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Our interest was largely inspired by time spent with Eric Schiff (a true cerevisaphile), while at Berkeley. 
DOLPM T.H. Madness Pumpkin Brewster Brown Ale Thirties Amber Tsammaweizen DOLPM Blackheart Stout The Christmas Bomb Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer Kit Return May 2008: DOLPM T.H. Madness.It's the cherry madness. Can't discuss it on the world wide web, but feel free to ask in person.2cans liquid light malt extract 1lb Brewers Gold dry malt extract 1lb Carapils (Dextrin) malt 1lb Domestic Vienna Malt 8oz Cherry Madness 2oz Domestic Mount Hood hops Wyeast London Ale activator pack 3/4cup corn sugar Activate the Wyeast package at least 4hrs before pitch time. Steep both grains in 1gal of 175degree water for 20min. Strain and sparge with hot water to 1.25gal. Stir frequently and bring to a boil and stir frequently. Stir in the extracts and 1oz of hops. Stir. Boil for 30 min. Add 1/2oz hops Boil for 20min. Stir. Add 1/2oz hops Boil for 10min. Stir. Put 1gal cold tap water in bucket fermenter. Ladle wort slowly through strainer into fermenter. Add cold tap water to 5gal mark. Take original gravity reading. Cool to 70-80 degrees, aerate with a large spoon, add cherry madness and yeast, and seal. Leave in primary fermenter for 7 days. Move to a secondary fermenter (glass carboy) for 7 days. Bottle with corn sugar and leave in closet for two weeks. Day 0: Had a good original gravity reading of 1.052. Used Rob Kreiger's primary fermenter. Rob put together the recipe-- adjustments were made based on convenience: 'Relax, have a homebrew.' Day 5: Slow start, then went nuts for a brief (1.25 day) period, and now back to slow. It's nuts. Good smells. Day 8: Transferred to the secondary fermenter. Had 1.021 gravity reading. Looks and behaves just like the Pumpkin Brewster at this point-- needs lots of settling. Tastes great though, so don't care that it's not beautiful. Day 15: Bottled it: tastes great, looks great. All of the sediment stayed at the bottom of the carboy, and we now have our cleanest brew yet (except maybe the kit one). Put an actual maraschino cherry in eight of the bottle. Will send two bottles (without the actual cherries) to next weekend's Haines Brew Festival for competition. A couple months later: Didn't place at the Haines Brew Festival (what do they know?), but got some pretty good comments. All of the beer was really good. Our only 'problem' was that, for the ones without the maraschinos (the ones with the maraschinos all turned out perfect), the cherry flavor wasn't very noticeable...and that they all got drunk (drunk? drank? dranken?...). Top October 2007: Pumpkin Brewster Brown Ale.A Fall beer with some gourd meat in it. Hopefully it will be good enough (and ready in time) for auction. We started with this recipe and adjusted mostly for convenience.3lb Brewers Gold dry malt extract 3lb extra light dry malt extract 1/2lb chocolate malt, cracked 1/2lb caramel 10, cracked 29oz canned pumpkin 1tsp "pumpkin pie" spice 1oz Centennial hops 1packet dry brewers yeast 3/4cup corn sugar Steep the Vienna and wheat malts in 0.75gal of 175degree water for 20min. Strain and sparge with hot water to 1.25gal. Turn on range and heat to 150degrees. Stir in the extracts, spice and canned pumpkin and bring to boil. Add hops when the boil is rolling, and continue on high for 45 minutes. Stir frequently. Ladle wort slowly through strainer into fermenter. Add cold tap water to 4.91782gal mark. Take original gravity reading. At 70-80 degrees, aerate with a large spoon, add yeast, and seal. When yeast activity slows, move to a secondary fermenter (glass carboy) for 5-7 days. Bottle with corn sugar and leave in closet for two weeks. Day 0: Had a good original gravity reading of 1.054. Had a taste of the wort before pitching the yeast-- I think it's gonna be good. Making a lot of noise in the fermenter! Day 7: Transferred to the secondary fermenter. Day 12: Strange activity (more lively than expected) and smells, Transferred back primary (now tertiary) fermenter. Bottled between the 15th and 20th day (I lost track). Final gravity: 1.018 or lower. A couple weeks later, after strange smells and concerns that something had gone terribly wrong, lot's of sediment and siphening issues, getting hosed down with it, and heated arguments about what to do with it, the Pumpkin Brewster lives. At one point we had a