Bunker Brewing

Johnny Red's Quaff (Strong Scotch Ale)

2010-12-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

Well, while we're on the topic of Irish and Scottish Ales, I might as well share with you folks a recipe for the granddaddy of the category...the Strong Scotch Ale. This is one beast of a beer thick in malt character and warming with it's high alcohol content. A great winter quaff, in this case dedicated to my partner in crime Jonny Red. So here we go...

Jonny Red's Quaff

OG: 1.081
FG: 1.021
ABV: 8.9%

Fermentables
-9 lbs Briess 2-row
-1 lb Caramel Wheat Malt
-1 lb Briess Caramel 40L
-0.5 lb Gambrinus Honey Malt
-0.25 lb Briess Caramel 120L
-0.25 lb Crisp Pale Chocolate Malt
-4 lbs Briess Golden light LME

Hops
-2.5 oz Fuggles 4.5% 60 min
-1 oz Fuggles 4.5% 15 min

Yeast
White Labs Edinburgh Scottish Ale (WLP028)

We struck the 12 lbs of grain with 3.5 gallons of 168F water to attain a mash temperature of 154F. After a 60 minute mash, we sparged with 3 gallons of 175F water. Carbonated to 2.25 volumes of CO2, boiling 2 cups of water and adding 3.3 oz of corn sugar, cooling, then priming. Mmm...caramel...

-Myles and Carla

Heather and Honey Scottish Export Ale

2010-12-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

The Black IPA recipe turned out more like an American Brown Ale. We'll give it a shot again soon, but meanwhile, here's what's fermenting...

-Chocolate-Coffee Robust Porter
-Cherrywood-Smoked and Oaked Old Ale
-A surprisingly "to style" Northern English Brown Ale
-An equally "to style" American Brown Ale

And in bottles...

-Old Speckled Hen Clone (Extra Special Bitter)
-Jonny Red's Quaff (a strong scotch ale brewed to style that came out superb)
-A Dry Stout, dry-hopped with Cascades and...

A Scottish Export Ale (80/-) brewed with Heather, the recipe for which we will now share.

Heather and Honey Scottish Export (80 Shilling)

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.013
ABV: 6.8%

Fermentables
-9.5 lbs Briess 2-row
-0.5 lb Briess Munich 10L
-0.5 lb Gambrinus Honey Malt
-0.25 lb Crisp Pale Chocolate
-0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 120
-1 lb Briess Caramel 40
-1 lb honey (added at end of boil)

Hops
-0.8 oz Northern Brewer 8.8%AA 60 min

Yeast
-11.5g Safale S-05

Others
-Dried Heather tips, 0.5 oz additions at 30, 15, 5 minutes, and in the fermenter.

For those of you who've been following the bunker, this next part should seem pretty straightforward.

We struck the grains with 3.75 gallons of 172.4F water to reach a mash temperature of 158F. Mashed for 60 minutes, then sparged our grains with 2.5 gallons of 175F water for 20 minutes. After combining the first runnings with the sparge, we boiled for 60 minutes, with the single bittering hop addition. However, halfway into the boil it was heather time! This stuff smells so gloriously honeyish and aromatic! Additions at 30, 15, 5 minutes, and "dry-heathering" lent this brew an amazing complimentary taste to the already sultry Scottish Export flavor.

Primed with 2.1 oz corn sugar for 1.75 volumes of CO2.

Definitely one we'll be repeating!

-Myles

Black IPA

2010-07-18T12:52:00.000-04:00

Here's our recent Black IPA recipe. I refrain from calling it a "Cascadian Dark Ale" becuase there are no cascade-like hops present. We were going for more of an earthy hop presence. Here we go:

Fermentables:
-8 lbs US 2-row

-1 lb German Carafa II

-.5lbs US Caramel 407

-2 lbs granulated white sugar

Hops

-.5 oz Perle 7.7% 60 min

-.5 oz Northern Brewer 8.5% 60 min

-.5 oz Perle 7.7% 45 Min

-.5 oz Northern Brewer 8.5% 30 min

-.5 oz Perle 7.7% 15 min

-.5 oz Perle 7.7% 5 min

Mashed with 3 gallons at 152F for 60 min, then sparged with 2.5 gallons 170F water.
The wort tasted delicious, can't wait to taste it finished!

-Myles and Carla Nestok

New brews

2010-07-18T12:06:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, the Bunker's been busy. In fermenters right now we have a black IPA and classic Trippel using WLP500, which we also plan on pitching in a Dubbel next. Gotta love the belgians!

Just bottled a KY Strong Golden Ale (added the "KY" because it included a corn cereal mash, as well as some apple wine and good ole sasparilla! Expect details soon!

-Myles and Carla

I've fallen and I...am getting up slowly

2010-05-21T15:24:00.000-04:00

If you've noticed a lack of updates here recently, good for you for visiting so often!

But seriously, a couple weeks ago I fell down a flight of stairs and chipped my left kneecap. So we've been taking it easy, lots of me laying with my leg up in a brace.

We bottled the 3-grain Citrus Breakfast Ale a few days ago, and I must say, uncarbed, this stuff tasted like some kind of dry white wine! It finished out at 1.006 (no wonder it tastes so dry), almost opaque and super light in color. Funny enough, the citrus fruits didn't lose any of their color, but the grapefruit taste came through great. It's like a smoother, less skunky version of ruby red grapefruit juice. I'm extremely excited to taste this one carbed and chilled!

