Posts - Page 3 of 3
Kiwi Pils v3 (New Zealand Pilsner) - Tasting
Every summer I brew up a new batch of one of my favorite styles of lagers, the New Zealand Pilsner. This is my third version that varies the New Zeland hops and for the first time the malt bill.
Built For Speed Clone Side By Side Comparison V2
In a previous post I compared the first iteration of my homebrewed version to the commercial Grains of Wrath Built for Speed. I had outlined a few changes to try for the 2nd iteration which I brewed and tapped recently. I’ve outlined my notes in this post.
Coffee Paw (Coffee Vanilla Oatmeal Stout) - Tasting
I wanted to make a session-strength stout for the winter. Being a coffee fan I decided to introduce coffee in 2 ways. First I added 3 ounces of whole beans directly to the fermenter after fermentation for 4 days. Then I cold-brewed coffee for 24 hours and added it to the keg before racking the beer on top.
BRU-1 West Coast IPA - Tasting
For this beer I wanted to experiment with the BRU-1 hop variety. I ordered a pound of pellets from Yakima Valley Hops. The main descriptor for this hop is pineapple. Some more generic descriptors are “green fruit”, “sweet fruit” and “green-grassy”.
Built For Speed Clone Side By Side Comparison
I compared my homebrewed version to the commercial Grains of Wrath Built for Speed. I’ve outlined my notes in this post.
Dry Hopping Sour and Wild Beer Experiment #2
A few months ago I posted an article about dry hopping wild and sour beer. At the end of April we did another experiment using 4 different varieties of hops. The goal was to find either the perfect hop of the 4 or the perfect blend of any of those 4 to use when dry hopping our sour beer.
Dry Hopping Sour and Wild Beer Experiment #1
Having experimented with dry hopping sour and wild beer this past summer (as well as actually dry hopping a batch), I thought it would be a great idea to document some findings based on our experiments. The results were surprising to me as some of my favorite hops didn’t work as well as I expected.
Son of Fermentation Chamber Build and Photos
For some time I have contemplated using some sort of cooling mechanism to give me prefect fermentation temperatures while I ferment my beer. Last summer I painstakingly used my chest freezer kegerator. It was a horrible process. It involved removing one (or two) kegs, cranking up the temperature and lifting and setting the heavy bucket with 5 gallons of wort into the chest freezer.
Adding Coffee to Beer
There are several different methods in which coffee can be added to a beer. I’ve had great success with two different methods: adding cold pressed coffee at bottling/kegging and dry-hopping with whole coffee beans. It’s important to remember that not just any coffee bean will work with your beer. Trying the base beer to get an idea of what flavors and aromas it has, greatly helps in trying to find a coffee that will either complement it or add enough contrast without being lopsided. I am only going to touch on the methods I have tried. You could also try adding coffee during the boil or during the mash, among many other methods.