Homebrewing.muse

   1 #title  Ale is Neat
   2
   3 Once upon a time I brewed beer. Then I lost access to my roommate's
   4 kettle owing to moving three hundred miles, and there was much sadness
   5 for my poor kit lacked all but this very expensive kettle. A new
   6 kettle has finally fallen into my hands, and so beer may be brewed
   7 again.
   8
   9 * Current Activity
  10
  11 I started brewing again with a few friends (makes it much easier to
  12 actually get around to doing it when you have help). Since multiple
  13 people are involved we are using [[http://wiki.calefaction.org/HomeBrewing][a wiki]] to collaborate. This poor page
  14 will probably remain dusty because I can just put things there
  15 instead.
  16
  17 * More Recent Brews
  18
  19 I decided to at least make a stab at being unlazy and actually linking
  20 to the files that are stored with the website. I keep a reasonable
  21 brewing log (probably dry and boring to almost everyone) in the files
  22 themselves.
  23
  24 I'm only bothering to list recipes that have been brewed and bottled
  25 here--information on anything in the pipeline is at the [[http://wiki.calefaction.org/HomeBrewing][brewing wiki]]
  26 since it is liable to change a lot.
  27
  28 Since old trusty [[http://www.usermode.org/code.html][QBrew]] is no longer actively maintained and [[http://brewtarget.sourceforge.net/][Brewtarget]]
  29 is I've switched over to that. Meaning my newer recipes are in [[http://beerxml.com][BeerXML]]
  30 that theoretically can be imported into other programs, but may very
  31 well only work in Brewtarget.
  32
  33 ** English IPA
  34
  35 We had a lot of leftover ingredients after
  36 [[http://pursuing.calefaction.org/2011/11/the-things-i-do-for-love/][Steve's amazing brewing Odyssey]], most of them English grains and
  37 hops. As such I threw together the leftovers into what seemed like it
  38 would be a good approximation of an English IPA. We even threw this
  39 onto the yeast cake of the last batch in the wedding brews (an ESB).
  40
  41 Unfortunately, it was a wee bit underwhemling. Since we have a fancy
  42 temperature controlled fridge now, I decided to brew around 68F (no
  43 risk of overshooting). It came out slightly musty and generally
  44 bland... still, for being made from leftovers it's alright.
  45
  46  - [[beer-recipes/8-English IPA/english_ipa-8_a.html][Batch A]] 2011-10-16 ([[beer-recipes/8-English IPA/english_ipa-8_a.xml][source]])
  47
  48 ** Cernunnos (Ginger-Chamomile Wheat Ale)
  49
  50 Cheap and quick to make, this is ready to drink after a quick
  51 fermentation and as soon as the bottles carbonate. The chamomile
  52 really shines here adding a honey-like note; the ginger adds
  53 additional earthiness and a bit of zing; Sorachi Ace hops finish
  54 everything up with notes of lemon cream.
  55
  56  - [[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_a.html][Batch A 2011-05-04]] ([[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_a.xml][source]])
  57  - [[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_b.html][Batch B 2011-07-05]] ([[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_b.xml][source]])
  58  - [[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_c.html][Batch C 2012-02-18]] ([[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_c.xml][source]])
  59  - [[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_d.html][Batch D 2012-02-18]] ([[beer-recipes/7-Ginger Chamomile Wheat/ginger_chamomile_wheat-7_d.xml][source]]) - My first ten gallon batch. I lost
  60    about a gallon, but what can you do.
  61
  62 ** Nowruz (India Pale Ale)
  63
  64 Perhaps my finest recipe to date. A suggestion to continuously hop was
  65 heeded and the result was incredible.
  66
  67  - [[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_a.html][Batch A]] 2011-03-20 ([[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_a.xml][source]])
  68  - [[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_b.html][Batch B]] 2011-06-11 ([[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_b.xml][source]]) This adds Centennial and expanded the
  69    dry hopping a bit -- the Centennial was out of place, and the extra
  70    dry hopping overpowered the fruity notes present in Batch A. But
  71    the extra bitterness and attenuation definitely improved things.
  72  - [[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_c.html][Batch C]] 2012-01-11 ([[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_c.xml][source]]) Back to the basics, but adding Citra to
  73    the boil and using Chico Yeast. First impressions are: even better
  74    than Batch A!
  75  - [[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_d.html][Batch D]] 2012-05-06 ([[beer-recipes/4-India Pale Ale/india_pale_ale-4_d.xml][source]]) Ten gallons, half on US ale yeast, half
  76    on Wyeast [[http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=136][Belgian Ardennes]] yeast. Initial impressions are that the
  77    Belgian version is amazing: the fruit flavors and phenols from the
  78    yeast complement the hopping quite nicely.
  79
  80 ** Thoth (Foreign Extra Stout If You Bend a Bit)
  81
  82 An attempt at experimentation--an adjunct (blackstrap molasses), a
  83 spice (star anise), and a reused yeast cake (Ringwood from a
  84 [[http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/113/576/][Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale]] clone).
  85
  86  - [[beer-recipes/5-Strong Stout/strong_stout-5_a.html][Thoth]] ([[beer-recipes/5-Strong Stout/strong_stout-5_a.qbrew][source]])
  87
  88 ** Pale Ale
  89
  90 My first brew, resurrected.
  91
  92  - [[beer-recipes/1-Pale Ale/pale_ale-1_c.html][First Time on the New Rig]] ([[beer-recipes/1-Pale Ale/pale_ale-1_c.qbrew][source]])
  93
  94 * Cider / Apfelwein / Cyser
  95
  96 My girlfriend hates carbonation and so, inspired by Edwort's
  97 Applewine, I started experimenting with batches of cider. I'm keeping
  98 some notes, but doing it more by "I guess this is the gravity..." than
  99 with brewing due to the fairly different production
 100 methods. Eventually I hope to get wine making down a bit better...
 101
 102 Occasionally I dump the text notes from my phone to
 103 [[http://wiki.calefaction.org/ClintonEbadi/Cider][a page on Steve's wiki]].
 104
 105 * Long Past Brews
 106
 107 I present to you my poorly annotated [[http://www.usermode.org/code.html][QBrew]] files from my ancient brews
 108 made in the lands of pleasant living.
 109
 110 ** Pale Ale
 111
 112  - [[beer-recipes/1-Pale Ale/pale_ale-1_a.html][First Brew Ever]] ([[beer-recipes/1-Pale Ale/pale_ale-1_a.qbrew][source]])
 113  - [[beer-recipes/1-Pale Ale/pale_ale-1_b.html][Revision B]] ([[beer-recipes/1-Pale Ale/pale_ale-1_b.qbrew][source]])
 114
 115 ** Porter
 116
 117  - The record of the first brew has been lost in time
 118  - [[beer-recipes/2-Porter/porter-2_b.html][Second Attempt]] ([[beer-recipes/2-Porter/porter-2_b.qbrew][source]])
 119
 120 ** Wheat Ale
 121
 122  - [[beer-recipes/3-Wheat Ale/wheat_ale-3_a.html][Bannanas]] ([[beer-recipes/3-Wheat Ale/wheat_ale-3_a.qbrew][source]]) -- A very hot fermentation made this taste like
 123    liquid bannanas it was ... interesting.