-Myles

3-Grain Citrus Breakfast Ale

2010-05-10T18:50:00.001-04:00

Ah, spring is in the air...what better time for a refreshing wheat beer? And to continue with our breakfast theme, we decided to add oats to the mash. So here it goes:

Citrus Breakfast Wheat Ale

OG: 1.046

Fermentables
-5lbs Pale Rahr 2-row
-3lbs Wheat malt
-.75 lbsrolled oats

Hops
-.5 oz Northern Brewer 8.5% 60 min
-1 oz Cascade 7.5% 15 min

Yeast
Safbrew US-05

Others
-1 oz dried orange peel 15 min
-1 peeled and separated Ruby Red grapefruit - in secondary
-8 peeled and separated tangerines - in secondary
-4 oz light Belgian Candi Sugar - in secondary

Process:
First we heated 3 gallons of strike water to 165F. Then we poured in our grist to land at a mash temperature of 152F, and held it for 60 minutes.

After the mash, we poured our first runnings into a clean bucket,

Added 2.5 gallons of sparge water,

And replaced the grain bag, sparging for 20 minutes at 175F. Next we remove the bag again to a drip bucket (gotta catch all those fermentable sugars!), to be added to the boil later. Combine wort with sparge water, and bring to a boil:

As it came to a boil, we added the nylon bag filled with .5 oz Northern Brewer 8.5% hops.

Then, 45 minutes into the boil, here comes the 1 oz dried orange orange peel and the 1 oz Cascade 7.5%!

Then the usual: cool, whirlpool, pour into sanitized fermenter, pitch yeast, fit with airlock. It's that simple!

This is where things get interesting. Two weeks into the fermentation, we popped off that lid (to a wonderful scent). We had previously peeled and quartered the grapefruit and tangerines, which we added to 170F to sanitize, held for then minutes, then added the Candi sugar. After the mixture cooled we threw it in the beer. Can't wait to taste it!

We'll keep you updated, if we don't drink it all first!

-Myles and Carla

The Crick is in the bottle!

2010-05-02T16:59:00.000-04:00

We bottled the Sour Cherry Crick last night and I've got to say...what a beast!

A very pink beast! The sourness came through great, both in aroma and taste. It finished lower than I expected, with a Final Gravity of 1.013. It was a little sour for Carla's taste, but I found it superbly tart. Uncarbonated it tasted almost like a fine wine to me, very dry, with barely a hint of cherry.

We dissolved 6.2 oz corn sugar in 2 cups of boiling water, then cooled it to around room temperature. Pour while stirring:

We aimed for the higher carbonation level. This would be a good one for champagne bottles.

And funny enough, later in the night while drinking sour mash whiskey in celebration, I thought I kept smelling the Crick. After a couple of drinks I realized I was smelling the whiskey!

-Myles and Carla

Home Roast Nestok Amber

2010-04-21T13:11:00.000-04:00

So here's a new experiment: an amber ale with only home-toasted grains. Referencing this site on home roasting grains,
I roasted 1 pound of Gold malt, and one 1 pound of Amber malt. Here's the grain bill:

Home-Roast Nestok Amber Ale
OG: 1.044
FG: We'll see!

Fermentables:
-7 lb Pale 2-row
-1 lb Home-toasted Amber
-1 lb Home-toasted Gold
Go here to learn how to toast your own grains

Hops:
-0.5 oz Cascade 7.5% 60 min
-0.5 oz Cascade 7.5% 30 min

Yeast:
Fermentis Safbrew S-33

Others:
-2 g Servomyces yeast nutrient 15 min
-1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min

We heated 2.5 gallons of strike water to 167F, to achieve a mash temperature of 148F. Pour in those milled grains!

Stir that stuff up good, break up any clumps.

Then we wrap it with a towel, and mash for an hour. Enjoy a homebrew at this time, or a good craft beer if you're out at the moment.

On a side note, I've gotta say, I love Cascade hops. We buy them by the pound! Very cheap at Brewtensils.

60 minutes of mashing, and we ended up a little above 140F. Then we remove the swollen grain bag,

Pour into a bucket,

And heat 2 gallons of sparge water to 170 degrees Fahrenheit.

We sparged for 20 minutes, then removed the grain bag to a drip bucket, for adding any drippings later in the boil; gotta get all that malty goodness!

Get that sucker boiling, stove on high,

and add the first half ounce of Cascade hops.

30 minutes into the boil, we added the rest of the Cascade hops, in a muslin bag.

At 45 minutes we added the Servomyces and Irish moss, a fining agent. Then after the full hour boil, we shut the stove off, made an ice water bath, and cooled. Remember to whirlpool your wort with a sanitized paddle or spoon when cooling to collect solids in the bottom/middle.

Beautiful! The beer looks great too!

After that we poured the wort eagerly into the fermenter splashing vigorously to aerate. The yeast love us! Then we pitched one 11g packet of Safbrew S-33 at 88F

Now it's bubbling happily away, should be a good one! And super cheap too!

-Myles and Carla

Throwing Cherries in the Crick

2010-04-14T14:34:00.001-04:00

Pages: Brewday - Cherry Addition

Last night we threw 10 pounds of frozen, tart cherries (pitted) into the partial sour-mash beer affectionately known as "Crick" fermenting in the corner. It was a week and two days since primary fermentation began, and the initial speedy bubbling had died down.

Our 10 lbs frozen pitted tart cherries came in two 5 lb bags. We cut these open, poured the contents into our brewpot, and turned the heat on medium, stirring occasionally.

