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Forbidden Red Ale (experimental)

mplaing — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:05:23 +0000

Whoo hoo! The forbidden fruit yeast I washed and saved from my Watermelon Witbier finally began today (two days after starting the yeast starter).

Am going to start my other batch of Red Ale from Festa Brew with this yeast and will toss in two crushed beano tablets too. Since six gallon of the wort will cause blow-offs I am going to blend 1 gallon of each batch for a third type of beer.

All three should be good to drink.

Double Red Ale (experimental)

mplaing — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:44:38 +0000

Last week I bought two Red Ale kit, made by Festa Brew – not my favourite choice, but that is what the store had in stock and I was not in the mood to ask them to order Pale Ale and wait for it to arrive.

My previous Red Ale from Festa Brew did not impress me (and one customer). Either the wort was not aerated correctly (there was a long lag in yeast activity and fermentation stopped prematurely leaving a lot of residual sugar).

For my Double Red Ale, I added 454g of dextrose boiled in 1 litre of water and two crushed beano tablets. The purpose of adding beano to the wort is to convert the unfermentable sugars into fermentable sugars so the beer is less sweet and dry (just what I like my beer to be).

Original Gravity reading: 1.052 @ 65ºF; Target Terminal Gravity: >1.010.

Watermelon Witbier Update:

mplaing — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:49:08 +0000

My apologizes, I need to make a habit of posting updates here!

In April, we had a baby girl, named Citra! Perfect time to release the Watermelon Witbier! When first released, it had a very harsh bitter and alcoholic taste. Keep in mind, this beer was also brewed strong with the hope of being a great beer to age.

After a few months, there was a noticeable improvement so I am confident when Citra is old enough, this beer will taste wonderful (and I hope she is not allergic to watermelon)!

Watermelon Witbier

mplaing — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:44:48 +0000

What a beautiful day to brew my next batch! Introducing watermelon to my brew kettle to create my first watermelon witbier!

This recipe calls for the juice of six watermelon and to enhance the pink/red hue in this recipe I got three pints of raspberries at discounted price.

Targeted ABV is 8%.

If frecklesfly’s baby is a girl, this beer shall become her baby’s official drink and to announce the gender.

Inventory Ale

mplaing — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:30:49 +0000

I have not really gotten time to really plan a brewing session. I have several recipes I want to brew, however I need to save money for more important expenses.

The good thing is, I have so many ingredients sitting around that really should be used up so I took an inventory of what I have and tossed them all into Brewer’s Friend Recipe Maker and ended up with something like a Russian Imperial Stout, not bad for something I enjoy drinking.

I just need to order some yeast that can work with the massive amounts of fermentable sugars for a total of an eleven gallon batch. Brew date shall be announced when I decide on a date, hopefully soon!

My Apologizes!

mplaing — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:34:51 +0000

This is a quick update, I wanted to apologize for no posts for a while. I have been so busy with work and errands that I have not been able to find time to brew more beer. I am really … Continue reading →

Yeast Starter Tutorial

mplaing — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:41:52 +0000

According to the source I received this guide, using dry yeast is generally not recommended, however I have done dry yeast starters with no problems.

Brewing Project: Video Tutorial

mplaing — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:53:58 +0000

Since I bought a new brewery, it has been kind of awkward to host
another public brewing session so I decided this is the opportunity to
create my first video tutorial during the process of making beer.
Perfect timing since I do not have a “formal” place to use my brew
kettle yet (hopefully the garage when it is cleared up) so I am doing
beer kits right now.

Wheat Beer and Dry Ale kits are currently fermenting. The video
tutorial is being made during all the steps I am taking while doing
the wheat beer, but with this kit, the steps are the same for every
kit style that is available. The kit I am using is brewer’s wort or
pasteurized wort type of kit, which requires no boiling so for the
ultimate beginner, you do not need any pot or brew kettle, stove, etc.

Cheers!

Rifleman’s Ration

mplaing — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:38:39 +0000

Today I stopped at the LCBO store and saw Black Creek’s newest beer was available here!

Not that I always wanted to try this one, but I saw it by chance and enjoyed meeting the Brewmaster when I visited Black Creek.

The beer was nice, had a slight hoppy aroma. Clearly it was a brown ale style, similar to nut brown ale. The hoppy aroma made me think it was bitter, it was on the sweetness side. Clearly this beer is not my favourite, but it is a beer I enjoyed. My rating of this beer: 6/10.

Basic Homebrewing Book For Sale

mplaing — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 03:57:56 +0000

This book is a good one, I bought two in case friends wanted one. If you are interested in this book, let me know. It is packed in a box right now, but I believe I purchased it for CAD$15. Make your offer for this one if you are interested in it.