoorHaus Dopplebock

I've wanted to do a bock forevs, but I never wanted to pony up for the German grain or buy a new yeast. I currently have like 80lbs of 2row on my ledger, so I decided to do an German/American Bock. But...why do a bock, when you can do dopplebock? I mean, there's really only two things better than beer: more beer, and beer that's higher in alcohol percentage. Now I know you'll probably throw the whole "hanging out with your wife" or "seeing your kids grow up" or something like that back in my face, but come on. This is beer we're talking about. Big, bold, two-pints-will-make-you-more-tipsy-than-is-Godly, German BEER!
Ingredients:
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2-row
1.75 lbs GW Munich 10L
1.75 lbs GW Pilsen
1 lbs GW Vienna
.25 Crisp Pale Chocolate

Hops:
0.5 oz Tettnanger @60
0.5 oz Saaz @0

Yeast:
WhiteLabs 833 German Bock Lager starter made around 18 hours prior

Water:
6.7 gallons @170
Collected 4.2 gallons
2.3 gallons @197
Collected 2.6 gallons

Extras:
Whirfloc tablet @20
Yeast Nutrient @20
0.5 lbs Rice Hulls

Notes:
6-17-2011--I usually cool the yeast starter in the freezer, well last night I forgot it was in there and fell asleep. I'll let the yeast propagate before I pitch. Maybe tomorrow. Ended with just about 6 gallons of 1.074 wort.
6-28-2011--Gravity down to 1.029. A week or two more.
7-2-2011--Kegged. I'll "lager" until a tap opens up. Man, lagar yeast STINKS!
7-11-2011--Took my first half pint. Tastes really German-yeast-fruity.

Racer 5 Clone 1.2

Which one's which?

It's funny. If you google "Racer 5 Clone" my post is the 3rd hit on the list. That means a crap load of people have seen my first attempt at a Racer 5 clone. Also, when I look at how people have come to see my blog, most of the time it's through searching for a Racer 5 Clone. It's funny because my first attempt at a Racer 5 clone kinda sucked. I think it was my 3rd or 4th attempt at all grain brewing, and I was drinking a bunch when I brewed it. Plus, now that I'm soooo experienced (I'm such a dork) I feel I owe it to the blogasphere to try again.
This is a 10 gallon batch. Half for me and half for a friend.
Ingredients:
Grain:
22.5 lbs GW 2-row
3.2 lbs Red Wheat
1.26 lbs GW Crystal 15
0.5 lbs Briess Carapills

Hops:
3 oz Chinook @ 90 min
3.5 oz Cascade @ 60
0.6 oz Galena dry hopped 10 days
0.6 oz Chinook dry hopped 10 days
0.6 oz Cascade dry hopped 10 days
0.6 oz Simcoe dry hopped 10 days

Water:
10.3 gallons strike @170
Collected 6.25 gallons
5.7 gallons sparge @ 185
Collected 5.5 gallons

Yeast:
WLP051 California V Ale in 5 gallons
Wyeast 1968 London ESB in 5 gallons

Extras:
Whirfloc @20
Yeast nutrient @20

Notes:
6-15-2011--The recipe from BYO calls for 1 oz of chinook @ 90 and 3 oz of cascade @ 60, but that only gives you an IBU of 48. I upped both because Bear Republic's website says the IBU is 75+. Finished with 5 gallons in one fermenter, 4.3 in the other due to a semi stuck mash. Very aggressive boil. Gravity at 1.072
6-27-2011--Kegged mine and bottled Ben's. My FG was a right on target 1.020 using the Cali V yeast, Ben's was 1.010 using the London ESB. Crazy.
6-29-2011--Did a side-by-side taste testing (see pic). Appearance: Mine's a little cloudier (first pint?) and a little darker (red wheat instead of regular wheat?). Aroma: Both smell wonderful, almost identical. Taste: Mine's a little more bitter, but that'll calm down in a couple days (again first pint). Overall, mine is really similar. I'm glad I upped the 90min and 60 min hop addition; I think BYO is definitely wrong. When I do it again, I'll go a tad less on those hop additions, but not much less. Great beer!

Summery Bullcrap

A coworker ask me to brew him and his girlfriend, "something summery, not too hoppy." My buddy Scott and I have talked about opening a brewpub but this is one of my hold ups. Scott thinks we'd need some lighter beer because when he and his wife go out, she likes having a beer, but she doesn't like hoppy/hardcore beers. This happens with Emilie and I too. So they end up only being able to go to pubs that can satisfy both their tastes. Now, I'm not sure if anyone who reads this blog (pffff, like anyone reads this) has ever seen the Seinfeld episode where George (Larry David) and Jerry are meeting with the NBC executives to pitch the pilot they're writing, but George flips out because they're messing with his "artistic integrity?" Thats sort of the same thing I feel about brewing some light bullcrap. I refuse to brew anything don't like. Most people will argue, that's how you make money....ARTISTIC INTEGRITY JERRY!
Anyways, when my coworker asked me to brew this, I told him I would, but I was going to make something that I liked. I hope he does too.