You don't want the cherries to boil for numerous reasons, including the extraction of bitter tannins and the destruction of delicate aromatic compounds. We heated them to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and turned the pot off, holding the temperature for 20 minutes. This pasteurizes the cherries without boiling or chemical additions. After turning the burner off and letting the cherry slurry cool to 80F, we poured it, cup by cup, into the beer. Get a load of the color! And the goop!

These yeasties really love me!

Then we popped the lid back on, fit it with a fresh airlock, and set it back in the corner. When we woke up, it was bubbling as fast as it had 3-4 days into primary fermentation. Preferably you should use a blow-off tube, but alas, our tube is the wrong size. No worries though, because no beer has come up through the airlock.

Pre-cherry addition, this beer already smelled like a fantastic fruity wheat beer. The color was darker than expected, probably due to the oak cubes. The sourness wasn't apparent in smell, but then again, it's still fermenting.

We can't wait to taste this one! It's definitely our most out-there brew to date...

-Myles and Carla

Pages: Brewday - Cherry Addition

UPDATES!

2010-04-13T19:53:00.001-04:00

We're tossing 10 lbs of red tart pitted cherries into the Crick tonight, pictures will soon abound!

Also, the first all home-roasted all-grain beer is fermenting away, expect the pictorial on that within the next couple of days. It's a delicious smelling Amber Ale, so stay tuned...

-Myles and Carla

VD American Ale: Even Grandmas love it!

2010-04-07T15:19:00.001-04:00

Left to right: Pa Nestok, Granma Nestok, and good ole Bunker Brewer, Myles Nestok

And she sure did love it! Her impressions were mainly of the fruitiness in aroma, and depth of the lightly kilned malt flavors. The trip to Florida was a blast, best vacation yet, and everyone loved the VD American Ale.

Love ya, Granma!

-Myles & Carla Nestok

Sour Cherry Crick

2010-04-03T17:15:00.043-04:00

Pages: Brewday - Cherry Addition

So I'm undertaking my a big endeavor here; a trifecta of firsts. We're doing a sour mash, oak fermented, cherry wheat beer. We're calling it "Crick" because it'll be like imitation Lambic, with sour mash replacing the lacto culture. And of course, when I hear sour mash I think of some good old sour mash KY Bourbon, so there you go: Crick.

Fermentables:
-3bs 2 row Pale malt
-2 lbs Wheat malt
-1 lb Flaked wheat
-3 lbs Bavarian Wheat DME (65% Wheat, 35% Barley)

Hops:
-Tettnang 4.7% 60 min

Yeast:
-Safbrew T-58

Others:
-3 oz American Oak cubes (house toast) in primary
-10 lbs frozen pitted tart cherries during secondary

Day 1: I took 5 oz of the grist (no extract), mashed in 1 quart of water at 150 for 60 minutes

Then I cooled it to 120 and poured it into a thermos, filling it almost to the brim. I threw in a handful of raw malt, and sealed tightly.

Day 2: I opened the container, pH was about 5, and temperature was 80. So then I boiled a couple cups of water in a tea kettle and set a drip tray under the thermos for spillage. Then I poured in boiling water, mixing with a spoon until the temperature was back to 120. I sealed it tightly, wrapped a towel around the thermos, and set it in a warm place in the closet.

Day 3: Here we go! Sour mash pH was 3.5.

Time to brew!

We heated 5 gallons of water to a strike temperature of 157 degrees Fahrenheit, rigged it with our trusty strainer bag,

and poured in our 6 pounds of milled grains. But...oh crap, I miscalculated!

When pouring the grain, I had forgotten to account for space displaced by the grains (one too many homebrews, eh?). We had a bit of spillover, and boy, what a nasty mess. Sadly, there were no photo opportunities, because we were both in frantic action. All I can say today is thank god for baking soda and scrubbies. In retrospect, we should have mashed with 4 gallons instead of 5, or maybe even less, of course adjusting temperatures accordingly.

So we poured a gallon of the wort into a clean bucket, and held back 3 cups to sour a bit and add during the boil just for the hell of it (actually it was 3 cups over a gallon...double oops).

When all was said and done, though, our mash still landed right at 150F, the projected temperature. After mashing for 60 minutes, wrapping the pot with a towel,

and ending at a temperature of 140F, we sparged with 1 gallon of 170F water for 10 minutes. Then we raised the temperature, adding the hops at 190F,

and brought the wort to a rolling boil for 60 minutes.

30 minutes into the boil we lowered the heat and added the 3 lbs Bavarian Wheat DME, stirring constantly to prevent clumping. For the first 45 minutes of the boil, I periodically added the quart of sour mash as evaporation occurred.

Then in the final 5 minutes of the boil, we added the American house roast oak cubes, for sanitizing purposes.

We turned the burner off (flame out) at 60 minutes, and let stand 20 minutes before cooling in an ice water bath in the sink.

Once that sucker hit 88F it was on! We pitched the eager yeasties onto their fresh malt meal, and this morning the airlock was bubbling away. Golly those things sure are gassy. (heheh)

Uh oh...in an inebriated state, I seemed to have forgotten to take an Original Gravity reading! Those VD American Ales sure are tasty...

But at 75% Brewhouse efficiency, this beer would have an OG of 1.076 . We usually hit more around 80% or 90% efficiency, and maybe even higher on this batch, considering the high water/grist ratio. And with the addition of cherries to secondary fermentation, you can only imagine how monstrous this beer will be.

This is one Crick you don't wanna be caught up without a paddle...

-Myles and Carla

EDIT: OG is more like 1.060, thank you Highlander on Homebrewchatter.com.

