Ale Tales - Cold IPA Recipe
Cold IPA. Malts: Canadian Pilsner, Canadian 2-row, flaked corn, carapils. Hops: Northern Brewer (1oz), Mosaic (2oz), Citra (2oz) and Nelson Sauvin (2oz). Yeast: LalBrew Novalager. Fruity and citrusy clean lager.
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. Water was left largely untouched which was a mistake for an IPA. (see notes) The end beer was mostly what I was shooting for: a juicy, clear, and fruity IPA that showcases some interesting hops but isn’t so big or hoppy that I can’t drink more than one.
Throwback Dry Hopped Cream Ale
Recipe: American Cream Ale (BJCP 6A). Malts: Canadian Pilsner, Canadian 2-row, flaked corn, carapils. Hops: Northern Brewer (1oz) and Cascade (2oz). Yeast: LalBrew Novalager. An easy drinking dry-hopped cream ale homebrew recipe. BJCP: 01C. Cream Ale.
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
A basic vegan-friendly sandwich loaf. Makes a single 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!
Ale Tales - Bohemian Pils
Bohemian Pilsner. Malts: German Pilsner, Carapils. Hops: Saaz (1.25oz), Saaz (1.75oz), Saaz (1oz), Saaz (1oz). Yeast: SafLager W-34/70.
I decided to start my pilsner journey with a known recipe this time from Brewing Classic Styles. Putting my own preferences aside this recipe is solid ground to build upon (obviously). I adjusted the malt and hops to better fit my brewery utilizations, specifically I toned down the hop additions and decreased the base malt. The beer turned out fantastic and it won’t last long. Unfortunately I’ll need to wait another 4-6 months before I can brew pilsners again!
Weekday Sourdough Bread
A weekday sourdough bread recipe that follows roughly the same schedule as a yeasted loaf except for an overnight preferment.
A weekday sourdough bread recipe that follows the same schedule as my daily yeasted loaf except for an overnight preferment. The preferment is important for yeast vigor and taste. Because the dough isn’t left to ferment a long time at cold temperatures, the sourness is subdued and “rustic” might be a more appropriate descriptor. The recipe is dead simple to make during the week, it just assumes you already have a healthy sourdough starter.
Ale Tales - American Pale Ale
American Pale Ale. Malts: Canadian 2-row, Canadian Pilsner, Munich. Hops: Columbus (0.25oz), Vic Secret (1oz), Mosaic (1oz), Vic Secret (1oz), Mosaic (1oz). Yeast: SafAle US-05.
This is the second beer on my journey to finding a house American Pale Ale. What I’m looking for in an APA is a beer that first pleases my eyes and nose; for me that means a clear golden to copper colored beer, nice tight white head, and mostly floral and tropical fruit notes on the nose. Though I like tropical fruit, I explicitly steer clear of hazy or “juicy” style beers. The second requirement for an APA is that I can drink four pints and wake up relatively coherent. As far as taste goes, I’m looking for a firm bitterness but mellow floral, piney, and stone fruit notes throughout.
Practice Makes Perfect - Hopefully
Analyzing my short game statistics including putting and chipping to understand my golf game and how to get better.
I’ve determined that I need to practice around the greens if I’m to consistently shoot in the 70s. A couple of statistics gathered from The Grint confirmed my suspicions as I haven’t made a single putt outside of 5ft in three rounds. According to The Grint, from 5ft I only make 50% of my putts. To confirm I spent about an hour on the putting green testing myself from 6ft and the results were depressing. Giving myself the same shot 18 times (lining up as if I were playing) I only managed to make 61% of the putts, suggesting I am unable to put a ball on its intended line. I then tested myself from the same distance uphill left-to-right making 50%, and right to left only making 22% of putts! Going downhill from the same distance I could barely make anything, with only 11% of downhill left-to-right putts dropping for me and 17% of right to left putts dropping for me.
Our Daily Bread Updated
Update to a simple every day bread recipe. Ingredients: whole wheat flour, white flour, olive oil, water, salt, yeast.
I’m updating my daily bread recipe as it has drifted a bit over the past year. The changes I recently made were minor but significantly improve the loaf appearance. Since sometime last year, I’ve increased the baking temperature to 475F to darken the loaf. I’m much happier with the look of the loaf now, especially the burning around the ear. I’ve also doubled the amount of olive oil to half a cup. The reason for that change is simple: I think it tastes better.
Ale Tales - Festbier
Festbier. Malts: German Pilsner, Munich, Carapils. Hops: Hallertau (0.75oz), Hallertau (1oz). Yeast: SafLager W-34/70.
All I want to drink are lagers, but good german style lagers are hard to come by in Vancouver. So, taking matters into my own hands I’ve started a journey to create a festbier. This recipe is beginning life as something between a marzen and munich lager. The intention is to let it drift over time, most likely however it will end life pretty close to a modern festbier: golden in color, 5.5% alcohol, and a moderately bright hop flavor. I’m aiming for something highly drinkable, low in alcohol, and easy on the hops.
Brew Day Standard Operating Procedures
I recently began utilizing standard operating procedures for my brew day: step-by-step instructions of everything I need to do on brew day from setting up and filling my kettle to cleaning it and putting it away.
I recently began utilizing standard operating procedures for my brew day: step-by-step instructions of everything I need to do on brew day from setting up and filling my kettle to cleaning it and putting it away. I recently started this practice after forgetting to treat my sparge water. While not a critical step to the brew day, it nonetheless highlighted that left to own devices I will inevitably forget steps. Apart from fixing my forgetfulness, having a written set of instructions has had two unexpected but welcome side effects: first, by having the mundane written down my mind is free to focus or wander as it pleases and second, it has sped up my brew day considerably.