Ingredients:
Grain:
8.5 lbs GW 2row
1.5 lbs GW Vienna
.75 lbs GW Crystal 70
.50 lbs Briess Carapils
.15 lbs Maltextro Chocolate

Hops:
.8 oz Melinium @60
1 oz Cascade @ 25
1 oz Hallertau @0

Yeast:
Wyeast American II 1332

Water:
4.8 gallons strike @ 170
Collected 3 gallons
3.4 gallons sparge @190
Collected 3.2 gallons

Notes:
6-4-2011--I use a rain barel to store water so I can pump that through my counterflow chiller. It cools the wort and saves water (go me). Well, I brewed earlier in the day so the water was sort of warm. Sooo...when I "chilled" it this time, it didn't chill it down that low. This is a fact I learned about after I pitched the yeast and cleaned up. Oh well, I've always wondered if yeast can survive in temps higher than 80*. Hit my target gravity of 1.057
6-29-2011--Had two bottles today...well, I opened two bottles. The first bottle I opened was the last to be bottled and ERUPTED upon opening. The second foamed up, but I was able to get all the beer into the cup. I think I'll not use regular sugar without liquefying it first. The beer itself was good. Sort of like a mildly hoppy red, minus the big malt backbone.

Compound Stout

I found a guy on craigslist that wants to trade me a lefty compound bow for a case of stout. I figured I'd make him the Shakespeare Stout. I've made this a bunch of times now and have traded it twice.
I grow tired of posting the same recipe, so if you want to see what it is, look it up. I'm not a hunter, so learning to shoot is just going to be another hobby. I really like having hobbies. Emilie thinks I have too many, I just like being relatively decent at most things.

Notes:
6-4-2011--I over sparged so I could use the second pot technique. A gallon and a half went into a pot and boiled down to around a point or two on the stove, while the other 6 gallons boiled in the kettle. I ended with a little more than 5 gallons after topping with the yeast slurry. 1.075.

Cold War Stout

As I did the last time I Malted My Face Off, I did a 2nd runnings beer. This time, I srike/sparged with 3 gallons of hot water in the spent grain, boiled, cooled, and pitched some yeast (London ESB). I ended up with 4 growlers full to ferment. 

Ingredients:
Spent Grain:
19 lbs GW 2-row
1.2 lbs Weyermanns Carafa III (de-husked)
0.5 Gambrinus Honey Malt
0.5 Maltextro Dark Chocolate 500L
0.5 Briess Roasted Barley


Hops:
1 oz Zeus/Columbus/Tomohawk @ 60
0.5 oz Sterling @ 30
1 oz Mount Hood @ 10


Yeast:
1968 London ESB slurry


Notes:
5-30-2011--Gravity was around 1.054, should be a perfect session stout. I filled 5 growlers.
6-4-2011--Krausen brew all over a couple of the growlers. I think it's finished.
6-6-2011--Transfered to bottling bucket and bottled with 4.8 table spoons of sugar.
6-26-2011--Good. Carmel, malt, smoke, and smooth. A really nice stout.

Malt My Face Off 2.0

Here's the story on this one: I brewed this back in March for Jim Jones (hehe inside joke), but I saved three 12 ounce bottles. I really, really liked it so I figured I brew it again. As I often do, I toyed with the recipe using the brewpal iPhone app then finally settled on a one and brewed it. When I picked up my grain from brewbrothers I had what I thought was the same recipe; however, it was pretty far off. The biggest difference is that the one I brewed in March had 9 lbs 2-row and 6 lbs Maris Otter, the one I had in my phone was 19 lbs 2-row. The other was the amount of Carafa III. The first one had 0.25 lbs, this new one's checking in with 1.2 lbs. I wouldn't say I'm worried about the amount of Carafa, but I would have liked to had the same recipe. Oh well.


