Chocolate Porter

So after a couple month hiatus of brewing, I'm going to a brew a chocolate porter using some cocoa nibs from Theo Chocolate in Seattle.  (If you are ever in Seattle, check them out - they are truly awesome!)

I've never used nibs in my beer so this will be interesting.  My question to any readers out there is whether you have had better results dropping the nibs into secondary, or during primary fermentation?  Or do you prefer to put in at end of boil?

And roughly what amount of nibs do you use for a 5 gallon batch?

Thanks for any comments!

Nugget Harvest

I harvested my Nugget hops today with the help of my 3 year old daughter. After drying I ended up with a little over 3lbs which is much better than last year, and the hop cones were much larger this year as well.  Can't wait to split up the rhizomes and hopefully double the amount again next year.  More importantly, I can't wait to brew with these hops, they smell great!

 

2011 Hop Crop

My two year old Nugget hops have taken off like gangbusters this year.  It is looking like I may have 10X the amount of hops as last year.  

It's funny to see reactions of people who come to my front door when they see the hops.  Most people wouldn't know what hop plants look like.  But almost everyone seems to know what a marijuana bud looks like. When they see the big hop buds they get a very puzzled/interested look on their faces.  "Can this guy really be growing pot in his front yard?!"   The A/C repair guys came out last week and I could see them eyeing the hops before I got to the door and questioning each other about what they were.  I answered the door and they clammed up.  I mentioned that I saw them looking at the plants and mentioned that they were hops for brewing beer.  One of them replied - "Oh cool.  We thought they were something else - but beer is good too!"

Anyway, here are some photos of my Nugget hops..

Homebrewing: It's in My Latvian Blood

I was recently leafing through some of the memoirs written by my grandfather, who was from Latvia. Though most of the memoirs are in Latvian and have yet to be translated, there was a particularly interesting passage describing his obligatory entry into Latvian military in 1928.  He had been selected for the main headquarters company in Riga, which was tasked with guarding the Presidential palace, Ministry of Defense, and Parliament.  He describes his first day as a soldier:

"We repeated the oath being read by the company clerk.  We signed the oath with our right hand while holding a rifle in the left.  Thus, we became full-fledged soldiers in the Latvian army who would be responsible for order and freedom of Latvia, and give our lives to protect it. Then we paraded in front of the officers.  After that we were given a feast:  soup, roast, vegetable, rice pudding with cranberry sauce, and a bottle of beer.  That was my first bottle of beer that I had tasted.  Up to then I had only had home brewed beer."

My father had told me that typically, at least in the farming communities where my family was from, beer was brewed by the women of the household as part of the regular cooking and household duties.  In addition to brewing for the household, it was especially important for the many different festivals such as the St. John's day celebrations.  All the different households would bring their home brewed beers.  So there was much variety, both from household to household, but also by region as well.

I've always thought about trying to brew a Latvian style of beer but don't speak Latvian, and haven't been able to find an authentic looking recipe. (Most I have seen are from Estonia or Lithuania)  From what I have seen, I imagine the beers were probably wheat based, bittered with whatever flowers or herbs were native to the area.  Would appreciate any information, if anyone happens to know of styles or recipes representative of the type of farmhouse beer that would have been brewed in the late 1800's and early 1900's in Latvia.

Uz veselību!

Cabernet Saison Update

I kegged my Cabernet Saison last weekend.  See the previous post about why on earth anyone would use Cabernet grape juice in beer, as well as how I went about doing it.  Though it still needs to finish carbonating and clearing a bit, it tastes awesome.

The Whitelabs Belgian Saison II yeast turned out to give off some very complex flavors.  There are absolute spice tones of clove and maybe a little pepper.  Surprising how a yeast can give off those flavors.  I used no spices in the beer.  The Cabernet grapes left very little actual grape flavor, but I do think gave the beer a bit of extra tartness.

