Homebrewing boom

In the past two months, I found out that three good friends have begun making their own beer. I had a chance to try an IPA my buddy Mike made at a Super Bowl party and I was really impressed. I'm not a big hop person, but it was a very smooth beer, and I had a twinge of jealousy when I drank it that I didn't make it! My beers of late haven't turned out how I have planned and that's a really a set back because I don't like to finish them off with the same gusto, leaving me undersupplied for bottles.

I think my enthusiasm for making beer, and the early good results I had, encouraged some of them to get into it. Though, I really don't know for sure what motivated them. After the equipment purchase, it's a really good deal. You can make two cases of quality beer for $30 or less. Eventually, I probably will get or make equipment to make all-grain beers. The problem I am running into is that I don't drink enough to justify all the beer making and some of my more recent batches aren't that great, so I don't want to give them away. I will plow through the bottles eventually.

I bottled the golden ale I made last weekend and was disappointed to find the final gravity was around 1.022, way above the intended range, meaning the beer is sweeter and lower in alcohol than I intended. I tasted the beer, pre-bottled, and found it to be pretty solid. Certainly, I should be able to drink it. It's also a nice light color and I left it in the fermenter for more than three weeks, so it cleared out well. I'm hoping the wheat I used will help it with head creation. I have had the best luck brewing with English ale yeasts. They produce fruitier flavors in the beer, but the beer tastes good and I am getting good attenuation - or alcohol creation.

Golden Ale update

After my last two fumbles on fermenting, I was concerned how this one would take off. I used harvested yeast from the bottom of the Cuvee secondary fermenter. This worked like a charm. The Golden Ale took off so strongly that it overflowed through the bubbler. I had to take it off and clean it twice. I think it's going to turn into a very nice beer.

Golden Ale brewing day

I decided to make a light golden ale with a special ingredient. The idea is to make a session beer with a bit of zest. I'm planning to add about a 10 ounces of maple syrup to the secondary fermenter to add flavor and a bit more alcohol. This will extend out the fermentation time as well because the sugars are more complex to ferment and take longer. I am using all extract for this batch and am hoping to get a nice light color. Starting with 3 pounds of Briess Dry Malt Extract, one pound of Bavarian wheat extract and two pounds of Briess Pilsen malt - a very light malt color. I am using one ounce of Perle hops for bittering and Styrian Goldings for finishing.

The beer came out with a bit higher Original Gravity than I thought. It settled out at 1.055. I pitched a Munton's yeast that I harvested from the Cuvee beer secondary fermenter and had chilled overnight in a cleaned old baby food jar. I put the yeast in a little luke warm water and added some malt and had it sitting with cling wrap over the top. I am hoping for a vigorous bubble by the time I go to bed in hopes I get pretty good attenuation.