Luke's Brewery

Luke's Amber Attempt #1 - Day 7

2009-05-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

The amber looks more like Guinness! I knew the chocolate malt was too much. Any ways bottling went okay. Will report back in 2 weeks on taste.

Added:
3/4 corn sugar for priming

boiled the water and added the sugar, then let it cool.

Ending S.G. 1.022

Potential Alcohol: 3.6% crap!

I'll get it next time!

Alton Ale - Day 8

2009-05-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Fermenting is done, bottling went well. Will report in 2 weeks

Added:
3/4 corn sugar for priming

boiled the water and added the sugar, then let it cool.

Ending S.G. 1.021

Potential Alcohol: 4.3%

Luke's Amber Attempt #1 - Day 1

2009-05-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

I love Amber! So I am over the next couple of years I'm going to try and make the best amber.

Here's attempt #1:

4 gal spring water
1 7lb bag of ice, cubed
6 1/2 lbs Amber malt
1/2 lbs 60 Crystal malt, milled
1/4 lb Black Patent malt, milled
1/4 lb Chocolate malt (I think I shouldn't have done this.)
1/2 tsp Irish Moss
1 vial Pacific Ale Yeast

Boiling Hops: 2 oz Domestic, Fuggles Hop pellets
Finishing Hops: 1 oz Mt. Hood Hops (loose)

I took 3 gals (probably should have been 2 gals) of spring water & all milled malt and brought it up at med-high heat to a boil. I let it simmer for 30mins. I then added the amber malt, stirring consistently, then the Fuggles. Let it go for 10 mins. Add irish moss. Cook for 5 mins. Finally add the finishing hops, take off heat, cover and let sit for 5mins. I removed the top after 5 mins and let it sit for 20 mins. Then I put ice and the last gallon of water in the primary. I strained the wort into the primary. I'm now waiting for the temp of the brew to go below 80 degrees before adding the yeast.

Starting S.G. : 1.045

Alton's Ale - Day 1

2009-05-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

So I caught Alton Brown's, from the Food Network's Good Eats, episode on brewing an easy good brew. It's a half mash, so I decided to give it a try. This is my first half mash.

Here's the official recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-brew-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
4 gals spring water
1 7lb bag of ice, cubed
1/2 lb Crystal Grain 40, milled
7 lb light liquid malt
1 oz Mt. Hood hops
1 3/4 oz Kent Goldings hops
1/2 tsp Irish moss
1 vial British Ale yeast

I followed the instructions pretty much to the tee.

Starting S.G.: 1.050

In 7 days, I'll check the bubbler.

Hard Apple Cider - Day 24

2008-12-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

I added a clearifyer to the cider. Tomorrow will be a bottling day.

Hard Apple Cider - Day 10

2008-12-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Cider transfered into 2 - 1 gal carboys.

I'm going to give it a week to two weeks in the carboys. Update next Friday.

Hard Apple Cider - Day 3 through 9

2008-12-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

Stirred

Hard Apple Cider - Day 2

2008-12-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

Today's Ingredients:

1/2 Pkg Cote des Blancs yeast.

This yeast is for dry wine so hopefully it will work for my cider. My local brew hookup store didn't have the yeast I wanted (champagne yeast) so ill try this.

Hydrometer reading:

S.G. 1.090

For Tomorrow:

Stirring the pot...

Hard Apple Cider - Day 1

2008-12-03T18:20:00.000-08:00

For my first entry I will be attempting a carbonated hard apple cider.

Ingredients for today:

2 Gal Fresh Apple Cider

2 lb (4 cups) Sugar

1 tsp Pectic Enzyme

3 tsp Acid Blend

2 tsp Yeast Nutrient

2 Campden Tablets (crushed)

Day 1 Directions:

1. Add juice to primary; immediately add Campden tables and Pectic enzymes.

2. Stir in rest of ingredients.

For tomorrow:

1 Pkg Cote des Blancs yeast