Bring on the Kolsch

Today is another brew day.  Today we are making a Kolsch.  I figured something very clean and crisp.  I havent determined which hops I will be using. 

I also thought of a new idea that I will be working on for a few future brews.  I have decided to start my Element Series which will be a single hop wheat Pale Ale.  I decided to start with Callypso hops as my first hop and will try multiple varieties on other brews. 

Cheers until next time,

Matt

Pre Brew Day 12/22

So I plan on brewing tomorrow.  I am going to try and make a saison with the same grain bill as my Pale Ale, most likely with Saaz hops and some spices.  This is my first attempt at growing a yeast starter from my slants.  Hopefully everything will work out ok.  I will post some pictures tomorrow from Brew Day!!!

First Homebrew Win

I  usually do not enter home brew competitions but decided to enter one recently.  It is a good thing that I entered because I tied for first place.  I am pretty excited that I did so well.  The beer was the Timekeeper Pale Ale, which is a slight change from my 47.7 Pale Ale.  With the success of the last competation, I think that I will be entering a few more competations in the future. 

Two New Beers

I kegged the Okto Hef and put the Fresh Hop Harvest Ale in the secondary.  I am very pleased with the fresh hop ale, very good roast flavor and very balanced,  The hef is really yeasty right now, but I am interested on the flavor profile that will come out when it is not so thick.  The hef should be interesting because I used coriander in the boil.  Hopefully it will be ready to go before Brad's harvest party.

Cheers,

Matt

Fresh Hop Harvest Ale

So I completed my first fresh hop ale last weekend.  It is very satisfying to pick the hops and use them in the same beer.  A big thanks to C&P coffee for letting pick the hops from their plant.  Hopefully next year my own plant will produce some cones. 

The beer is a great copper color and I am excited to see how it turns out. Here are the pics from brewing.  So many hops have to be used for a fresh hop beer.

Great Trip to Larry's

Went to Larry's this morning and got all of the grain needed for my first fresh hop harvest ale.  Using some crystal 80, munich, and honey malt.  I feel really lucky that I was able to pick fresh hops from C&P to use tomorrow for brew day.  From vine to brew in 36 hours.  I will post some pictures of brew day tomorrow.

Until then
Clash

Back To Blogging

It has been way too long.  I haven't stopped brewing but just stopped blogging for a while.

Today, I had the chance to make something I have been trying to figure out for a while.  A decent gluten free beer.  I tried to mash in potato, rice, corn, and use some Belgian candy syrup. The OG was very low after this so I had to use multiple kinds of sugar to make it something worth drinking.  I hopped it with some Columbus and finished it with Saaz.  I am excited to see how this will turn out.  It is a nice color and smells great.

I have also been learning more about making yeast slants to preserve my yeast strains.  I have assembled my own little lab but I have not had the chance to use it yet.  I will keep you posted on that.

Right now, in the fermenter, I have a spicy Saison and on Tap, I have a Wheat PA.  The PA turned out wonderfully.  I will be using my blog more in the future and give updates on my brewing adventures.