Pages: Brewday - Cherry Addition

Spring is in the air...

2010-04-01T20:13:00.000-04:00

We just got back from our awesome Florida trip (pictures soon!) and everyone loved the Engagement Day American Ale! So now that we're back, the Bunker's operating again. Bottling the Brown Porter with home roasted grain tonight, and this weekend we will try something new: sour mash. Tomorrow we start the sour mash by taking 5 ounces of 2-row and doing a mini-mash, then cover and let it sit for 2 days. By Sunday morning we'll have some lactobacillus and other funky stuff going on, which we'll through straight into the main mash during the boil. This will lower the pH level of the mash, lending a tart flavor.

And what mash, may you ask?
A Sour Cherry Lambic-style Wheat Beer!

Stay tuned...
And after that, Dark Chocolate Wheat...mmm...

-Myles

Brown Porter with home-toasted Special Roast (All-Grain)

2010-03-13T19:43:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was brew day, so we hiked our excited asses up to the Miami Valley Brewtensils for the freshest ingredients to brew our first 5 gallon all-grain batch, a basic brown porter. We got there and found everything for this recipe easily, except one pound of British brown malt. When I asked if they had it, Jeff Fortney told me they didn't, but they were getting it in soon with their bulk grain order. He told me there was no straight substitute for British Brown, but he would use Special Roast 50L, with an added step: spread the grains on a flat pan, and toast them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 30 minutes, checking periodically. They would be done when the inside was a brownish white color. Of course we decided to give it a shot. Here we go:

Brown Porter #1 (All-Grain)
5 gallon batch

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.018
ABV: 3.7%

Fermentables:
-6.5 lbs US 2-row Pale malt
-1 lb Caramel 40L
-1 lb toasted Special Roast 50L
-0.75 lb Chocolate 350L

Hops:
-1 oz US Fuggles 4.8%AA (90 minutes)

Yeast:
-1 packet (11g) Danstar Nottingham dry yeast

Other:
-1 tsp Irish Moss (15 minutes)

(Special Roast on right is pre-toasting)

Procedure:

First we had to toast the pound of Special Roast. And boy, did it ever smell good!

First, we spread the grains out on a flat baking pan.

While she spread the grains, I set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the oven was heated, we popped the grains in and set our timer for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through to ensure even heating. When we took the pan out, it looked like this:

When we cut one in half, the inside was brown-white, and we knew we were done. We heated 3 gallons of strike water in our pot to 166 degrees, to try to attain a mash temperature of 152. While that heated we crushed the toasted Special Roast. Since we brew in a nylon mesh bag and don't have to worry about stuck sparges, we just ground them in our food processor.

Once the water hit 166, we turned off the stove and poured the grains into our already-secured mesh straining bag.

We stirred profusely with the mash paddle to break up clumps, and wrapped our trusty towel around the brew pot.

Always remember to write everything down!

There's no use in a good recipe if it can't be remembered.

After a 60 minute mash, we removed the grain bag to a drip bucket, and poured the wort into a separate bucket. Time to sparge! We heated 3 gallons of sparge water to 180 degrees Fahrenheit in the brew pot. Then we replaced the grain bag, stirred a bit,

And let it sparge for 10 minutes. After pulling the swollen sack from the sparge water and removing it to a drip bucket,

We poured the wort back in to mix with the sparge water and bring to a boil.

Holy crap! That's way too full!

We cut it extremely close with our pot's headspace, and preferably would have had more, but still suffered no boil-over. Needless to say, we hovered over the pot with brew paddle ready.

Once the wort came to a rolling boil, we put our ounce of Fuggles hops in a nylon bag, dropped it into the wort, and set the timer for 75 minutes.

After that 75 minutes had passed we added 1 tsp of Irish Moss (a fining agent) and stirred the boil periodically for 15 more minutes.

Then it was time to chill the wort, so we filled our sink with ice water, put the kettle in, and removed the hops bag.

After the wort cooled to around 115 degrees, we poured it into our fermentor. It only reached the 4-gallon mark, so we brought another gallon of water to a boil, let it cool for a moment, and topped off our "Ale Pail" to achieve 5 gallons of raw porter.

We pitched the yeast straight into the fermentor without rehydration, at a higher temperature (around 104) than most would recommend, sealed the lid on tight, and fit with an airlock. Then we sent it to the corner.

When we awoke this morning, it was bubbling away! This should be a good mid-range Brown Porter. Rest assured, we'll let you know how it turns out!

-Myles and Carla

Curry Hummus

2010-03-09T14:37:00.000-05:00

If you like corn chips (and who doesn't?) then you've probably tried, or at least heard, hummus. It's a tasty chick pea based dip that has great potential to be built upon. This past week, we made Curry Hummus. Super simple, and way cheaper than the market's tiny tub of $6 over-processed crap. Add pine nuts and oil on top, or cilantro, or whatever else sounds good!

Curry Hummus

Ingredients:
-1 can (15 oz) chick peas, undrained (drain if thicker texture is desired)
-1/2 tbsp olive oil
-1/2 tbsp lime juice
-1 tbsp minced garlic
-1/2 tbsp cumin
-1 tsp curry powder (add more to taste)
-1/2 tsp sesame seeds
-dash of salt
-dash of pepper
-1/4 tsp paprika
-1 tbsp lemon pepper

Procedure:

Throw everything in a food processor.

Blend until smooth throughout.

Add spices to taste, it's you're hummus after all.

REFRIGERATE.

And that's it! So much tastier, so much cheaper!

