Chocolate Stout

At the request of the MIL who had one in Australia I have brewed a chocolate stout. I did some research and came up with my own recipe.

Pat's Polish Stout
1 can Mr Beer St. Patrick's Irish Stout Beer Mix
1 can Mr Beer Creamy Brown Extract
1.5 oz unsweetened baker's chocolate
1/2 c. brown sugar (packed)
Liquid Stout Yeast
2 gallons spring water

Brew according to the Mocha Cherry Stout recipe on Mr Beer.com (obviously minus the cherries). I plan to let it ferment for 3 weeks then bottle. I'll let it bottle condition for 8 weeks. So it should be ready to drink by Halloween - seems like just the right time for a stout.

Cherry Wheat Beer

Last weekend I bottled the cherry wheat beer. When I did the pre-carbonation taste test (you always taste before you bottle to make sure the yeast have consumed the bulk of the fermentable sugars, if it tastes like flat beer, you are good to bottle) I discovered that I had potentially the best beer I have brewed thus far. I'm really eager to taste it. It has been carbonating for a week now and I'm really tempted to put a bottle in the fridge so I can try it tomorrow but I think I'll have an even better result if I wait until next weekend. This is the toughest part for me of home brewing. When it is in the keg I know it isn't drinkable so I sort of forget about it but when it goes into the bottles it suddenly becomes BEER! and I want to be able to taste it.

I still need to brew the Chocolate Stout. I think as long as it is ready by Thanksgiving the MIL will forgive me. If I get it in the keg tomorrow we should be ok.

Whoops

As I mentioned, I brewed a cherry wheat beer last weekend. Unfortunately, I had a beer'splosion on Sunday night. I used too much yeast. When I went to bed on Sunday it was bubbling like mad and dripping a little foam down the side of the brew keg so I put a few paper towels under the keg and thought it would be fine. The Wife couldn't sleep and came downstairs for a snack. She heard a strange noise, did some investigating, and discovered that the beer was spewing all over the dining room wall. She moved the keg into the sink, put a cookie sheet up against it to contain the spew, and wrote me a nice little note. Fortunately she knew not to open the keg so the beer should be fine. I can bottle it on August 3.

Bottling day

Today I am bottling the 2 batches of beer I brewed 2 weeks ago. The West Coast Pale Ale is already in bottles and the keg of Vienna Lager is on the counter waiting for me to get started (I need to wash and sanitize the bottles first and the Phillies game is on so I'm torn.) I had The Wife confirm that the Vienna Lager wasn't sweet (which means that the beer needs to ferment a little longer) and she referred to it as "swill." I told her she couldn't have any when it was done. I think these batches will be good. I didn't get any hint of off flavors when I tasted both beers before bottling.

Beer brewing: bottling batch #2

Last weekend I bottled batch number 2 of home-brewed beer. I've been working my way through the first batch which isn't great but hey, it's beer. It is very carbonated for beer so this time I cut down on the priming sugar. The "recipe" recomends 2.5 teaspoons of table sugar per 1 liter bottle so this time I used 2 teaspoons. So far it seems to be carbonating on schedule (I bottle using plastic bottles and you can check the carbonation by squeezing the bottles to see how hard they are.) This batch is also an all malt recipe (the first batch used the maltodextrin "booster" that comes with the Mr. Beer Kit) so I'm hoping for a more flavorful beer this time. The Wife's birthday party is next Saturday so in addition to the Yuengling there will be home brew. I'm rather reluctant to share the home brew but some serious beer drinkers will be attending so I have to see what they think.

More beer brewing

I brewed another batch of beer on Sunday - West Coast Pale Ale with light dry malt extract. It is bubbling away right now and I feel compelled to visit it each evening before I go to bed. The batch I bottled a few weeks ago has improved from the first bottle I opened. It is still pretty carbonated for beer so I'll have to experiment with the amount of priming sugar that I use. The new batch will be ready in time for The Wife's birthday party so if you are coming you are welcome to try it. But don't worry, there will be commercial beer (and wine) too.