green-apple smell coming off of it in the primary fermenter, which made us concerned, but I've thought about each step, and I'm sure it was properly sanitized. When dealing with non-traditional brews (like one with a can of pumpkin dropped in it), I think we'll never know what smells and looks "right" during fermentation. I'm no expert, but I don't think anyone else could know either, that's one thing that makes it interesting. Rob Kreiger, the DOLPM expert, provided moral support throughout, and tested it out for us, giving it the thumbs up for drinkability. It's not a great beer, and it certainly has some distinctly amateur elements (lots of crazy sediment (your very own sandcastle with every bottle) and a little bit of an iodine taste (may go away a little with aging)), but it's definitely drinkable, and it's got enough alcohol, so it's good enough for me. We can't taste much or any pumpkin in it, but pumpkin's not a really strong taste. When I drank the first couple I said it was similar to the DOLPM Blackheart, but then last night I had my last Blackheart-- it's on a completely different level than anything else we've done-- the Blackheart is gold. The Pumpkin Brewster's not bad though-- it'll give you a nice buzz and help you sleep better. May, 2008: Had a couple of these this month, and they have gotten much better with age. Tastes much better than I remembered. Careful pouring gives a dark, but clean, reddish beer. Top August 2007: Thirties Amber.We wanted to do a more traditional West Coast brew this time, so put together an amber with some bite. It's my thirtieth birthday in a couple days, so we added thirty spruce tips that were saved in the freezer from June...nice.5.5lb sparkling amber dry malt extract 1lb Vienna malt, cracked 30 spruce tips 1oz Fuggles hops 1/2oz Tettnanger hops 1packet dry brewers yeast 3/4cup corn sugar Steep the Vienna malt in 0.75gal of 175degree water for 20min. Strain and sparge with hot water to 1.25gal. Turn on range and heat to 150degrees. Add the extract and bring to boil. Add fuggles when the boil is rolling, and continue on medium for 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Add spruce tips and continue boiling for 15 minutes. Stir frequently. Add Tettnanger hops and boil for 15 more minutes. Stir frequently. Put 1 gallon cold water into fermenter. Ladle wort slowly through strainer into fermenter. Add cold tap water to ~5gal mark. Take original gravity reading. At 70-80 degrees, aerate with a large spoon, add yeast, and seal. When yeast activity slows, move to a secondary fermenter (glass carboy) for 5-7 days. Bottle with corn sugar and leave in closet for two weeks. Day 0: Had an original gravity reading of 1.04, a little lower than we hoped, but not bad. Had a taste of the wort before pitching the yeast, and it has a definite bite at this point...Month later: it was in the primary for 7 days and the secondary for 7+. It's a good beer, but a little bit of wortiness I think-- am hoping that age will fix this. Looks great and the bubbles are perfect. Can definitely taste some spruce. October: better and better. May, 2008: Coming to the end of these-- I really liked them, a nice normal amber. Top May 2007: Tsammaweizen. Won Bronze at Juneau's 2007 Autumn Pour!Last summer we enjoyed a watermelon wheat beer at San Francisco's 21st Amendment, so we decided to make our own version, but a little heavier for the Juneau clime.1can wheat liquid malt extract 3lb extra light dry malt extract 1lb Vienna malt, cracked 1lb wheat malt, cracked 1 medium watermelon 1oz Fuggles hops 1oz Tettnanger hops 1packet dry brewers yeast 3/4cup corn sugar Steep the Vienna and wheat malts in 0.75gal of 175degree water for 15min. Strain and sparge with hot water to 1.25gal. Turn on range and heat to 150degrees. Add the extracts and bring to boil. Add fuggles when the boil is rolling, and continue on high for 45 minutes. Stir frequently. Cut up watermelon and puree in a blender. Strain juice through strainer into wort. Add Tettnanger hops and continue boiling the wort for 15 minutes. Stir frequently. Put 1 gallon cold water into fermenter. Ladle wort slowly through strainer into fermenter. Add cold tap water to ~5gal mark. Take original gravity reading. At 70-80 degrees, aerate with a large spoon, add yeast, and seal. When yeast activity slows, move to a secondary fermenter (glass carboy) for 5-7 days. Bottle with corn sugar and leave in closet for two weeks. Had an original gravity reading of 1.046, and "final" gravity of 1.021 (but I think the final final gravity was somewhat lower). Have had a few bottles, and we like it a lot, but there's something a little weird about it that we can't pin down-- sometimes we love it, and sometimes, not so much. Has good body, a little bite from the alcohol and hops, and sweetness from the watermelon. Color and opacity is characteristic for an unfiltered wheat, with the addition of some pink. Carbonation is perfect...