West of Eden Britannia Ale

I really like British Ales like Newcastle or Bass. They are slightly hoppier than the usual pub fare like Irish Red and come with lots of malty flavor. Here is my interpretation of this style of beers. I used some Caramel Malt and Dark Munich to give it some nice brown color. Not to forget some true Victory Malt for authenticity. Hop schedule include East Kent Golding, topped off with Perle for aroma. Most importantly, I got my hands on some London Ale yeast. To my experience the yeast makes all the difference for flavor and texture, so I'm really looking forward how this one turns out!

BREW DATE: 05/15/2017

BOTTLING DATE: 06/14/2017

GRAIN BILL: 12lbs total

-6lbs Briess 2 row Malt

-2lbs Dark Munich Malt

-2lbs Vienna Malt
-1lb Caramel 40l
-1lb Victory Malt

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 165F, Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz East Kent Golding

-30min 1oz East Kent Golding

-5min 1oz Perle

OG: 13.5 brix for 16l wort filled up to 23l => alcohol content should come out at 5.2%.

YEAST: Wyeast London Ale III

TASTE NOTES: Wow this one has tons of malt flavors, some licorice undertones and very subtle but still noticeable hops. Very nice! Unfortunately this yeast doesn't clear very well so the end product is quite hazy. Doesn't subtract from the flavor, but to be real I would have like it to be more clear. Also the head retention isn't quite there. Something the Brits don't really care about anyways, but I kind of like it with a little more head. 

Quite hazy, but still tasty! Keep calm and Carry On!

Fool's Wit #4

My 4th iteration of this West Coast Style Belgian Witbeer. This time I changed the mash-in to a higher temp compared to before (165F), since I had some conversion issues in the previous batch. Unfortunately I couldn't get my hand on Hallertau leaf hops, so I substituted those with Hallertau/Tettnang pellets. See how that goes! Looking forward to this refreshing style beer which tastes superb after a hard workout or some backyard work!

BREW DATE: 03/26/2017

BOTTLING DATE: 04/16/2017

GRAIN BILL: 12lbs total

-4lbs Pilsener Malt

-4lbs Rahr 2-row Malt

-4lbs White Wheat Malt

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 165F. Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz German Hallertau pellets

-30min 1oz German Tettnang pellets

-10min 1oz Cascade Leaf hops

OG: 13.2 brix for 12.5l wort filled up to 23l => alcohol content should come out at 3.7%. Pretty light but I think it will come out higher based on previous experience.

YEAST: Wyeast Belgian Witbeer

TASTE NOTES: Came out quite nice, even though gravity was low. This time I got some more citrus flavors compared to previously. The hops are a little overwhelming, something to keep in mind when making light summer beers. 

Fool's Wit #4!

West of Eden IPA

Time for a true IPA! This time I'm aiming for a high gravity beer that has lots of body and flavor. I love Cascade hops, it gives this very nice citrusy / piney flavor without being overwhelming. So this beer will have ONLY Cascade! 

BREW DATE: 1/22/2017

BOTTLING DATE: 03/19/2017 transferred to secondary after 3 weeks, then 5 weeks conditioning on the secondary.

GRAIN BILL: 13.5lbs total + 2lbs DME

-2lbs Rahr Red Wheat Malt

-3lbs Weyermann Vienna Malt

-7lbs Briess Pale Ale Malt

-1.5lbs 6-row Jarvis Malt (what was left from my 2016 backyard harvest)

-2lbs Briess Sparkling Amber DME

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 160F, no mash-out. Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz Cascade

-30min 1oz Cascade

-5min 2oz Cascade

Dry hopped after 1 week fermentation with 1oz Cascade

OG: 20.5 brix for 13.5l wort filled up to 22l => alcohol content should come out at 6.9%.

YEAST: Wyeast American Ale 1056

TASTE NOTES: Came out great! One of the best Pale Ales I ever made, except it is still not a true IPA. Those usually have stronger hops, but in hindsight I'm not at all worried about it. Still tastes great!

West of Eden Porter

Winter time is here! I always think Porter is the ideal winter beer. You're looking for a smooth and velvety, ink dark brew, with great malt notes and a thick and dense head that will give you a great foam mustache. Awesome in front of a fire place! The key is to balance hops and malt so that none dominates the other but rather play in perfect harmony. A real winter warmer also need to have some punch to it, looking for an alcohol content of 6% or more. I added some Malt extract to spike the gravity a bit, unfortunately with my equipment I don't seem to be able to extract all the sugars when going above 9lbs of grain. 

BREW DATE: 12/10/2016

BOTTLING DATE: 01/08/2017 after 1 week in the secondary fermenter

GRAIN BILL: 13lbs total

-6lbs Rahr 2-row Malt

-2lbs Jarvis 6-row Malt

-3lbs Weyermann Dark Munich Malt

-1lb Caramel 60L Malt

-1lb Chocolate 110L Malt

-1lb Briess Amber 10L DME

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 155F, Mash-out 10 min at 170F. Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz German Hallertauer Mittelfrueh

-30min 1oz German Tettnang

OG: 19.5 brix for 12l wort filled up to 20l => alcohol content should come out at 6.4%.

YEAST: Wyeast Ringwood Ale

TASTE NOTES: Awesome! This one came out great with loads of flavors, toffee, malt, caramel, mocha and just very slight noble bitterness as expected from the hops addition.