-Myles and Carla

P.S. - Dip some blue corn tortilla chips in that stuff and drink a cerveza del casa...what a treat!
Disclaimer: no, we don't know Spanish

Beef Stew (Giant batch)

2010-03-08T18:02:00.002-05:00

Chances are, if you're brewing beer in your home, you've got a large pot of some sort. Remember, you can use it for food, too! Like this giant batch of Beef Stew...

Beef round roast was on sale, 2 for the price of 1, at Kroger this past weekend. So we picked up a pair, and did the classic roast-in-a-bag the same day of the Easy Irish Red batch. Then we had a whole roast in the freezer. What to do, what to do...

BEEF STEW!
Remember, this is just what we did. You can always approximate/substitute ingredients

Yields:
Enough to feed an army

Ingredients:
-2.63 lbs beef round roast, cubed, fat removed
-11-13 carrots (15 oz), peeled and cut into 1/4" medallions
-12 medium potatoes (5 lbs)
-1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
-5.3 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
-1 can (15 oz) sweet peas, drained
-1 can (14.75 oz) cream-style corn
-3 large celery stalks (9.2 oz), if smaller middle stalks are used, remove bitter leaves
-1 can (14 oz) beef broth
-1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 cup soy sauce
-1/4 cup oil (olive, vegetable, etc.)
-1/4 cup & 2 tbsp corn starch (dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water)
-1 tbsp & 2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet
-2 bay leaves
-1 tbsp & 2 tsp cumin
-2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
-1 tbsp & 1 tsp chili powder
-1 tbsp & 1 tsp paprika
-1 tbsp & 1 tsp basil flakes
-1 tbsp & 1 tsp garlic powder
-1 tbsp oregano flakes
-1 tbsp sea salt
-1 tsp onion powder
-2 dashes liquid smoke
-1 tbsp hot sauce
-water to cover

(minus spices)

Procedure:
Brown meat in bottom of the pan with oil. Sprinkle with some fresh ground pepper and salt. When meat is brown but not charred (unless you prefer it tough), add carrots, potatoes, onion, mushrooms, peas, celery, and bay leaves. Pour enough water into the pot to just cover everything, and stir a bit.

Bring to a boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add all remaining ingredients, saving the corn starch and water mixture for last. After adding the corn starch mixture, turn heat down to simmer, stirring continuously. Make sure when stirring to scrape the bottom, ensuring no clumps. Simmer 15 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add seasonings to taste. And then taste the hell out of it!

Make some biscuits, and it doesn't get much heartier than that!

-Myles and Carla

UPDATES

2010-03-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

I just updated the Engagement/Valentine's Day American Pale Ale page with pictures from last night's bottling, check it out!

-Myles

Beef Stew and Porter

2010-03-07T17:11:00.001-05:00

Well, we just added a "Food Recipes" section to the site, where we're going to put some of our favorite recipes. This is some good stuff, man. So if you like cooking (or just like looking at people cooking) on a budget and mostly from scratch, get ready for some mouth-watering recipes! And of course, stay tuned for many more beers and wines. Coming next: Chocolaty Brown Porter and some good old Beef Stew!

-Mmm...yles

P.S. - Click to the right to share us on all that social networking crap! Support the cause!

Charcoal Filtering

2010-03-03T20:20:00.004-05:00

So, you're tired of drinking bottom-shelf vodka, but you can't afford to drink Grey Goose and Belvedere all the time, or your just fed up with outrageous prices.

Time to bust out the charcoal! No, not the briquettes you use to grill with. I'm talking about activated charcoal, aka activated carbon. The same stuff that's in most home water filters (BRITA, anyone?). The stuff looks like gunpowder and is really cheap, despite what the filter company may try to tell/sell you.

My local homebrew shop carries bags of the stuff, and in fact it was Mike Schwartz, owner of Belmont Party Supply, who turned us on to it. As my fiance and I stood in line holding our 1.75 L bottle of Kamchatka, Mr. Schwartz explained that we could turn our bottom-shelf beverage into a product comparable to Grey Goose with a few simple steps. And boy was he ever right! A few runs through this system and you'll have your friends wondering why you're serving good stuff instead of your usual swill. Hell, go ahead and put it in a bottle labeled "house vodka". Best part is, you can use this system for water too, although I wouldn't use the same charcoal!

If you don't have an awesome homebrew shop, look at pet supply stores or water specialists. The same stuff is used in aquarium filters.

This is really easy. Here we go:

Easy Liquid Filter

Materials:
-pinch of activated charcoal
-2 liter or other plastic food-grade bottle with plastic cap
-coffee filter
-sharp knife
-collection vessel

1. Cut the clean and rinsed 2 liter bottle in half, discard lower half
2. Poke a few holes in the bottle cap with your knife, and screw it on tight.
3. Invert the bottle's top half (makeshift filtration vessel) and line the inside with your coffee filter. You might want to run a little water into it to get the filter to adhere to the bottle. The filter should cover the holes you poked in the lid.
4. Put a little pinch of your activated charcoal in the rig.
5. Pour vodka or whatever you want to filter into your new tool. Just make sure you have something to catch your filtered liquid underneath! Usually I just set the bottle-half on top of a big glass.

And that's it! One run through and your vodka will improve noticeably, two runs and you won't even recognize it. This smooths and mellows out the flavor so much you'll want to start drinking it straight (wuss). Alternatively, you could tie the activated charcoal into a tea bag and swish it around in your vodka for a while, or you could just dump some straight in your bottle and shake it. I prefer using a filter because I don't like granules of stuff in my vodka, although consuming the charcoal won't hurt you. If you want to be really fancy, try running the vodka through five or six times. All of a sudden that "six times charcoal-filtered" label on the bottle of Ripovf vodka eight shelves up doesn't seem so daunting, does it?

