Beer Name: Nut Brown Ale (Northern Brewer kit)
Grains: 1/4 lb. UK Chocolate
1/4 lb. DWC Special "B"
1/4 lb. DWC Biscuit
1/4 lb. Special Roast
Malt Extract: 6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
Hops: 1 oz. Perle (60 min)
1 oz. Fuggle (1-2 min)
Misc.: 1 lb. Dark Brown Sugar (added late, maybe with 20 min left in boil)
Yeast: Wyeast London Ale #1028
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
01/10/01 01/15/01 02/12/01
Gravity:
% Alcohol: DID NOT TAKE Hydrometer readings for this batch
% Sugar:
Temp of reading:
Notes:
First bottle: 2/23 good flavor, little carbonation
Second bottle: 2/28 a little better
2/28 Jeff s was fully carbonated.
Mine took 3 weeks to fully carbonated as they were cooler in my house (I was on vacation and set the temp lower in my house).
05/09/01 Last bottle. Still ok but possibly starting to go bad. Sad to see it go.
Beer Name: Dry Irish Stout NB kit
Grains: 1 lb. Roasted Barley
Malt Extract: 6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
Hops: 1 oz. Chinook (60 min)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (1-2 min)
Yeast: Wyeast Irish Ale #1084
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 02/28/01 Wed 03/08/01 Thurs 03/21/01 Wed
Gravity: 1.040 1.020 1.019
% Alcohol: 6 2.3 2
% Sugar: 10 4.5 5
Temp of reading:
Notes:
Sampled Moose Drool
Grains: 1/2 lb. DWC Caramel Pilsner
1/4 lb. US Special Roast
1/8 lb. DWC Biscuit Malt
1/8 lb. UK Chocolate Malt
Malt Extract: 6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
Hops: 1 oz. Northern Brewer (60 min)
1 oz. Willamette (1-2 min)
Misc.:
Yeast: Wyeast American Ale II #1272
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 3/26/01 Mon. 04/04/01 Wed 04/21/01
Gravity: 1.042 1.010
% Alcohol: 5.75 1.5
% Sugar: 10.5 3.5
Temp of reading:
Notes:
05/04 first bottle. Carbonated but taste not that great.
05/11 much better now after one more week.
10/20/01 still very good. One bottle left.
Beer Name: Honey Weizen (Midwest Supply kit)
Grains: 1/2 pound of Carapils malt
Malt Extract: 6 pounds of Wheat malt extract,
Hops: 1 oz. Saaz bittering hops, 1 oz. Saaz aroma hops
Misc.: 2 lbs of Minnesota Clover Honey with about 15 min left in boil ( )
Yeast: Weinhenstephan Wheat Pitchable Tube or maybe it was #730WL White Lab Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 04/21/01 Sat. 04/29/01 Sun. 05/21 Mon.
Gravity: 1.050 1.011
% Alcohol: 7 1.5
% Sugar: 13 2.5
Temp of reading:
Notes:
11/14/01 Last one. Still excellent. Slightly cloudy, bite. Good as ever.
Beer Name: Liberty Cream Ale (Midwest Supply kit)
Grains: 1/2 lb. Carapils,
Malt Extract: Gold malt extract,
Hops: 1oz. Cascade bittering hops, 1oz. Cascade aroma hops
Misc.:
Yeast: American Ale Pitchable Tube WYeast
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 05/06/01 Sun. 05/13/01 05/28/01 Mon.
Gravity: 1.038 1.010
% Alcohol: 5 1
% Sugar: 10 1.5
Temp of reading:
Notes:
First batch I brewed entirely by myself.
Bought second carboy.
Was a very drinkable, pretty smooth, semi sweet beer.
Beer Name: British Pale Ale (Hanson s Homebrew kit)
Grains: ?
Malt Extract: ?
Hops: ?
Misc.:
Yeast: dry yeast
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 06/05/01 Tues. 06/16/01 Sat. 07/10/01 Tues.
Gravity: 1.038 1.020
% Alcohol: 5
% Sugar: 9.5
Temp of reading:
Notes:
final OG was kind of high but they said to go ahead and bottle.
7/31 after a few weeks in bottle, still bitter, medicine, pine needle kind of taste. NB guys said might be from too strong of bittering hops and/or incomplete fermentation due to bad yeast. Will age more and see if it improves.
House got to be 85 degrees and think that affected it too.
Tried last one in 3/02 and it was worse than ever. Dumped it and finally got rid of this bad batch.
Beer Name: Belgian Dubbel (NB kit)
Grains: 1/4 lb. DWC CaraMunich
1/4 lb. DWC Special "B"
Malt Extract: 6.6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
1 lb. Light DME
Hops: 1 oz. Styrian Goldings (60)
1 oz. Saaz (1-2 min)
Misc.: 1 lb. Dark Belgian Candi Sugar
Yeast: Wyeast Belgian Strong Ale #1388
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 08/02/01 08/11/01 10/20/01
Gravity: 1.060 1.065 1.014 1.012
% Alcohol: 8 8.5 2 1.8
% Sugar: 15 3.5 3
Temp of reading: 90 Adjusted for temp
Notes:
Had hard time getting wort to cool down to below 80 deg. Still at 88 deg. After 1 hr 10 min post boiling time. It s too hot!
