Previous Beverages

Since starting brewing (just after Christmas thanks to my awesome wife), I have done four batches. The first was an extract kit from Cooper's, the second was an extract recipe IPA, third was Old Dirty Cider, and the fourth was the Shakespeare clone. So here's the rundown on the first three:

House Ale:

1 Can Cooper's Draught Ale.

I boiled water, added the can of extract (malt and hops), boiled for 30 or 40 minutes, and then put it in a carboy with some cold water and then added yeast. About a week later I bottled it with 3/4 cup of corn sugar. A couple weeks later I had a simple ale. Low ABV (about 3%) and a clean taste. Pretty easy all in all.

Bottled 3 22oz bottles and 38 12oz bottles.

Hop Donkey IPA:

Recipe and supplies provided by Bridgeview in Oregon City. Great advice and knowledge there, but really high prices. The batch cost me over $55. Brew Brothers would have been about $30. Too rich for my blood to go to Bridgeview! Here's the recipe though:

Extract:

7 pounds Light Malt Extract

1 pound Crystal Malt 40L

Hops:

2 oz Nugget for 60 min

2 oz Centennial for 30 min

2 oz Centennial for 10 min post boil

Extras:

2 tsp Gypsum at boil

1 tsp Irish Moss for last 15 min of boil

Yeast:

White Labs American Ale Yeast

Brewing was smooth although I racked to secondary too soon and had to re-add yeast. Rookie mistake I guess. OG was 1.060, FG was 1.016, ABV was 5.9%. Good flavor, although I think that I didn't clean the secondary bucket as well as I should have or didn't rinse as well as I should have cause it has a slight flowery oily finish. Oh well, still drinkable and not too shabby.

Bottled 8 22oz bottles and 28 12oz bottles.

Update, 2/9/11...Had another last night and the flavor was much better. I think that the longer this ages the better it will get (at least for a couple months). The problem is that I'm brewing to save money and the other stuff isn't drinkable yet...so this IPA may never reach it's peak flavor...

Old Dirty Cider:

This was an idea from Old Dirty Randy from Poorhouse Brewing. I'm not much of a cider guy, but figured, "what the heck!" Plus it was really easy to make. I'll probably give most of it away as gifts. Here's the really tough recipe:

5 gallons cheap apple juice from Fred Meyer

White Labs English Cider Yeast

I put the juice in a carboy and added yeast. A few days later I bottled it. OG was 1.046. FG was 1.014. 4% ABV. Bottled and conditioned. I think it might be ready. I'll try it this weekend.

Bottled 6 22oz bottles and 30 12oz bottles.

Here's my sweet brewery. Notice the kids toys in the background. Those are really key in the brewing process.

So there you have it. You're all caught up with my current brews and failures (and successes).