What exactly is happening in your simple filter? Well, fusel oils (a major hangover cause) and other bad-tasting/smelling impurities are being absorbed into the charcoal's many pores, leaving us with a purer product. If you filter your water, it will absorb the chlorine, among other things. But remember, your little pinch of charcoal can only absorb a certain amount. You can work off the same pinch for a while, but you'll definitely be able to tell when it's no longer working by the change in taste...and you'll remember why you started doing this in the first place! Just toss your used charcoal and load the filter with a new pinch. Good as new.

You can use this method for other spirits, but remember, charcoal-filtration will change the flavor. Some impurities give certain alcohols their characteristics; for example, you don't want to filter bourbon. The best effects are achieved by starting with neutral spirits, e.g. vodka, gin, grain alcohol (everclear). Although I must say, one of my best homemade wines ever was a batch of blueberry, charcoal-filtered and fortified with brandy.

If you already have one of the pitcher-type water filters, you could just run your vodka through there a few times and have a comparable product. But look into buying some activated charcoal, and get a load of this. No harm in saving a few bucks, right?

-Myles

P.S. - Send me a bottle of your filtered vodka and I'll tell you if you did it right

Easy Irish Red Ale, 2.5 gallon batch

2010-03-01T17:56:00.002-05:00

It'd been a good weekend for brewing, so we figured we might as well finish it up with a small batch of Irish Red, using some steeping grains we had in the leftovers stash. We planned on walking to the grocery store in the morning and making a roast for dinner, so I made a quick and easy recipe. Extract with steeping grains, what a breeze!

Easy Irish Red (extract with steeping grains)
(a little more than a) 2.5 gallon batch
Estimated OG: 1.051
Actual OG: 1.042

(ingredients not shown in correct amounts)

Ingredients:

-3.3 lbs Briess Pilsen Light LME

-0.13 lb Briess Black Patent Malt (Lovibond 500)

-0.13 lb Muntons Carapils (Lovibond 20)

Hops:

-0.5 oz US Goldings 4.5%

Yeast:

Nottingham dry ale yeast, 1 packet (11g)

Process:

First, we weighed out the grains and put them in a nylon bag for steeping,

And put one gallon of water in our pot. Then we began heating the water to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

During this time I sanitized the carboy by putting a tiny bit of bleach in the bottom and filling it with water. I let it sit like this in the tub while we began.

Alright, the water in the pot is starting to warm up. Let's add those grains!

When the water reached 150 degrees, we turned the burner down to low and stirred the bag around a little, then covered the pot for 30 minutes. At about 15 minutes:

Then we weighed out the hops. If you don't have a vacuum-sealer, an effective way to keep hops fresher is the good old straw and mouth method.

You'll get a good taste of the hops when you suck the air out of the bag, and you'll help prevent oxidation. Then just refrigerate as usual.

pretty good, eh?

Time to kill, time to kill...let's rinse out the carboy! It needed plenty of rinsing since we used chlorine bleach to sanitize.

Now our steep was about done, and here's how it looked after about 30 minutes:

We removed the grain bag, added 2.5 gallons of water, and the hops bag. Being the scroungers and savers we are, we didn't discard the grains as usual, instead opting to dry them on a pan in the oven. We're going to try baking them in a bread for added texture.

Then we boiled for one hour, adding the liquid malt extract during the last 15 minutes (to prevent carmelization/darkening).

Keeping your LME in a hot water bath before use to makes pouring easier

15 minutes rolls by, and our 60 minutes boil is done. We turned off the burner and cooled the wort. At about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, we removed the hops bag and poured our pre-beer into the carboy.

It was then that I realized we had a problem we've never had before -- we had more than our intended 2.5 gallons of wort! But it still fit in our carboy so we poured it all in anyway, assuming the gods of blow-off would get more than their due that night. I pitched the whole packet of yeast at about 90 degrees and secured the blow-off tube on with a rubber bung.

Then we finally got to eat the amazing roast that my fiance was cooking in the oven this whole time. And boy was it good!

And good thing we had that blow-off tube...by the time we went to sleep it looked like this:

Since the ending volume was higher than intended, our original gravity reading was 1.042, a lot lower than the 1.051 we were shooting for. We could have boiled our wort longer to concentrate the sugars and lower the volume; however, the color would have darkened, and since we were going for quick, cheap, and plentiful, we just left the beer as is. This also could have been remedied by adding less water after the steep, 1.75 or 2 gallons rather than 2.5. But this was a by-the-seat-of-our-pants beer. No time for calculations! It's lighter in gravity than BJCP guidelines for Irish Red Ale by .002. But you don't have to tell anybody that...

This was last night, and today the krausen has fallen. Now it's got an airlock and it's ready to rock. I can't wait to share this on St. Patrick's Day! Don't worry, you know there will be pictures!

-Myles

Spicy American Wheat Ale: First All-Grain

2010-02-27T22:45:00.004-05:00

My buddy gave me a couple of food-grade five gallon buckets the other day. BREWING TIME!

I'd been itching to do a wheat beer for a while now. We like wheat; she makes whole wheat bread, we eat whole wheat pasta, cream of wheat for breakfast...you get the idea. And to top it all off, she really likes Blue Moon. Witbier time!