Ingredients:
Grain:
19 lbs GW 2-row
1.2 lbs Weyermanns Carafa III (de-husked)
0.5 Gambrinus Honey Malt
0.5 Maltextro Dark Chocolate 500L
0.5 Briess Roasted Barley


Hops:
Hops:
1 oz Millennium @ 60
0.5 oz Cascade @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 2

Yeast:
PacMan yeast slurry


Water:
8.1 Gallons strike @ 168
Collected 4 gallons
3 Gallons triple batch sparge @ 190
Collected 2.8 gallons


Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @ 15
1 lbs Cane Sugar half @ 30 half @ 2
1 lbs Amber LME @ 30


Notes:
5-30-2011--I ended up doing a 6 gallons batch as opposed to a 5. I figured 9% is just as good as 11%. Anyways, I ended up with just under 1.10 gravity.
6-5-2011--Gravity's down to 1.025. If I don't have an open keg by this weekend, I'll bottle.
6-8-2011--Kegged 
6-23-2011--Pretty good. Really smokey (too much carafa?). Not as punchyouintheface malty as before, but still really good. 
6-29-2011--The BIG carafa taste has all but gone, which has made it a ton more smooth.

All Simcoe IPA

Everyone in town is out of Simcoe for the season, but my buddy Andy found somewhere online that is selling it by the pound. We split 2 pounds of it, which ended up to be about $25 each. I freaking love simcoe. For a while I wasn't using it because it was the new cool guy hop--I guess my rebellious tendencies don't like it when people tell me what hops to use. Anyhooo...I am fully drinking the kool-aid now (gross hoppy kool-aid). I used the same basic IPA recipe that I always use.

 Ingredients:
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2row
.6 lbs GW Crystal 60
.6 lbs Briess Carapills

Hops:
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 60
1 oz Simcoe @ 40
1 oz Simcoe @ 15
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 0

Water:
5.3 gallons sparge @ 165
Collected 3.5 gallons
3 gallons triple batch sparge @ 183
Collected 2.8 gallons

Extras:
Yeast nutrient @ 15
Wirfloc @ 15
1/2 lbs Belgian Candy @ 10

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry

Notes:
5-25-2011--Brewing took about 4 hours. I only tasted a little of it because I have to be at a meeting and I didn't want to smell of beer.
5-28-2011--Gravity down to 1.014. Seems to be finished, but I need to empty a keg...Time to call over some friends!
5-31-2011--I have an empty keg. I'll keg it this weekend and force carb.
6-4-2011--Kegged. Big grapefruity taste.
6-7-2011--Just ran out of the Rye IPA so I have a sport opened in the kegerator. I'm stoked.
6-26-2011--This was carbed by the 20th and finished 6 days later. Of course, a three day camping trip helped consume this quickly.

Workhorse IPA Clone

Laurelwood calls this beer "an extremely well balanced yet super flavorful IPA brewed in the West Coast style. The over-the-top aroma comes from a heavy handed does of hops in the kettle, hop back, and 2 separate dry-hop additions. A slightly sweet finish helps balance the hop bitterness and creates an ale that is both big on flavor yet remains quite drinkable."
At 80 IBU, it isn't a super bitter IPA but it sure is good. This is another beer I'm making for the Thirsty Brawley's. My guess is that Elisabeth and Jon end up playing drinking games after they put their kids to bed, but I'd have to verify :)
I called up the brewery to chat with a brewer about my clone guess. The ingredients are on the website as well as the stats, so it doesn't seem like a hard beer to clone; however, the brewer generously gave me the hop schedule. I had to sub Northern Brewer for Simcoe as the whole freaking town is out. Ironically, later in the day a buddy sent me a text saying he found Simcoe online. I got myself a pound of it which should last a couple brew days. I love that stuff.


Ingredients:
Grain:
 13.5 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Crystal 40L
1 lbs Carapils


Hops:
1.5 oz Columbus @ 60
1.5 oz Amarillo @20
1 oz Cascade @5
1.5 oz Northern Brewer (should have been Simcoe, but they're done for the season) @0
.5 oz Columbus Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Amarillo Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Northern Brewer Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped for 7 days


Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB (I would normally use a NW yeast, but I pitched my slurry of 1056 on the Elisabeer)


Water:
5.8 Gallons strike @ 170
Collected
2.8 Gallons of tripple batch sparge @188


Extra:
Whirfloc Tablet @20
Yeast Nutrient @20


Notes:
5-16-2011--Everything went smoothly; however, I under sparged. I only ended up with 4.3 gallons. I think I'll steep some 2-row, boil, and toss that in tomorrow. 
6-1-2011--DUDE. This beer is good. I know I say that all the time, and most of the time I'm making it up to look better (just kidding), but this beer's good. 

Elisabeer Pale 1.2

I had just a little bit of this after I handed it over to Brawley, so I decided to make it for myself. Same recipe as before.


