In the fall spirit, I am making a spiced ale. This will get bottled in a week or so. Excited to try it around Thanksgiving!
SPECIALTY GRAIN
– 0.5 lb Briess Caramel 40
FERMENTABLES
– 3.15 lbs Amber malt syrup (60 min)
– 1.0 lb Pilsen dried malt extract (60 min)
– 3.15 lbs Amber malt syrup late addition (15 min)
HOPS & FLAVORINGS
– 1 oz Cluster (60 min)
– 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (0 min)
My cool uncle has hops growing on his house, but never uses them! What a waste! I was lucky and got 3 packages of wet hops from him. I used them as the bittering, flavor, and aroma hops at 60, 20, and 5 min. I added a 1/4 ounce of Apollo hops to ensure there is enough IBUs. It will be a standard IPA. Will be bottling soon. Hope it works out!
This is a very tasty brew from www.homebrewing.org. The 
website describes it as – “This beer is a beautiful bright and rich copper color. It has a fresh hop aroma of citrus and orange peel. There is a sweet, nutty malt sweetness with a dry finish and a long lingering bitterness.”
Wanting to try some mashing, I chose a Northern Brewer partial mash kit. This does not require a full mash tun. You just need to vessels that can hold a few gallons of water and helpful if it can be in the oven at 155′. More time consuming, but more fun! 
Recipe -
3.5 Gallon Batch
OG – 1.065
IBUs ~81
Mini-Mash -
3lbs Rahr 2-row
1.5lbs Rye Malt
.5lbs Carared
60 Minute Boil -
6lbs NB Amber LME
Hops/Additions -
1oz Summit – 60min
1oz Palisade– 15min
1tsp Irish Moss – 15min
1oz Centennial – 5min
1oz ?????? – 7day dry hop
Yeast -
1pkg Safale US-04
Primary – 10 days @ 72
Secondary – 5 days @ 72
This is my first attempt at a Habanero IPA. Since I have been a habanero addict for a few years now and publishing my Habanero Handbook on Amazon, I have planned on making a habanero beer. Well, here it is in the secondary fermentation. I have tasted it and it is much more flavorful than spicy and the citrus is amazing, but there is a tiny hint of heat!
Recipe -
3.5 Gallon Batch
OG – 1.064
IBUs ~81
Steeping -
1lb Caramel 60L
60 Minute Boil -
6lbs NB Pilsen LME
Hops/Additions -
.5oz Apollo – 60min
.5oz Tettnang– 30min
1oz Horizon – 20min
1tsp Irish Moss – 15min
1oz Liberty – 15min
.25oz Orange Peel – 10min
1oz Crystal – 5min
1oz Tettnang – 5day dry hop
3 Chopped Habanero in vodka for 4 days
Yeast -
1pkg Safale US-05
Primary – 10 days @ 72
Secondary – 5 days @ 72
Theresa filling up the wine bottles
This weekend Theresa and I bottled the Cabernet we made a month back. It was a good time. Now we just need to wait 3-6 months before we can judge the wine and give out bottles to friends. We plan on making some fun labels!
After a family trip to Wisconsin, the brewery is back up and running! Tonight I have done an Imperial Stout. I am starting to do some smaller batches of new recipes to prevent needing to drink so many beers to keep bottle supply up, but to also keep frequent brew days. I think this will turn out quite nice. I will be adding 16-32 oz of Keurig Pulse coffee at bottling for the coffee flavor.
The first time I am using Safeale-04
Recipe -
3.5 Gallon Batch
OG – 1.100
IBUs ~89
Steeping -
4oz Black Barley
2oz Special B
2oz Flaked Wheat
4oz Caramel 120L
60 Minute Boil -
6lbs NB Gold LME
3.15lbs NB Dark LME
Hops/Additions -
1oz Columbus – 60min
.5oz Horizon – 50min
1tsp Irish Moss – 15min
1oz Palisade – 15min
1oz Target – 5min
Yeast -
1pkg Safale US-04
Primary – 14 days @ 72
Secondary – 4 weeks @ 72
P.H.A.T. Hops
Today I tried to make a light session brew. It didn’t turn out as light as I had hoped, but I think it will be the most drinkable to the general public. It is light with honey and orange peel. The hops were kept to a minimum. I am going to make some beer names as anagram from the hops/additions used. This one came out as “PHAT American Wit”.
Recipe -
OG – 1.052
IBUs ~26
Steeping -
1 lbs Briess Carapils
60 Minute Boil -
6lbs NB Organic Light LME
1lbs Honey
Hops/Additions -
.25oz Apollo – 60min
.5oz Tettnang – 20min
1tsp Irish Moss – 15min
.5oz Sweet Orange Peel – 10min
.5oz Palisade – 5min
.5oz Horizon – 1min
Yeast -
1pkg Safale US-05
Primary – 10 days @ 68′
Secondary – 2 weeks @ 70
