Brewing and tasting for the win!
I took this back to basics and challenged myself to make a Lager with 2-row. I let the ingredients do the talking for me and see how it will turn out. When I milled the grain it smelled like marshmallows. I hope the beer turns out similarly.
I boiled for 90 minutes. I did an ounce of Tettnanger at 60 and an ounce of Hersbrucker at 20.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| 2 Row | 12 lbs |
A new bier to celebrate Oktoberfest is what the need calls for these days. I recently was gifted some grain and I wanted to put it to the test.
I kept the boil to 60 minutes and forgot to add the hops in until 30 minutes left with the boil. I did a half ounce at 30 and another half of Hersbrucker at 20.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| 2 Row | 12 lbs |
| CaraMunich I | 1 lbs |
Re-brewing this tasty treat. I wanted a light lager to serve at a birthday. This would fit the bill for me to have something lager-ish to serve. I really enjoyed how light this was and how easy it was to brew. A 1.052 original gravity. Added Chinook at the 60 min mark of a 90 min boil and finished off with some Hallertau.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Vienna | 7.5 lbs |
| Pilsner | 3 lbs |
| CaraMunich 3 | .5 lbs |
| CaraPils | .5 lbs |
The last brew of this went really well. With the next installment I wanted to use a new Lager yeast to enhance some of the roasty notes of this beer. A great roasty smell from the boil just lit up my senses. I hit this at 1.059 and it should turn out to be a 6% lager. I switched up the boil and left it to 60 mins. Hersbrucker hops in at 45 and 20 minutes. I’m glad I got this done in the morning before the heat of the sun kicked in.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Pilsner – German | 8 lbs |
| Munich Caramel | 3 lbs |
| Crystal 60 | 1 lb |
| German Carafa II | 5 oz |
| Melanoidin | .5 lb |
I am a member of a local beer club and I decided to throw my hat in the ring with a beer I had never heard of. This is a lager with a grain bill like a cream ale. Lots of corn in the mash and a 60-75 minute boil. I added 1.5 oz of Northern Brewer hops at 25 minutes. A very easy hop schedule to keep. I hope I can get this one similar to the other brewers and at least make something tasty.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| 2 Row | 6.25 lbs. |
| Flaked Corn | 2 lbs. |
| German – Chocolate Rye | .5 lbs. |
| Crystal 40 | .25 lbs. |
I wanted to re-brew this beer for the new year and didn’t get around to it until February. I kept the boil to 60 minutes and forgot to add the hops in until 30 minutes left with the boil. I did a half ounce at 30 and another half of Hersbrucker at 20. This made for an interesting flavor profile that was very aromatic and made the beer a bit sweeter than usual. I will remember that when I brew something I want to be sweeter and more aromatic. This beer turned out fantastic.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Pilsner | 5 lbs |
| Munich | 4 lbs |
| Vienna | 3 lbs |
This beer deserved a quick repeat. I let this beer go low and slow for about 8 weeks and it is going to take some time for me to get this into the keg for drinking. I wanted to make sure I had a good lead time on Oktoberfest.
I got this recipe from the award winning Munich Madness listing in Jamil Zainasheff and John J. Palmer’s book Brewing Classic Styles. Named for the German word for Mischief, I made a lot of it while drinking this beer.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Pilsner | 5 lbs |
| Munich | 4 lbs |
| Vienna | 3 lbs |
When I brewed the first Dopplebock DopFiend this year it was bad. I tried to save it, but it was not the quality I had hoped for. This re-brew I punched it down a bit and hoped the flavor would stay as roasty as I remembered all those years ago.
Hersbrucker hops introduced at the 60 minute mark of the 90 minute boil. A half ounce for 60 minutes and a half ounce at flame out. The brew went well on a hot summer day. I fulfilled my promise of brewing this again soon.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Pilsner – German | 8 lbs |
| Munich Caramel | 3 lbs |
| Crystal 60 | 1 lb |
| German Carafa II | 5 oz |
| Melanoidin | .5 lb |
This new recipe had me going through the usual research. Then I realized I had a great recipe to begin with and I just had to turn it on it’s head. The main research was in Vienna malt itself. Most brewers don’t want to use this much Vienna malt. I wanted to try a larger amount of the malt to get the most out of the flavor. Most disasters start with curious intentions, but with the volume I like to brew, those are good to have and learn from. Brewing is a zen reflection and a time when you pour gasoline on your character flaws. I had a little gremlin with me and had a boil-over that didn’t get too far. Just a sticky mess to clean up and usually only adds time at the end. A 1.040 gravity reading told me that the efficiency wasn’t there and I should have recirculated a bit. Added Chinook at the 60 min mark of a 90 min boil and finished off with some Hallertau. The Marzen I brewed earlier was a definite plus the weekend I brewed this beer.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Vienna | 7.5 lbs |
| Pilsner | 3 lbs |
| CaraMunich 3 | .5 lbs |
| CaraPils | .5 lbs |
I wanted to try out a new recipe. It’s great to make new recipes and and get out of my regular rotation. This is a Pilsner style with Vienna and Munich added for extra depth. I tried to come up with one of my usual edgy halfwit names. I settled on the first thing that came to mind. Magnum hops for bittering and Hallertau for aroma. It was an easy brew that just flew together with some reused yeast from a previous lager.
| Type of Ingredient | Amount |
| Pilsner Malt | 10 lbs |
| Vienna | .5 lbs |
| Munich | .5 lbs |
| CaraPils | .5 lbs |