But not exactly. This recipe fits the BJCP style guidelines for an American Wheat Beer, but is spiced in a classic Witbier way. The brew process was fun and smelled great. But most importantly, it was our first straight "grain to glass" brew. No extracts here folks, all fermentables came straight from the grain!

I was proud, calculations were spot-on, except for efficiency, which was underestimated. Our process was 88% efficient this session. That's higher than many commercial breweries! So here we go...

Spicy American Wheat Ale: All-Grain
4 gallon batch

Predicted OG: 1.052
Actual OG: 1.054

Predicted FG: 1.012

Fermentables:
-4 lbs US 2-row Pale Malt
-4 lbs Flaked Wheat

Hops:
-1 oz US Golding 4.5% (60 min)

Yeast:
-Safbrew WB-06 dry ale yeast

Others:

-0.75 oz crushed coriander
-0.75 oz dried orange peel (homemade)

Process:
We heated 3 gallons of water (1.5 qt water/1 lb of grain) to a strike temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, with our trusty strainer bag secured to the pot's handles.

This temperature was calculated so that when the 8 pounds of 65 degree Fahrenheit grain hit the 3 gallons of 165 degree water, we would achieve a mash temperature of 153 degrees. And sure enough, we hit it dead on.

With the stove top now turned off, I stirred the mash heartily to break up any clumps. Then we put the lid on the pot, wrapped a towel around it, and left it to mash at 153 for 60 minutes. Using the simple towel method, we didn't lose a single degree Fahrenheit during the mash.

And no, the other end of the mash paddle is not in my nose, though that would be a neat trick.

Next I removed the grain bag (this is where bicep strength comes in!) and set it into our now-upgraded drip tray...another bucket! Then I poured these first runnings into a food grade bucket, and poured 2.5 gallons of water into our pot.

No need to be fancy unless you're a real stickler, I just measure gallons with an old juice jug

Then, once the 2.5 gallons of water reached 180 degrees, we turned off the burner and replaced the grain bag. I stirred the grains once more with the mash paddle, then covered the pot and let it sit for 15 minutes. This BIAB (brew in a bag) batch sparge method majorly contributes to the high efficiency of this system.

After this 15 minute sparge, I removed the grain bag from the sparge water and returned it to the drip tray for its last drippings. No waste in this brewhouse! Or should I say brewpartment? Anyway, now comes the fun part...

Combine the wort and the sparge water,

Add the hops,

And boil!

Important Note: Remember to watch your pot (contrary to old wives tales it will boil), and stir to prevent boil-over. Hot break can be hellacious, and nobody wants to lose any of their beer, not to mention clean up sticky burnt wort. The more head space your pot has, the better.

After about 80 minutes of boiling we whipped out the trusty mini-food processor to crush the coriander. I decided to throw the dried orange peels in there too, as they were pretty large pieces to begin with.

If you aren't as frugal you could go buy bitter or sweet orange peel (drastically different, research first) from your brew shop for about $1.50 to $2 an ounce. But if you would like to use the same method we did, just peel your oranges with a paring knife, leaving as much pith (the bitter white part) on the fruit as possible. Break the peels into your desired size, and set them out in a dry spot on a plate for 3-4 days. You could expedite the process by putting them on a baking sheet in the oven at a low setting for an hour or two. Use organic fruits if you want to make sure you're not drinking pesticides.

Then I poured the coriander and orange peel into a little nylon bag, tied it off, and dropped it in to boil for the last five minutes. The short boil is to preserve delicate flavors and aromas that over-cooking can destroy.

Next, we started loading our sink with cold water and ice for the cooling. We can cool to a respectable 100 degrees Fahrenheit in 30 minutes if we just replace the water when it is no longer cold, about once every 5 to 10 minutes in our sink.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SANITIZE!

Here I'm adding 1 tsp Iodophor to 1.5 gallons of water to sanitize the bucket, lid, mash paddle (for fishing out bags) and airlock. Cooling is a prime time for this.

I removed the bags to a drip tray to save every possible drop,

Poured the cooled wort into the sanitized fermenting bucket,

Then topped off with the drippings.

We ended up just under the 4 gallon mark, so I added a little dechlorinated water to get us to the desired volume.

Took a hydrometer reading...

OG: 1.054

and pitched the yeast. Now it's sitting on the right, next to our Engagement Day American Ale, bubbling away! More updates at bottling time!

-Myles

Wheat Beer's a-mashin'

2010-02-26T17:45:00.000-05:00

So, word on the street is, there's a 4 gallon batch of some killer spicy wheat beer brewing in the Bunker. RIGHT NOW. Pictures and details shall abound soon...provided these damn rechargeable batteries actually recharge!

-Myles

Old Sweaty Bitch Ale

2010-02-24T19:40:00.000-05:00

This is the recipe for a super high gravity brew we started on 1/29/10. When I pitched the yeast (and un-rehydrated dry yeast at that!) it started bubbling within five minutes. I was amazed, I've never seen such a thing before, and I'm not sure if I will again.

UPDATE 2/24/10:
This stuff tastes incredible, even pre-carbed, at 10.65%ABV. It's ended where I expected it to end with the Safbrew S33's alcohol tolerance of 11%, and we've opted to not dry it out further with champagne yeast. We're bottling tonight, should be done in a few weeks, but no matter how awesome this killer brew is, we're holding some back for the ages...this one's definitely a keeper! Pictures soon!

2/25/10

Didn't get as much as we wanted, because I agitated the carboy a little too much when priming, causing sediment to rise. Here I am looking forlornly at the minuscule amount of wasted beer.

