Milk Loaf
This is a simple milk loaf, made with milk, egg, sugar, butter, and oil. It is rich, fluffy, and creamy. I made a loaf out of this one, but these work great as dinner rolls as well. If you’re going for the Instagram look, brush the loaf with egg prior to putting in the oven to brown.
AvgBrü American Amber Ale
This quarter’s AvgBrü recipe from the Brulosophy homebrew club intrigued me: an American Amber Ale. I haven’t even seen an amber ale in over a decade, let alone brewed one. It’s been so long in fact that it feels like a new style. The recipe guidelines called for a mix of American or British malts, British yeast, and traditional American hops including amarillo, centennial, and cascade. I came up with the below recipe and fit the hop schedule to a process that works best on my Grainfather setup.
Cheesy Bread Loaf
This loaf is a replacement for a ham and cheese pull-apart from a local bakery my kids love. I’ve been making this loaf as an accompaniment to “slop” recipes like chili and soups. I’ve made variations of this style of stuffed bread over the years but was never thrilled with the results until I stumbled across a genius fold technique wherein the dough is stuffed, rolled, then cut in half and braided. This technique allows the cheese to spread and ooze throughout the loaf instead of being confined to a tight swirl inside the loaf.
Canadian IPA - Britannia Mine Mill #1
I chaperoned my daughter’s 5th grade field trip to the Britannia Mine museum recently. The entire time I couldn’t help but wonder what all these guys drank after a shift or on weekends. What types of beer did they have access to? What types of beer were even popular at the time? Unfortunately beer drinking didn’t feature prominently in the exhibits, so I’m left to making broad assumptions based on research.
Coffee Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
This oatmeal stout is inspired by some of the Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout recipes out there. Despite that, this is not a KBS clone recipe, and isn’t really meant to be. I wanted this beer to be smaller in alcohol and have a nice coffee/chocolate balance. Unfortunately the coffee overpowers any chocolate notes from the cacao nibs. While still a good beer it lacks nuance and complexity that a winter warmer like this should have.
The BruSho Altbier
I stole this recipe from a recent BruSho episode. I was a little reluctant to brew it since commercially I haven’t found many examples of an altbier I liked. This particular recipe is solid though and makes a perfect fall or winter style beer. I fermented with Kaiser at 70F which is 10F warmer than recommended, and it definitely threw some esters. Because of that, the beer is less cleanly lager-like and something between an altbier and an english brown ale.
Simple Cider
This was my introduction to brewing ciders and this recipe is basically prison juice. SunRype apple juice, yeast, and nutrient: that’s it. My brew day took about 15 minutes. It was so short I almost felt guilty. Despite the simplicity, the product is super drinkable and my wife seems to like it. It also makes for an interesting canvas to play with fruit and other additives. I’d like to make it a regular brew and keep playing with different fruit, hop, and spice flavors.
Ale Tales - Cold IPA Recipe
Iterating on my dry-hopped cream ale, I evolved the style into its more alcoholic and hoppy successor, the Cold IPA. The malt bill was recycled, increasing total grain 2 kg and upping the alcohol a percentage point. For a clean fruity and citrusy west coast ipa I went with Mosaic, Citra, and Nelson hops. 1 oz each of Mosaic and Nelson were added to a 20 minute 80C whirlpool. At the very end of fermentation, 1 oz each of mosaic, citra, and nelson were added to the fermentor for 5 days.
Ale Tales - Dry Hopped American Cream Ale Recipe
Continuing on my lager quest I saw it fitting to brew a classic American Cream Ale, BJCP category 6A. This recipe is as standard as an American Cream Ale can get, except for the 1 oz charge of cryo-Cascade at the end. Despite the dry hop, this beer has all the lawnmower feels I love about American beer: it is plebeian, boring, and crushable. I would recommend you try this beer if you too appreciate thirst quenching lagers.
Basic Vegan-Friendly Sandwich Loaf
My family’s weekly sandwich loaf. This recipe is as simple as I can make it and vegan friendly as well! The recipe is flexible enough to dial up/down the whole wheat flour to your liking and oat milk can be replaced with cow milk if desired. I have found this particular shaping and baking method key to consistently shaped sandwich loaves. Happy baking!