Heeeey, Remember Me?

Yes, me. The American Stout you brewed? The one with the yummy Cascade aroma additions? The one that has been sitting in your closet for a month and a half so those aroma additions might not be so aromatic. It's time to bottle before I lose much of my intended character.

Come on Kansas, Give the people what they want!

Push is on in Kansas to allow grocery stores to sell full-strength beer

When I was a youngin' in the great state of Kansas, with the buffalo, indians, tornados and backwards alcohol laws. We would make the 45 minute drive to cross the Missouri state line cause after 10pm you got nothing but macro, 3.2 macro. I know things could be a lot worse, we could live in a dry county, whatever.. After living the past decade in states with looser alcohol laws I see no benefit to limiting the consumer, they will find ways around it. Like taking money to the neighboring state.

Belgian Abbey Dubbel

This is my second attempt at Belgian Dubbel style. Early on in my home brewing career I attempted this style and went about it all wrong, rushed it to the bottle and it was not a very pleasant drinking experience. My first and only drain pour. This is my personal favorite Belgian style. Selina and I spent a weekend of our honeymoon in Brussels, visiting breweries and sampling as much of the beer culture we could. I prefer them to be dry and "digestible" as opposed to super malty or sweet. I created this recipe after reading "brew like a Monk" by Stan Hieronymus, using his tips to create more of a traditional abbey style dubbel.








5gal

OG 1.064

FG 1.011

ABV: 7%

EFF: 70%

12lb Belgian Pilsner Malt
1lb Dark Belgian Candy Syrup
8oz Special B
8oz White Sugar

Protein rest 130F 15 minutes, sac rest 149F 60 minutes, sparge 170F

90 minute boil

1oz Hallertau at 90 minutes

Large starter of Wyeast 1762
Ferment at 65F 10 days, let temp rise after third day
Condition at lager temp 1 month
Prime with fresh yeast and sugar.

Twitter

.. I joined it. "SlovakBrewer". Feel free to follow me like the lemming you are..

Home Brew BIF Brew Haul

Yesterday I received my package for the Home Brew BIF. I received 5 12oz home brews and 2 Pennsylvania brews. I was very excited to try the Troegs "Nugget Nectar" Imperial Amber Ale. I just brewed a Hoppy Amber and as you all know I LOVE hop forward beers of any kind. The Nugget Nectar was bottled 01/15 , less than a month old. I shared this with several other beer fans and it got unanimous approval. Super piny hops in the nose and throughout the mouth. As to be expected. I thought there would be more of a crystal malt presence but no matter, still a fantastic beer.

The home brew I received are the first 4 batches this brewer has ever done. All extract kits, Nut Brown, Spiced Winter, American Red and Porter. I am a big fan of porter's and brown ales so this package was not disappointment. I will post my reviews if the brewer is OK with that. I will also post the results of the Home Brew i forwarded on.

Red Beer - Hangover Cure!

We first moved to Chicago almost 6 years ago, we would spend plenty of nights at Nick's Beer Garden for cheap PBR as this was affordable. We have always added tomato juice or bloody mary mix to cheap beer to make it more quaffable. It is also known as an excellent hangover cure, much like a bloody mary. Every time we order a "red beer" the bar staff gives us that alien stare, every once in awhile they will try it and also like it.

Last night we were given the opportunity to do a "Hopcast" on the Bridges Media beers. Needless to say I enjoyed a red beer with my eggs this morning.

Carbonation at last!

It's been too freaking cold in Chicago, in the interest of saving money we have been keeping the thermostat at 65 (oddly IMO the perfect fermentation temp for most ales, get a sweater). One month ago I bottles a Czech Pils and Hoppy Amber, they were not getting any carbonation. I decided to move the bottles from my closet to reside underneath the kitchen table. Last night I cracked a Pils, a nice white head was produced that stuck around in some capacity for the duration of the beer. On previous tastings I indicated that the beer was under attenuated for a pils and had some sweetness that was not to style. Now it has a clean taste, no sweetness, just a slight hoppiness and mild breadiness you would expect from the style. I can't wait to get feedback on this one. Tonight I will open an Amber and pray for the carb fairy to work her magic.