Footie, Hockey, Board Games & Beer

So since my post in January I have brewed a further four (4) batches all of which turned out quite well, but before I get to those I wanted to hearken back to last Christmas, or actually in late January , when I first sampled my home brewed "Groundhog's Shadow" Spiced Christmas Ale. I spoke about this beer in my January post where I list the spices used (Cinnamon, ginger, All spice, Nutmeg) and some details about the process, but since I had not sampled the beer at that time there was no review. So to remedy that I'll start with that beer and then continue on to the 4 newest batches.   "Groundhog's Shadow" Spiced Christmas Ale - I poured my first sample after the beer had bottle conditioned for 4 weeks. It came out a deep amber colour with a thick rich head and plenty of carbonation. Had a nice flavour with a slightly bitter edge with hints of the spices used...not over powering or over obvious but certainly there. My second sample came after the bee...

So it's been quite some time since I last posted and during that time I have managed to brew a further 10 batches of beer which brings my total up to 14 batches. At an average of 20 litres per batch it amounts to about 280 litres of brew...sounds quite a lot when put that way. All the batches were brewed the same way from start to finish with the only differences being the amount and type of malt extract, grains, and hops used. There are even  a few recipes with additional special ingredients that were added to impart a certain quality to the finished product. So with that said here is a list of the batches, in order, that I have produced since my attempt at a Porter(my last post). Honey Pale Ale - Honey is added to the boil, and is used as the priming sugar which is added to the beer just prior to bottling to help the beer carbonate. Light bodied ale, quite fizzy, with a big head, and noticeable honey flavours. Good but a bit too light & fizzy for me. *** 4.5% ABV Grape...

For my next foray into the world of home brewing I chose to try a Porter which is not a beer that I've had much experience with other than drinking the odd Guiness; which was originally named Guiness Extra Superior Porter it's name only later changed from that to Guiness Extra Stout. In some ways the name Porter and Stout are interchangeable as both represent dark beers with strong malt flavours and a rich thick head. Incidentally it's name was first used in the 18th century due to it's popularity with the street and river porters of London. The recipe I used was once again one that I got from Dan's Homebrewing Supplies and their handy binder full of recipes. The one I chose was called Strathcona Porter #1 and unfortunately I've misplaced the exact ingredient list but I hope to have that available soon. Results This porter recipe used hops only in the boil with no finishing hops which should result in a beer where the flavours of the dark roasted malt are more p...

Onto batch #3...one of my favorite types of beer is the India Pale Ale or IPA. Originally brewed in the eighteenth century as a beer for the English officers stationed in India at the time. It was higher in alcohol and heavily hopped, both preservatives, to make sure that it didn't spoil on the long outward journey. I thought that since it's one of my favorite types to drink I should give brewing it a go and so I went to my local brewing supply shop, Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, and picked up the ingredients for an IPA. The recipe that I used was off of Dan's website and was for a traditional English IPA. Malt 8.5 lb Pale Malt Extract Grain 10 oz Carastan malt Hops 15 AAU - Centennial bittering hops .75 oz Willamette finishing hops .75 oz Centennial or Cascade finishing hops 1 oz Willamette/centennial or Cascade dry hops Yeast Ale yeast - Nottingham Brewing yeast (Danstar) The brewing process was exactly the same as my last batch. See the post for Batch #2, Nut Brown Al...

Onto batch #2. The basic kit that I used in my first batch was just that...basic, and so for batch number 2 I decided to move straight up to intermediate brewing. Which as I mentioned in an earlier post is unhopped malt extract plus hops and in most cases some grains. So what kind of beer to make was the next question. My local brewing supply store Dan's has a book full of recipes for all of the main beer types and I chose their Shirley's Nut Brown Ale recipe as my first venture into the world of intermediate brewing. The recipe called for the following ingredients: Malt Extract 8 lb pale Grains 8 oz British crystal malt 8 oz chocolate malt 2 oz roast barley 8 oz wheat Hops 6.3 AAU Goldings .4 oz Goldings (finishing) Yeast Ale yeast - Nottingham Brewing yeast (Danstar) ...and on to the process. First off I heated up about a litre of water in a medium saucepan to around 75 degrees C, about 170 F, and then poured in all the grains, covered the pot and set it as...

For my first batch of beer I used a Baron's Pale Ale beer kit that I got with the rest of my start up kit. This was a basic add water and stir type kit. I first filled my primary fermenter, the white plastic food grade bucket, about half full of warm water, then added the malt extract that came with the kit, and then topped up the bucket with warm water to the 23 litre mark. To this I added the yeast and a small package of hops that came with the kit, and then attached the airlock and bung and put the bucket into a cool dry place to do its thing. After about a week I transferred the beer from the primary fermenter into the glass carboy, the secondary fermenter, attached the airlock, and again set it aside. This stage is for any fermentation to finish and for the beer to start clearing as the sediment settles on the bottom of the carboy. After about two weeks I then transferred the beer back into the primary fermenter, added a cup of dextrose to create some carbonation when the ...

So to make beer there are four essential ingredients: water, fermentable sugars (traditionally malted barley), hops and yeast. These ingredients are processed and combined according to a recipe. Given the right conditions the yeast will convert the fermentable sugars to alcohol, CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), and the taste that we know as beer. The beer is then bottled and, depending on the type of beer being made, aged from a week to three months. There are three standard methods to making beer and they are ranked in order of complexity: Basic- Malt extract - a "canned" beer kit. Basically a can of pre-hopped malt extract where you add water and stir. Intermediate - Malt extract/Grain - Made with unhopped malt extract, hops, grains and yeast. The grains are steeped in warm water and this water, plus the malt extract is added to the wort which is then boiled for an hour. For most recipes both boiling and finishing hops are added. A little more work but results in a much better beer. A...