I'm not exactly sure what the alcohol (ABV) ended up at, since I'm not sure if I did the calculation right. The problem is after I add the Cabernet juice to secondary, the gravity of course jumps back up and then continues to ferment for a couple weeks until complete.  So that throws off the calculations.  But I think I figured it out. Maybe a reader can check my work here:

My Original Gravity (OG):   1.058
Final Gravity after Primary Fermentation (Before adding Cabernet juice): 1.012
ABV: 6.0%

After adding Cabernet juice, gravity of beer = 1.018
Final gravity after fermentation with Cabernet juice= 1.011

So to calculate alcohol, I figured I should add the ABV resulting from the added juice to the first OG.
That would mean that the Cabernet juice contributed an extra .91% of ABV.  Added to the ABV from primary fermentation (6.0%) would equal total ABV of 6.91%  Right??  If anyone thinks different.  Please leave a comment.

Also, on a side note, I thought I was being real adventurous here with using the grapes in the beer.  I knew that there was a Sam Adams Longshot winner a couple years ago that did a Grape Pale Ale, and I've had Dogfish Head Midas Touch which I think also has grapes.  But then last week I had Stone Brewing's Vertical Epic 10.10.10.  It is made with Muscat, Sauvingon blanc, and Gewurtztraminer. And now I think I remember seeing a tweet that The Bruery got a shipment of Syrah grapes recently, so I'm assuming there should be a tasty ale with grapes coming from them soon too!!

Cab Saison

I'm back!! It sure has been a log time since my last post.  A new job and a new baby take up a lot of time.  That's not to say that I haven't brewed, I just haven't been posting anything.  The last few months I have brewed an Imperial Red IPA, and ESB, and fermenting right now is a Pumpkin Brown Porter.  I tasted that after primary fermentation, and it is very tasty so far.  Halloween should be fun!

This weekend I am brewing an experiment.  I have a couple Cabernet grape vines in my backyard that mostly are just for decoration and shade on my patio cover.  But I was able to harvest about 5lbs of grapes before the blue jays and mockingbirds got them all.  Not enough to make any wine, so I was wondering what I could do with the grapes.  My solution is: Cabernet Saison!

I was able to get just about 3/4g of juice from the grapes which I froze until I'm ready to use.  I'm just going to brew a 4 gallon batch using some light DME, wheat DME, and steep some crystal 15, maris otter, and  munich malt.  I'm using White Labs Saison II yeast which is supposed to be a bit more fruity than Saison I.  I figured that would complement the Cabernet grapes.  My plan is to put the Cabernet juice into my secondary and rack the beer onto the juice.  I didn't want to add it to the boil or primary because I want to get the best flavor possible from the juice..

The 500ml yeast starter was started yesterday and it became very active in only about 30 minutes.  It is still going strong today.  So I can't wait to see this yeast in action for the full batch.  Will let you know how it turns out!

Top Cropping Yeast from a Carboy

Sometimes I'm a cheapskate.  I know it's not a huge expense to get a new vial of yeast to brew, but I see no reason not to reuse yeast when possible.  When harvesting yeast from a batch of beer, there's many ways to do it.  You can pitch a new batch of wort on top of the yeast cake from a previous batch.  I've done this a few times and it works real well and you get a good fermentation, but I'm always a bit skeptical of pitching on top of the old trub.  I'm just afraid that all the old junk will give some off flavors. Plus I have read that the best yeast to use if you are going to harvest, is the top yeast in the krauesen.  If you are using a bucket, that yeast is easy to spoon off., but fermenting in a carboy makes it difficult to get at the yeast.