(month later)...Have had several more bottles, and we love it-- it's nectar. Top January 2007: DOLPM Blackheart Stout.After the less than unique wheat kit, and the well intentioned but less-than-carefully managed Christmas Bomb, we decided to get a little more serious and do something nice. Luckily, a small group of large minds known only as the DOLPM decided to unite in support of this next brew. We hope that it can be used by the DOLPM to battle the Juneau wind, rain and snow.Our initial plan was to do a stout with molasses, but in honor of Valentine's Day, Ivonne and I decided that some chocolate would be great, hence the DOLPM Blackheart Stout is fittingly a chocolate stout. There are other Blackheart Stouts, but this is the DOLPM Blackheart Stout. In addition to the expertise of the DOLPM, we built the beer with help from the Beer Recipator Spreadsheet, which is an outstanding resource. 1can light liquid malt extract 3lb light dry malt extract 4/3lb American chocolate malt, cracked (350L) 2/3lb Roasted barley, cracked (300L) 8oz chocolate syrup 1oz Fuggles hops 1oz Kent Goldings hops 1packet dry brewers yeast 3/4cup corn sugar Steep the chocolate malt and the roasted barley in 1.5gal of 175degree water for 15min. Strain and sparge with hot water to 3gal. Turn on range and heat to 150degrees. Add the extracts and the chocolate syrup. Add fuggles when the boil is rolling, and continue on high for 45 minutes. Stir frequently. Add Kent Goldings hops and continue boiling the wort for 15 minutes. Stir frequently. Put 1 gallon cold water into fermenter. Ladle wort slowly through strainer into fermenter. Add cold tap water to ~5gal mark. Take original gravity reading. At 70-80 degrees, aerate with a large spoon, add yeast, and seal. When yeast activity slows, move to a secondary fermenter (glass carboy) for 5-7 days. Bottle with corn sugar and leave in closet for two weeks. Had an original gravity reading of 1.058-- very happy about this. Left it in the primary fermenter for eight days, and have a gravity reading of 1.026, yielding ~4.1% alcohol. Left it in the secondary fermenter for five days before bottling, to clear out some of the sediment. The gravity reading at bottling was an unchanged 1.026. We weren't sure if the yeast would be able to eat the chocolate syrup (I now think the syrup just settled to the bottom, uneaten, but would matter very little either way). After a taste out of the primary, I was sure it was good-- oishii desu. It reminded me of a cream stout. I then had a taste out of the secondary fermenter, and found that it gained a smoky flavor. Finally, after bottling and carbonation (outstanding head-- tall and frothy), we're left with a great stout. The key to this beer's success was certainly the expertise of DOLPM Associate Rob Kreiger-- the best home brewer I know-- he trained with a fabled master in the far-reaches of SW AK, and he brews with great precision and intensity. November, 2007: Just had one last bottle, and nothing else we've done comes close to this. Top November 2006: Christmas Spice Ale with Amber Extract as a Base (aka The Christmas Bomb).We went through 46 bottles of the wheat beer, so for our second brew, and for Christmas, we decided to do something a little more interesting...perhaps too interesting.Rob directed me to a great online beer recipe database, and using ideas from recipes in the "Special" recipe section, we put together a recipe-- unfortunately we didn't use the spreadsheet program, as that would have given us much better proportions. What we had in our kitchen cabinets had a large impact on our recipe decision making: 1can Thomas Coopers Amber Malt Extract 1lb honey malt (color 2.5L) 1lb Vienna malt (color 3.5L) 3/4lb Bavarian Weizen malt (color 8L) 2oz Tettnanger hops 12oz honey 4- 6" cinnamon sticks 1oz grated ginger 1oz grated orange peel 10 all spice balls 1tsp ground nutmeg 1tbsp cardamon 1 packet dry brewers