Thursday, November 27, 2008

And so it begins

Well, I've been home brewing for a couple of months now. After a couple of successes (and one epic failure), and countless hours perusing other home brewer's blogs and websites, I'm ready to start formulating my own recipes. This is a hobby I am very glad I got into - a bunch of my friends brew their own beer, and they got me hooked on it. The entire process is something I enjoy (well, except for maybe the bottling...that can be a pain), and the rewards are well worth it.

So far, I've made two beers from kits (both from TrueBrew). The first one, their Amber Ale, turned out better than I could have expected for my first batch, and each bottle tastes better than it lasts (I guess it makes sense why brewers have to be so patient). The next batch, the TrueBrew Irish Stout...did not turn out so well. I tried to add too much to it, and was definitely in over my head with that little experience brewing. Furthermore, I don't think everything was sanitized properly. Needless to say, that's one batch I'm glad I didn't have my friends over to try.

Just the other day I bottled my "Cherries in the Snow", based off of Charlie Papazian's recipe in "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing". I had to modify the recipe slightly, due to what was available in my local store. Right now, I'm really excited for it. I tasted a little bit of what was left after I bottled, and I can't wait to taste how it is fully carbonated and chilled. A mild cherry flavor pervades, with just a hint of soft hoppiness in the background.

Until this year, I primarily drank lighter beers (in color, not in the Bud/Miller/Coors variety). I was a big fan of Amber Ale's and IPA's especially. This year, I've finally gotten into darker beers - Porters, Stouts (though I'm still not really a Guinness fan, as much as I try), and Bocks. I'm fortunate enough to live near a microbrewery, Foothills, and their Total Eclipse Stout and People's Porter have become two of my favorite beers. So, after much research, and discussion with other home-brewers online, I've decided to make a porter, with hints of chocolate in the background, my next venture:

Starlight Brewing's "Chocolate Thunder" Porter:

6.6 lbs Muntons extra-lite Liquid Malt Extract
1 lb Crystal Malt
1 lb Dark Crystal Malt
8 oz Carapils Malt
4 oz Black Patent
1 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb baker's cocoa powder
1.5 oz Fuggles (boiling)

I realize there's going to be a lot of malty flavor, but I want a good, strong porter, with a lot of depth of flavor. I had originally planned on using a lot less chocolate, but after discussion with other brewers online, one reccomended upping the amount to make sure it comes through, even with all of the malts. If anyone has any recommendations, before I brew, I'd love to hear them. My local store is waiting on a shipment of chocolate malt, so I'm not doing anything until they get it in.

As for what comes after this, I've already been thinking ahead. I'd like to try making a variation of Charlie Papazian's "Cherry Fever Stout", except with Raspberries instead, and perhaps some chocolate undertones. I think the combination of raspberries and chocolate would make a perfect beer for around Valentines Day.

I also want to brew something I wish I had thought of sooner. There are Pumpkin Ales for Halloween, and Winter Warmers and Christmas Ales for around Christmastime, but there are very few 'Thanksgiving' themed beers that I've found. The flavor that comes immediately to mind for Thanksgiving is cranberry, so I want to find a way to incorporate that into a beer. I've thought about a Cranberry Wheat, but if my 'Cherries in the Snow' batch turns out well, I might try to modify that and use cranberries instead of cherries.

Either way, I have my next few weeks of brewing pretty much set. I'm going to try to contain myself for another week while the Cherries in the Snow batch bottle-conditions, but I'll let you know how everything turns out.

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy brewing!