So I rigged up a system to top crop the yeast in a carboy using a racking cane, some tubing, a jar, and an airlock.  It works like a blow-off tube, but doesn't blow off into a sanitizer solution to be discarded.  Instead, you blow off fresh yeast into a sanitized container that is fitted with an airlock so you can keep the yeast.  The idea is to insert the racking cane into the carboy so the bottom is just above the top of the fermenting beer, where the foamy krausen will be.  The cane is connected to tubing that runs down into a sanitized jar fitted with an airlock. So once fermentation starts, the pressure will  push the foam out through the racking cane and down into that collection jar.  I also like to collect a little beer into the jar as well. To do this just push the racking cane down into the carboy further.

 I've also seen people use this method with a 1000ml Erlenmeyer flask fitted with a two port carboy cap.  But like I said above, I'm thrifty.  So for this batch at least, I used what I had on hand.  Here is a photo of fresh new top cropped yeast as it is collected in the sanitized jar:

 After collecting enough yeast,  the racking cane is removed from the carboy and replaced with an airlock.  Then if I'm using the yeast within a few days, I just put some plastic wrap over the top of the jar with a rubber band and put it in the refrigerator. Or for slightly longer storage, I bottle it in a sanitized bottle.

The most I've ever reused yeast is three batches, and haven't had any problems yet.  If I had more sanitary conditions, better temperature control, and better equipment, it would be possible to use it for more batches.  I think for now three or four generations is about all I want to risk before mutations and infections occur.

UPDATE:
I upgraded my collection equipment so now it's not quite as hillbilly.  I bought an Erlenmeyer flask and some better carboy caps (5Gallon cap fits on the Erlynmeyer and 6Gallon cap for the Better Bottle).  I also bought a PET racking cane and cut it a bit shorter so the overall height of the setup isn't as high.  Mainly a space and aesthetic issue.  But overall, I think this system is more solid and with the better fittings, should be no leaks in the system.

So after one night my Pumpkin Porter fermentation filled the flask.  I got lucky and was able to switch out the flask with a blow-ff bucket before the flask totally overflowed as well.  Here is a picture of a 1000ml flask filled with fresh bubbly White Labs Burton Ale yeast topcropped from my Pumpkin Porter!

My New Kegerator

Last week I finally put the homemade kegerator together just in time for poker night.  I already had the fridge in the garage from my bachelor days.  I won't go into detail about how to do it step-by-step, but here's a good tutorial by blogger bsbrewing. 

A couple months ago I started kegging with 5 gallon cornelius kegs bought on ebay.  For dispensing, I use a 5lb aluminum CO2 tank with dual regulators.  Up to now I had been using the picnic taps, which worked fine, but they dripped a bit in the fridge after every pour.  So I decided it was about time to step up to some real faucets. 

My setup includes two Perlick stainless forward seal faucets, with 5 1/8 inch stainless shanks.  I really didn't need shanks that long, but figured if I ever use the faucets anywhere else, I'll be set.  Then last week I happened to be up in Northern California, so I picked up a couple Sierra Nevada tap handles. (Pale and Porter) I got the short ones so there is enough clearance for the freezer door and the taps can close all the way.  Here's the photos of my rig:

I have a very understanding wife!!!

 

What's wrong with this picture?  

One dry line.  I better get brewing!!!

My new Sierra taps, with my labels 

above to know what's really pouring.

2009 Hop Crop

Well, not really a whole crop of hops.  More like a dozen hop cones on my Nugget Hops.  But I am optimistic for next year!  I planted new rhizomes this year in a couple different places in my yard.  In the spring I planted 2 Cascade, 2 Willamette, and 2 Northern Brewer hops varieties.  Last year I had tried to grow in pots, and that didn't work well at all, so this year I put them in the ground.

Here is a picture of the planter I made for Willamette and Cascade:

Both Willamettes sprouted up within a couple weeks, then only one of the Cascades.  Here is a closeup of the Willamette at about 4 weeks (in April).