yeast 3/4 cup corn sugar Boil 2gal water with the honey malt, Bavarian and Vienna malts for 15 minutes. Add Cinnamon, ginger, orange peel, all spice, nutmeg, cardamon, and 1oz hops. Continue to boil for 30 minutes. Add honey and boil for 10 minutes. Add remaining hops and can of Amber malt extract and boil for 2 minutes. Strain out the large sediment. Pour into fermenter and cool with 5 (should instead try 4-4.5 first) gallons of water to 70-80 degrees. Take gravity reading, add yeast, seal fermenter, and place in the 70 degree closet. Take periodic gravity readings after 5 days until the values flatten out. Bottle with corn sugar and leave in closet for two weeks. Had a disappointingly low 1.022 original gravity reading, which after seven days has lowered to 1.011 for just 2.1% alcohol...so lame...this means many trips to the lavatory. Bottled it on the eighth day, had a lot of trouble getting siphens. Had a taste: awful-- like a bottle of perfume, but who knows what will happen?. We'll soon see if it was worth all of the labor, I have doubts. Looked at the bottles on the eleventh day: at first I thought they had a good darkness, then I turned a bottle over and there were so many floaties! It looked like twigs and dirt in there! Reminded me of an Indonesian home remedy called arat, which has old (decades old) sticks and bugs and what-have-yous in it. I like some sediment, but this is sort of ridiculous. Had a few glasses between the second and third weeks, and am more and more pleased-- I'm enjoying it even more than the Hef we did. The spice taste is relatively strong, but that's what we wanted. It's great for Christmas. Good head, though we have to be careful to not pour the bottom sediment into the glass. I'd like 4-5% alcohol next time. May, 2008: Had the last bottle today-- a big 22oz-- it was beautiful in the glasses, like a dark champagne-- head stayed while I drank the first one and second (wanted to pour them at once to keep the sediment down). Tasted great-- kind of like a cider. Fairly low alcohol, but the two gave me a little buzz. A big, gray something-or-other came out when I was cleaning the bottle. Top October 2006: Thomas Coopers (Australian) Wheat Beer Kit.This is our first brew. I got brewing supplies as a belated birthday gift from Ivonne.Everything came from "Gourmet Alaska", a kitchen supply store in Juneau's "Nugget Mall". We both love wheat beer, as it has two of our favorite qualities: sediment and smoothness (our other favorite quality is coffee/chocolate flavor-- I love stouts and porters on nitrogen tap). Since we had no brewing experience, we followed the Coopers kit's instructions to the letter, with Ivonne as the director and me as the labor. Coopers is a popular brand for home brewing, and I've been told that this is the result of relatively high taxes on beer sales in Australia, and a resultant high demand for home brewing products, which Coopers took advantage of. It's a very simple heating of the grain/hop extract to a boil, then immediate cooling in the five gallon fermenter. We used tap water from our bathtub for enough space and quick cooling. We cooled it very efficiently with our Juneau tap in fact, and added ~.1 more gallons of water to get it back up to ~65 degrees (this was unecessary, and just watered down the beer a little). Original specific gravity was 1.026-- low, but not very low for a wheat beer. Let the fermenter do it's work in the privacy of our closet, after seven days the specific gravity got down to 1.013, for an alcohol content of just 2.3%. Here is a great website that explains the alcohol content that is yielded by given conditions. Bottled it on the seventh day, which is always my favorite part of brewery tours, so was fun to do-- 50 bottles of beer in our closet. Had a taste of it before bottling and any carbonation, and was a little disappointed with the flavor, but hoped for improvement in the bottle. After a week in the bottle it was much better, if only for the bubbles. As the weeks went on it improved more and more. Rob, a friend and amazing brewer (best home-brewer I know) from work had a taste of it after a month and a half, and generously commented that he enjoyed it, and that it had all the elements of a good wheat beer, but that there should be great improvement with the addition of wheat flakes and/or other specialty grains. Overall we're pleased, will save two bottles to taste again in a year. Top |