Hydrom is off 30 deg. from 60. add .002-.003 for each 10 deg. You are different, so 1.067
4/05/02 Ended up being one of my favorites so far. Got 4th place in NB s Forum reader contest (out of 10 ) Got good feedback on score sheets.
Will hold some to age and see how taste changes.
08/09/03 Saved last bottle until it was over 2 years old. Still suitable head with ruby red/orange color. Aroma totally different. Barnyard, complex, like a true Trappist Dubbel. Not sweet. Acidic Edgy. Malt flavor is gone. Replaced with complex gueze-like musty, funky, sour acidity, tangy, dried fruit. Pungent. So much different. Not like a dubbel. More like a Belgian where they mix old and new beer (lambic). Very interesting. Should have kept more. What would it be like in 3 years?
Beer Name: St. Paul Porter (NB Kit)
Grains: 1/2 lb. UK Dark Crystal
1/2 lb. UK Chocolate
Malt Extract: 6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
1 lb. Dark DME
Hops: 1 oz. Chinook (60 min)
1 oz. Cascade (1-2 min)
Misc.:
Yeast: Wyeast Ringwood Ale #1187
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 9/04/01 09/09/01 10/01/01
Gravity: 1.052 1.016
% Alcohol: 6.5 2
% Sugar: 12 4.5
Temp of reading:
Notes:
Tasted Winehaven mead.
Beer Name: Big Ass Barley Wine (NB Kit)
Click pic for larger version.
Grains: 1/2 lb. DWC Special "B"
1/2 lb. DWC Biscuit
Malt Extract: 6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
6 lbs. Dark Malt Syrup
Hops: 1 oz. Target Hops (60 min)
1 oz. Cascade Hops (30 min)
1 oz. Fuggle Hops (1-2 min)
Yeast: Wyeast American Ale #1056. First time made gallon yeast starter.
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: Bottle Date:
Date: 10/21/01 11/02/01 06/01/02
Gravity: 1.089 1.024 1.026
% Alcohol: 12 3 3.5
% Sugar: 22 6.5 7
Temp of reading: 66 68 68
Notes:
Did by myself.
11/02/01 First taste. Strong, warm, full mouth up front. Pleasant finish. Can taste that 9% alcohol. Wow. This tastes great already.
06/01/02 Added smack pack 1056 before bottling. Took hydrom when first beer was racked into
bucket (before priming sugar, before smack pack). Then added priming sug. and yeast (also stirred with sanitized spoon.)
Thought it was perhaps not low enough but checked style guidelines for BW and finishing is 1.020-1.030+ so it is between there.
Taste is great. Little sweet. Not over powerfully hoppy which is what I wanted. Strong, rich. Should get better with some carbonation as well as more aging.
I hope pitching yeast right before bottling does not make it over carbonated. Hope it was done fermenting. Maybe that is also why a guy recommended to pitch 2 days before bottle. Other guy at NB said, no, just put it in bottling bucket. That made most sense to me so that is what I did. Sucks to pay $4 for yeast just to bottle. Maybe will get into harvesting and saving yeast some day.
06/18/02 First taste with Peter. Carbonated already. Smoky taste that surprised me. Like Scottish Ale. Hopefully smokiness will mellow.
09/11/03 Still have a handful of these left. Will taste this fall/winter and hopefully update this page.
Click pic for larger version.
This is some of the rhubarb mead, photo taken June 2005. It tastes better now than it ever has. Some of the sharpness has mellowed and it's much more enjoyable.
Grains: n/a
Malt Extract: n/a
Hops: n/a
Misc.:
Yeast: not sure what we got from NB but I think we would have said sweet if they had asked, so maybe we got a sweet mead pitchable tube ( )
Brew Date: Rack to Secondary: 3rd Ferment Bottle Date:
Date: 12/08/01 01/19/02 04/28/02 10/01/02
Gravity: 1.100 1.012 1.005 1.002
% Alcohol: 14.25 1.75 1 .25
% Sugar: 26 3 1.5 .5
Temp of reading: 72
Notes:
Forgot to take reading so I did it 1 hr after pitching yeast.
Used 12 lbs. of Jeff s 50 lb bucket of unfiltered honey.
04/28/02 Clearing nicely. Taste: strong, sweet, with a warm alcohol finish, like wine or liquor. Also has kind of a sharp edge that I m guessing will mellow with time and is the reason people say mead takes so long to mature. Overall it is looking good for this fall.
08/23/02 Tasted couple ounces with Jeff. Wonderful. Pretty clear. Strong, sweet, warming, delicious. Still can see how a little more time will take the edge down a little.
10/01/02 Tasted sweet at first, then a little dryer on finish. Not cloyingly sweet. Bottled 3 gallons. Added 8 cups (1/2 gallon) of rhubarb juice to remaining 2 gallons. Will see what happens.
01/09/03 Bottled 2 gallons of rhubarb mead. Added cup of Splenda to make it a little sweeter. Taste after added was pretty good, a touch sweet but still with rhubarb sourness. Will be interesting to see how it ages.