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, December 2, 2012

Brewing Activities - 12-2-2012

Today, I made the final kit that I ordered a couple of months ago.  It's called the Brickwarmer Holiday Red.  Reds are one of my favorites as far as boldness of taste and not as strong on the hop end of things.  This one had the malt added all at the beginning of the boil, while the other winter and seasonal ales had the malt added in different phases.  Also, this one had a spice pack of sweet orange peel that is in during the fermentation.  The aroma is excellent!  I think that has been my favorite part of making the winter and holiday ales is the fact that the aroma and spices are very pleasant to the smell.  More than likely, bottling will be the end of December, and then distribution in mid-January.

Here are the ingredients

.5 lb of English Dark Crystal
.25 lb Baird's Carastan
.25 lb Pale Chocolate

6 lbs NB Gold malt syrup
1 lb Wheat dry malt extract
1 lb Amber dry malt extract

1 oz Brewers Gold (60 minutes in boil)
1 oz Styrian Goldings (10 minutes in boil)
1 oz Sweet Orange Peel (add at the end of the boil)
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