Tag homebrewing

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.

Ale Tales - Bohemian Pils

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!

Ale Tales - American Pale Ale

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.

Ale Tales - Festbier

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.

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 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.