Initially the Willamette got to about 6 feet then stalled out.  The Cascade went to about 12 feet and stalled as well.  I'm pretty sure that I over watered due to the heat, and got root rot.  The leaves turned yellow then dried prematurely.  But the Cascade is having a late summer resurgence with new side shoots.  I think one other problem is that the stone I used to outline the planter gets real hot in the sun.  I think it is just baking the hops.  For next year, I may have to switch out the bricks with wood, or widen the planter so the hot bricks aren't right next to the hops.

In the front side yard, I originally planted a couple Northern Brewer hops, but they never sprouted.  I dug them up and they were rotten.  Again, I probably over watered. So I planted a Nugget rhizome in mid May and it really took off.  I decreased the watering schedule a bit and added a drip to it.  It seems to really like the Southern California heat because it is up to about 15 feet now, and I even got some hops cones.  Not bad for the first year.  Here is a picture of the Nugget hop that I have strung up to the top eaves of my house:

And here is a closeup of the hop cones.  They are not real big yet, but have great aroma to them already.  Next year when this hop plant is established I hope to have enough of a yield to actually brew some beer with my own hops.

Orange Bier

Not too long ago I bought a 6-pack of Oranjeboom lager from Trader Joe's. It is a Dutch beer that is very clean and crisp. The web site description says it is a strong yet mildly bitter beer. I didn't find it strong at all, and not that bitter either. But I really liked it. On a hot summer day it hit the spot. The beer isn't made with oranges and doesn't have an outright orangey taste, though it is a bit citrusy. The beer is named Oranjeboom due to the significance of the orange blossom as a symbol of the Netherlands and the royal family.

Drinking the Oranjeboom got me thinking about brewing a beer with orange flavor. I wanted to make something clean and crisp like the Orangjeboom, but I can't really do a proper lager here in the hot summer. So I thought I would give a try making a Kolsch style beer and adding some orange peels to secondary to give some orange taste and aroma. Kolsch yeast can withstand higher fermentation temperatures and still give characteristics of a lager. Here is my brewsheet:

Ingredients for Mashing Amount Item Type % or IBU 1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 14.29 %

Step Time Name Description Step Temp 40 min steep grains Add 8.00 qt of water and heat to 155.0 F over 2 min 155.0 F

Boil Wort
	Add water to achieve boil volume of 5.72 gal
	Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.042
	Boil Ingredients Boil Amount Item Type 60 min 6.00 lb Wheat Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 60 min 0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 30 min 0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] (30 min) Hops 15 min 0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 10 min 0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 5 min 0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (5 min) Hops

Cool and Prepare Fermentation
	Cool wort to fermentation temperature
	Transfer wort to fermenter
	Add water to achieve final volume of 5.00 gal
	Ingredients for Fermentation Amount Item Type % or IBU 1 Pkgs German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029) Yeast-Ale
	Measure Actual Original Gravity ___1.042____ (Target: 1.048 SG)
	Measure Actual Batch Volume ___5____ (Target: 5.00 gal)

Fermentation
	8/24/2008 - Primary fermentation (10 days at 80.0 F)
	9/3/2008 - Secondary fermentation (5 days at 68.0 F) Add to Secondary Amount Item Type % or IBU 0.75 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Secondary 5.0 days) Misc
	N/A - Tertiary Fermentation (0 days at 68.0 F)
	Prepare for Bottling/Kegging
	Measure Final Gravity: ___1.014______ (Estimate: 1.012 SG)
	9/8/2008 - Bottled beer at 75.0 F with 4.9 oz of corn sugar.
	Age beer for 28.0 days at 75.0 F
	10/6/2008 - Drink and enjoy!

For the orange peel, I took the zest from 3 tangelos. These are a cross between a tangerine and an orange I think. No real reason behind using the tangelos except that they smelled nice at the grocery. Oh, and I washed the tangelos and them gave them a few minutes in a collander steamer in order to kill any fungus or bacteria hiding out on the skin. Careful balancing act here to not steam them too much so that the oils are removed from the skin. But you don't want to introduce anything not sterile into your secondary if you can help it. I think some brewers will put the peels into the boil instead and I may try this sometime though I've heard that a vigorous primary fermentation can expel any aroma from the peels.