Ingredients
Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Cyrstal 80
0.75 lbs Bries Wheat
0.5 lbs GW Munich 10L


Hops: 37 IBU
1.5 oz Cascade @60
1 oz Cascade @20
3 oz Cascade @0


Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry


Water:
5.3 gallons of strike @ 170--->154 in mash
Collected 3.2 gallons
3 gallons of sparge @190
Collected 3 gallons


Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @20
Whirfloc @20


Notes:
5-14-2011--Post boil gravity 1.064
5-20-2011--Down to 1.021 I'll wait another week.
5-25-2011--Kegged
6-1-2011--Man this is yummy. A lot hoppier than I thought it would be. I sure like cascade hops.

Breakfast in a Bottle

Brewed this National Homebrew Day aka Big Brew at Brew Brothers. I wanted to do something crazy so I thought about all my favorite breakfast foods and I put them on the recipe. It was an absolute blast hanging out and brewing with everyone. Everyone had a different system, which was nice because everyone had something to envy.

Ingredients:
Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row pale
.75 lbs GW 120L Crystal
.5 lbs Maltextro chocolate
1 lbs Roast Barley
(this is where it gets interesting)
3 home made waffles
1 Box of Trader Joes High Fiber Os
1 lbs flaked oats
1.5 oz Grade A Maple Syrup @0

Hops:
1.5 oz Cascade @60
1.3 oz Cascade @20
1.5 oz Cascade @0

Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @20
1/2 lbs of Maple Cured Pork Bacon in secondary

Water:
5.5 gallons at 165
Collected just under 3 gallons
3.5 gallons of triple batch sparge at 190 (down from 212, oops)
Collected 3.25 gallons

Notes:
5-7-2011--Everything went well enough. When you brew with this many people (all with lots of beer samples on hand) you tend to forget some stuff. I boiled my sparge water and boiled for a lot longer than I should have. Oh well. I'll ferment for a week or so, and then I'll toss in the bacon!

5-14-2011--Gravity only down to 1.035. Tons of muck and sludge.
5-20-2011--Down to 1.023 I think it's finished. Really, really dry stout (waffles?) and a hint of oatmeal at the end. I'm gonna have my personal chef (wife) cook me up some bacon and I'll toss it in secondary.
5-28-2011--Kegged. Still at 1.020ish. The bacon grease was a little nasty looking.
7-1-2011--I've been waiting to let the taste on this settle. The plan is to drink the rest of the Malt My Face Off, then let this be the stout I have on hand. 
7-7-2011--This beer's getting really good.

Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Clone (from Jamil)

I'm not a big fan of brown ales. I used to really like New Castle and Moose Drool was one of my first favorite beers. I'm not that into Newkies any longer, but I still love me some Moose Drool. I got this recipe from Jamil of Brew Your Own. Only thing I changed was I substituted Tettnanger for Liberty since brewbrothers didn't have it. Most of this batch is for the Brawleys, but I'm going to keep 4 or 5 bottles worth.
Ingredients:
Grain (anticipated OG of 1.052)
10.8 lbs GW 2-Row
5.5 oz Maltextro Chocolate Malt
1.25 lbs GW Crystal 75-80ºL
0.5 oz Maltextro Black Malt


Hops: (21 IBU)
1.4 oz EKG whole leaf 60min
0.6 oz Willamette pellet 10 min (of the full pound given to me by my buddy Scott)
0.6 oz Tettnanger whole leaf 3 min (also from Scott)


Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB


Extra:
Whirfloc @20
Yeast Nutrient @20


Water:
4.7 gallons strike @170
Collected 3 gallons
4.7 gallons triple batch sparge @180
Collected 4.5 gallons


Notes:
4-23-2011--Boiled for 90 minutes and ended up with around 5.5 gallons of 1.053 wort. Strike water temp was too high. I've been doing that lately, I don't think I lose as much heat in transferring from my HLT to my MLT as I originally believed. I'm going to start striking at around 163 and see how that goes.
While brewing this sketchy dude saw what I was doign and rode his fixy up to my garage. Quite frequently I'll have neighbors or passers by come up and ask me what I'm doing, holler something from their car, or wave. This guy came up to my front door while we were eating dinner and I was mashing and proceeded to let me know that he has cornys for sale. He said he "gets" free from work and that he "gets" around 30 a month. Anyway, he wanted to sell them to me for $30 a pop and he said he had like 40 in his garage. I offered him some suuuuper low ball offer for all 40, but he declined. Oh well.
4-27-2011--Gravity down to 1.024.
5-3-2011--Had a pint the other day at Brawley's house. It's good. Smooth and brown ale-y. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of brown ales, but it's good.