Opening the third beer

So how did it turn out?

First of all it is a lively beer and by lively I mean explosive. No, none of my bottles have blown but the beer is definitely carbonated. It pours a robust, lingering head. The beer itself is actually light and refreshing with a small hint of honey. This is the first brew I’ve done that had sediment in the bottle. It didn’t detract from the flavor, it was just interesting. 

One friend who tasted it said, “it’s like summer.” 

Another review:

“Drank your brew last night under a Carolina Moon. The taste was smooth and clean. I poured the beer and a nice 2-inch head of frothy foam materialized but soon it settled down into a innocent-looking, reddish-brown brew. Your brew matched its rich color with a heavy mouthfeel. I wouldn’t call this a “session” beer, to be downed in multiples but one to be savored. A little stout for my taste but pretty darn good for a yankee-beer. ”

If you’ve had it, leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

What’s next?

It will be a take on Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Coffee and Doughnut Stout.

Brewing again

Made my first IPA last weekend. Tried some new stuff out and learned a few things.


I decided it was time to brew again. I wanted to try out brewing a modified Everyday IPA from Brooklyn Brew Shop.
The mash in and out went well but I changed a few things out when it came to sparging. I used a new, shallower top strainer lined with cheese cloth. This seemed to prevent the overflow problem I was having with my strainer. I still would like to build a new mash/sparge setup but I haven’t had the time lately.

During the boil I added my pelleted hops as directed by the recipe in 15 minute increments. The one change-up I made was I added honey at the start of the boil on a whim. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with that.

I still need to make a chiller too; for the time being I still use an ice bath to cool my hot wort.

I found my funnel and screen became clogged with hops when I poured the wort into the carboy. I had to stop and clear it twice to get the wort flowing again.

The other thing I noticed is that when I changed out my initial blow-off tube I had a hard crust of hops in the tube and around the neck of the carboy. The crust was blocking everything up. Usually I would leave it alone until I went to bottle but in this case it was so bad, about the thickness of a fist, that I had to clear it.

It’s a very cloudy, thick looking monstrosity at this point.

I’ll be bottling this Sunday…here’s hoping it turns out.

Wow...It's been a while.

Sorry it’s been a while. I’ve had a full plate in my real-non-brewing world.

 

So what’s been going on?

When we last left off we had just bottled our first brew. The question came up about the size of the bottles I use. The blue grolsch bottles are 16oz which gives me about 6 and 3/4 beers.

By now they should be ready for tasting. The instructions say two weeks…I like to leave them to mellow for about four weeks. I feel it gives the beer time to smooth out and really lets the flavors shine.

 My first beer was a Belgian dubble oaked with port wine. The flavors were just about what I was hoping for with the port and the dubble complimenting each other. They weighed in around 7-8%. Since this is one of my first brews I haven’t started checking gravity to get a good measure but I will soon.

So what did it look like?

I poured with a good foamy head and a red color. The taste was caramel and vanilla with the port throwing in a slight chocolate/grape note. I was able to get little to no sediment into the bottles which was great.

Overall I’m very happy with my first try at brewing and even happier that it was all grain. Next up a Chocolate Maple Porter from the Brooklyn Brew Shop.

Why should I follow?

When I started homebrewing in October I did lots of research, read lots of forums and magazine articles, talked to friends who homebrew (more on that in a future post) and really looked for information that could help me do it right. The issue I found was that almost all of the information that's out there is for brewing 5-gallon batches or greater. This makes sense of course because of the amount of work involved brewing 5-gallons or more at a time gives you a greater return for your investment.

I wish I could brew 5-gallon batches; not that I can't but I really don't have the space for it. I looked at doing a kit brew like Mr. Beer but I really have never had an interest in extract brewing. When I stumbled on the 1-gallon kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop I knew I had found what I was looking for.

With a small investment I was able to brew a great, fresh, all-grain brew. Why does this matter to you?

I plan to use this site to create a resource for all of the broom closet brewers out there. Let's face it there are some awesome resources out there for homebrewers but there are few for anyone brewing less than 5-gallons at a time. I really want to develop my own recipes because most of those out there are designed for large batches. On top of all of this not everyone can afford the cost of homebrew equipment or the space requirements. There are some cheaper methods to brew but some of them can be problematic.


Broom closet brewing is perfect for renters and apartment dwellers. You need nothing more than your stove, the water you drink, your ingredients, some small equipment for brewers and a place for your beer to mature. Trust me on this, the first time you pop open your beer, knowing the time and effort you put into it, it will be a memorable moment.

Stay tuned

The obligatory first post

You have to start somewhere...

I'm going to attempt to start blogging again. This is meant as a means to share my adventures in homebrewing and my love of the craft of creating beer.

I have to thank my dad for teaching me the pleasure of truly enjoying a beer. He taught me the craft and love that can go into a well made, real beer.

Late in 2011 I bought a one-gallon brew kit from the great people at The Brooklyn Brew Shop. My first time brewing beer and I decided to get into it head first by brewing all grain from the start. I had heard horror stories from some about all grain brewing but I was bound and determined to go all grain or go home.

For my day job I'm in the Coast Guard so I wanted to make sure that when I jumped into home brewing I could do it with minimal equipment to lug around the country as I continue with that career. The Brooklyn Brew Shop's kit fit the bill perfectly. All I needed to add was a couple of pots, a strainer, a funnel and some bottles.

I have to say that all grain brewing wasn't that hard and I now look forward to brewing a new batch all the time. Stay tuned and enjoy the adventure with me.