The beer has only aged about three weeks, but it has come out very interesting. It definitely has orange aroma and flavor, though not overpowering. I think the mouthfeel is a bit thin due to using all wheat extract. The Kolsch yeast adds a fruity character as well. And the beer is not as clear as I would like it to be, though I think if I condition it a few more weeks in the fridge it may clear up some. Right now it is almost like e hefeweizen, though not as tart. Overall, I am very satisfied with the beer. It is a great summer beer. I think next time I brew it though I will use some Munich Malt instead of pure wheat to give it a bit more color and flavor - more like a traditional Kolsch which isn't 100% wheat.

Sam Adams Longshot 2008

I received my results from the Sam Adams Longshot Homebrewing contest yesterday for the three beers I had entered. This is my second year entering the contest. My results from last year are here:

http://karlisbeer.blogspot.com/2007/08/sam-adams-logshot-brewing-contest.html

The scoring guide is as follows:
Outstanding (45-50)
Excellent (38-44)
Very Good (30-37)
Good (21-29)
Fair (14-20)
Problematic (0-13)

This year's results are a mixed bag, though I'm very happy with one. Here is the rundown from worst to best:

BELGIAN STRONG GOLDEN (Category 18d)
This one only scored a 20!! But I somewhat expected this since the batch was a total mistake from the beginning. Details here: http://karlisbeer.blogspot.com/2008/03/honey-i-blew-it.html

General consensus between the two judges was that it didn't fit the style, had malt sweetness and harsh hop bitterness, with herbal aroma. One judge actually did like it, but just didn't fit the style I entered.

NOTE: This beer is actually tasting better to me now after about 6 months aging. It has mellowed nicely.

AMERICAN PALE (Category 10A)
I only scored a 25 on this one which was a bit disappointing, though I totally understand the criticisms. One judge scored it a 23 and said he couldn't finish it. The other judge scored it a 27 and said he would finish a pint of the beer. (This beer also scored a 29.5 at the SoCal Brewing competition sponsored by Inland Empire Brewers @ http://www.hopheads.com)

The main critique on this beer was that it had a harsh astringent aftertaste as well as high hop bitterness. I totally agree on both counts. I wanted to make a highly hopped pale, but think I missed the mark in a couple areas. First, I think 90 minutes was probably too long to boil the bittering hops that I used. Second having no real temperature control during fermentation, I think it just got too hot. (Also some real drastic temperature swings from day to night probably don't help either.)

BIG HONKIN' STOUT (Category 13e)
My third entry was a success! It rated a total of 37.5 and actually advanced to a mini BEST-OF-SHOW round!! Not bad considering this was a kit beer I ordered from Northern Brewer. http://www.northernbrewer.com/docs/kis-html/1701.html

Judges rated this a 37 and a 38. Comments were that it had chocolate aroma and coffee/roasty flavor. Main criticism again was a bit of astringency. Again maybe due to my high fermentation temperature?

So overall, I think I did a little better than last year, though this tells me I need to work a bit on my recipe formulation. And hey, free Sam Adams Homebrewing t-shirt out of the deal!!

Cascade Hops: 2 Weeks

I'm happy to report that one of the two Cascade rhizomes I planted two weeks ago has sprouted! After the first week, the sprouts poked up through the soil, and now are growing quickly. From what I have read, it is advisable to let these first shoots grow a bit, then prune them back and then let the next shoots mature and they will be more healthly and productive.

The other hasn't hasn't started yet, so perhaps I either planted it upside-down, or it is sick.

It's going to be hard to wait for them to produce. Especially since hops are getting hard to find at decent prices. I found some Cascade Leaf Hops available here for a good price for 3oz. I haven't ordered yet, since I still have some on hand from previous batches.

