Home Brewing Principles

There are a couple of things that we do with all of our home brewing that we feel make a difference in the quality of what we make.

1. Fun, fun, fun - Our primary reason for making our own beer and wine apertifs is to have fun with the process. Experiment with new ideas, and enjoy the process.

2. Water - We only brew with spring water to avoid any chemicals or additives related to tap water. We feel it makes a difference in the taste of what we make, and possibly contributes to a higher alcohol content (a guess, not fact)

3. Water Amount - We always brew our beer in 5 gallons of water. Some recipes and sites suggest adding water, but we feel that you want the grains and malt in the full 5 gallons so that none of the flavor is diluted.

4. Carboy - We always ferment in a glass carboy. We find it has the least influence on the overall flavor of the beer.

5. Tea Bag Technique - When the grains are soaking we move the bag just like you would a tea bag in a cup of water to ensure you maximize what you get from the grains

6. Bread - We make bread from the grains of our beers, and usually end up with approximately 5 loaves of fantastic tasting bread.


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Brewing Activities on 10-28-2012

I'm late posting this entry that updates my brewing activities from last weekend.  I took an Amber Ale recipe, and then added oak chips that have been soaking in Wild Turkey Honey Bourbon for the last two months during the fermentation process.  The yeast has been very, very active the entire week, and I'm anxious to see the results of this effort.  The taste should be fantastic as I did not add any bourbon to it.  I just added the oak chips.  So the oak bourbon flavor should not be very overwhelming.

Here is the recipe.  I got the kit online from Northern Brewer.

Grains

.5 pounds of Victory Malt
.5 pounds of Briess Caramel 60

Malt

1 pound Pilsen dry malt extract
6 pounds Munich malt syrup - added at the last 15 minutes of the boil

Hops

1 oz German Perle
1 oz Hersbrucker - added at the last 15 minutes of the boil.

Yeast - Safale US-05 Ale Yeast

Rather than just add the dry yeast to the wort, I decided to start it with a cup of warm water and some honey (since I was using Honey Bourbon).  I feel this gave the yeast a huge kickstart to the fermentation process, and should enhance the flavor.
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