Cascade Hop Rhizomes

I received my cascade hop rhizomes from Northern Brewer this week!! I'm a little worried because they had a very funky smell. Almost like a wine or vinegar type smell. And there was a small amount of white mildew/fungus on the rhizomes. Plus there were some critters too - some sort of grub or maggot. I killed what I could see, but I'm sure I didn't get everything. Hopefully the rhizomes will still be good. Who knows how long they were in storage and if they are still healthy.

I planted yesterday in some terracotta pots. While at Laguna Hills nursery here in Foothill Ranch, I got lucky and ran into a real helpful gardener named Brody who also happens to grow his own hops. He said his Cascades are already about 20 feet this season. He recommended a mix they have of peat moss, pumice, sand and some other organic compounds. It should make for a nice acidic soil for the hops.

My plan is to grow the bines up 8 feet and then go horizontal along my patio cover and back awning. That added with my Cabernet Sauvingon grapes already growing up one side of the patio cover should make for some very nice coverage. I'll post some pictures when/if the hops actually start growing.

Better Bottle Update

I transferred out my Belgian Strong Golden last week. For my secondary I was using the 6 Gallon Better Bottle with the spigot at the bottom for the first time. I was excited to use this because it has a nice racking arm attached to it to minimize sediment getting pulled out with the beer, and I can now do away with siphoning. However, I'm not too crazy about the flow rate of the spigot. Very very slow. So slow that the beer doesn't completely fill the outflow tubing, so there is constant air in the tube as you empty the carboy. I am hoping this doesn't completely oxidize the beer. Since this strong golden won't be ready for a few months I can't really tell what the outcome of this batch will be. I do have a kolsch in it right now, which should be bottled in a week.

Brettanomyces

Today thanks to a tip from Rob over at Democracy's Drink I added a vial of Brettanomyces to my secondary fermentation for that blonde ale that I recently screwed up by adding way too much extract. I used a vial of White Labs' Brettanomyces Bruxellensis WLP650. My hope is that this wild belgian yeast will continue to ferment where the California Ale yeast left off. Oh and I also added some cascade leaf hops to dry hop in secondary as well.

Hopefully between the Brettanomyces ,the dry hopping, and some long aging I should come out with something close to a Golden Strong Ale? Or at least something drinkable. Time will tell.....

HONEY... I Blew it!!!

Last week I started a new beer. I wanted to do a Honey Blonde Ale to get ready for springtime, and maybe to enter into the 2008 Sam Adams Longshot contest along with one of my stouts and maybe a California common. Here's the ingredients I used for my recipe....

60 min 4.00 lb Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM) Extract
60 min 1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops
30 min 3.00 lb White Sage Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 30.00 %
15 min 0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops
10 min 0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc

2 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Here's the problem: Between working on tiling the kitchen backsplash and brewing beer I got distracted and added 6lbs Pilsner extract rather than 4lbs. My OG reading was off the charts at 1.12!!! Between the extra pilsner and the honey I must have really jacked up the fermentables.

Original recipe should have had gravity of 1.055, and then even with the extra 2 lbs it should have been 1.069. But I got 1.12???? The only reason I can think this happened is the White Sage Honey must have been very very low in water content.

At this point after finding out that my OG is way too high, I'm scared. Did I just ruin the beer? I don't think there's any way the yeast will be able to ferment all that sugar, even though this White Labs California Ale Yeast has a high attenuation at up to 80%. I did prepare a yeast starter as usual, but just be safe I got another vial of yeast and added that as well. Hopefully all that yeast will be able to survive the high alcohol that will be produced. This beer no longer fits the category of a honey blonde. It almost fits the style guide for a Belgian Strong Golden. So that's what I'm going to call it.

It has now been in primary fermentation for 11 days. It happily bubbled away for the first weeks with a nice krausen, then has leveled off. Still bubbling through airlock but not as rapid. I checked specific gravity yesterday and it is reading 1.020. I plan to rack to secondary today and let it sit for a month or so before bottling and aging.

The beer so far is very very dry, and not a huge malt character. I'm afraid it is going to be straight rubbing alcohol by the time it is done. My thought is maybe I'll dry-hop in secondary with some cascade and hopefully that will smooth out the alcohol profile a bit. Unfortunately I'll probably have to age for months like a Belgian ale, and now it won't be ready in time for the Sam Adams contest.

Anyone who reads this and has any suggestions on how I can salvage this batch, I'd appreciate any comments.

Rhizomes!!!!

I just ordered some Cascade Rhizomes. In light of the worldwide hops shortage I'm going to take a shot growing some myself. I don't have a ton of space in the backyard, but hopefully I can get a couple vines going. More of an experiment more than anything. I don't expect to grow enough for all my brewing, but if I can make one or two batches with my own fresh hops, that will be fulfilling. Once I get them growing I'll post some photos.

I also ordered one of those 6 gallon plastic "Better Bottles" to add to my fermentation equipment. Now I can have a couple different brews going at a time. It is ported at the bottom so I can do away with cumbersome siphoning.

Coming up on tap soon is going to be a honey-blonde ale. I'm using pilsner extract with some honey malt specialty grains, and a whopping 3lbs of white sage honey!!! Will be done by springtime and will be a good lawnmowing beer. (OK, it takes me about 5 minutes to mow my tiny lawn, but that's enough to earn a beer isn't it?)

Next on Tap.....

Alright, back to some real beer after that horrible lemon hefeweizen. This weekend I brewed a "Big Honkin' Stout". I used an extract kit from Northern Brewer. It's going to be very hard to wait for this one - should be done in about two months just in time for christmas. And no matter how hard I try to do everything perfect during brewing, something always goes wrong. This time my siphon came loose while transferring into my primary, and I spilled wort all over the kitchen floor. Oh well, not too much was wasted and luckily we need to refinish the floor anyway.

After I move the Stout out of the primary, I'm going to try a California Common. I'm modifying my Bronwish Ale recipe a bit. Mainly using light DME instead of dark, and using California Lager yeast instead of the Irish Ale yeast. For those of you who haven't heard of California Common style of beer, think of Anchor Steam. Anchor trademarked the name "Steam" for their beer, but it basically is the style that the pioneers and 49er's made during the California gold rush. Since refrigeration and cooling was difficult back then in the hot California weather, brewers had to use a lager yeast but brew like it was an ale. The result was steam style beer. I'll post my recipe later when I start brewing this one.

Wife Beer Update (Follow Directions!!!)

I have learned my lesson. If someone says peels from two lemons should be plenty to get good lemon flavor, then use two lemons - not three. Not being one with alot of patience, I opened a bottle of the Lemon Lingerie hefeweizen after only one week in the bottle. Though still young and needs a few more weeks to age, I thought it was awful. WAY too much lemon - very bitter and sour. Almost tastes like chemicals or artificial flavor. Erika seemed to like it so far though since she likes lemon so much. We'll see what she thinks after it ages a few more weeks. I know for sure I'll hate it. So if she can drink it that's great. Otherwise down the drain.

Time to go back to real beers! Once the weather cools a bit I'll start another batch of brown ale and maybe start thinking of a good Christmas beer recipe.

"Wifebeer"

Last night I bottled my "wifebeer". Pretty self explanatory really - a light ale that the wife will drink. It's calledd Lemon Lingerie, and I got the recipe of one of the forums at www.realbeer.com. It's a real simple American Hefeweizen, but the interesting twist is to put lemon peels in the secondary fermentor.

So I tasted it before bottling and it sure has a ton of lemon flavor. Maybe too much - we'll see once it is cold and carbonated. Alcohol content is just about 3.8%

This bottling is getting to be a real pain though. Think it's time to start thinking of either kegging or perhaps one of those tap-a-draft systems.