We also had one hell of a time bottling, siphon issues, and our racking cane even snapped!

But just get a load of that good bit of high gravity brew!

Old Sweaty Bitch

2.5 gallon batch

Actual SG:1.110

Estimated FG:1.022
Estimated ABV: 11.55%

Actual FG: 1.031
Actual ABV: 10.65%

Extracts:
3.3 lbs Muntons light LME
2.5 lbs Briess Pilsen light DME
1 lb light brown sugar

Crushed Grains:
0.5 lbs Briess Crystal 60L
0.5 lbs Briess Chocolate 350L
0.25 lbs Muntons Carapils 20L

Hops:
UK Fuggle 4.0% 60 min.
US Golding 4.9% 60 min

Yeast:
Safbrew S33, pitched directly into primary

Procedure:
Steeped grains for one hour, slowly raising temp from 140F to 157F. Removed grain bag and sparged with 155F water. Added malt extracts and hops bags and boiled for one hour. Cooled to 71F, pitched dry yeast, and fit with blow off tube.

This one started vigorously bubbling immediately, not surprising with the high SG. But I didn't realize just how vigorous it would bubble until it started overflowing my shot glass, then my butter tub, with loads of goopy foam.

So I rigged the tube into my old empty Mr. Beer barrel and, after the initial blow up, poured all the blown-off beer/ foam back into my primary and fit with an airlock (Sorry, camera had died by then). It's slowed now, bubbling every once in a while, but I still shake it every day and get a burst of bubbles. Added a tsp of yeast nutrient on 2/8/10, and if the FG is too high, I'm going to toss in a little champagne yeast.

I'm super hyped to age this one and give it to a few select friends with an affinity for strong drink!

-Myles Nestok

P.S. -- Don't forget to soap up and pour out the gunk, unless you're harvesting yeast.

beautiful

Frostbit Dick Dry Stout

2010-02-24T13:47:00.000-05:00

*no genitalia were harmed in the making of this beer

So it was 18 degrees Fahrenheit out, with windchill making it feel more like 5. But we were determined. Glorious stepfather Sandy gifted us a 3 gallon glass carboy for Christmas, and we were going to make beer dammit!

We walked three miles through a blizzard of snow that fateful January day, when we brewed our first partial mash beer from a self-made recipe. And it turned out good. Dark and roasty, with hints of burnt coffee flavor without an overly bitter finish.

Frostbit Dick
2.5 gallon batch

OG: 1.050
FG: 1.021
ABV: 4.07%

Fermentables:
-1/2 can Munton's Dark LME (2 cups, or 1.65 lb)
-1 lb Briess Dark DME
-1 lb Weyermann Carafa Special III

Hops:
-1 oz Northern Brewer pellet hops AA 8.5%
-1 oz Hallertau pellet hops AA 4.5%

Yeast:
Safbrew S33, 11.5g (1 packet)

Procedure:
We bought the Carafa whole, so we put the grains in a freezer bag and crushed them with the bottom of a glass bottle. Then we put the grains in a nylon mesh back, tied it off, and boiled it in 1 gallon of water for 1 hour, along with the dark liquid malt extract and the Northern Brewer hops (in a muslin bag). Next we let the wort cool for a moment, then poured into the carboy.

Important: make SURE you do not pour hot liquid into glass containers; you will not only end up with a mess, but probably a few severed digits too. In retrospect, we should have cooled the wort longer

Then we discarded the grains, and with the hops bag still in our tiny pot (we had yet to upgrade), we boiled the dry malt extract in 1 gallon of water for 1 hour. Let cool, poured into carboy, and topped off with cool tap water. Dry hopped with the 1 oz Hallertau for 2 days, pre-fermentation.

We pitched the dry yeast on 1/4/2010, and fermentation was noticeable within 48 hours. Fermentation ceased on 1/26/2010, at which point we primed each 12 oz bottle with 3/4 tsp corn sugar, the old-fashioned way.

Looking back on this beginners' quest into brewing, I would have changed alot of things. The Carafa would be steeped, not boiled. The dry hopping would probably be converted to a late hop addition during the boil. We would have used light LME, rather than dark (more fermentables). We would have bulk primed, rather than priming bottle-to-bottle.

But doesn't that look like a damn fine brew? It sure tastes like it!

-Myles Nestok

Supreme Irish Cream

2010-02-22T20:10:00.001-05:00

Do you love the sweet silky flavor of a cup of Irish Cream at dessert, but can't stand paying the outrageous price? ($17 for a small bottle of Bailey's?!) Neither can we, so we make it ourselves. Cheaper, fresher, and tastier. I believe this recipe was posted by a certain "Mom" on allrecipes.com once. More or less vanilla or almond extract can be used if desired, or omitted all together. Some people say this recipe makes it a little strong on the alcoholic side, but we find it just right.

Supreme Irish Cream
yields just over 4 cups, or a little bit more than a 750 ml bottle (drink the extra!)

Ingredients:
-1 cup (1/2 pt) heavy/whipping cream
-1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
-1 and 2/3 cup Irish Whiskey (or Scotch, or Bourbon...but then you'd have some KY Cream)haha
-1 tsp instant coffee granules
-2 tbsp chocolate syrup
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp almond extract

Directions:
Blend like hell in a blender, or with a wire whisk. Pour into cleaned bottle and refrigerate. Improves after a night in the fridge, the flavors have time to meld.

This stuff turns even the crappiest coffee into ambrosia.

Apple Wine

2010-02-22T13:42:00.000-05:00

This stuff is easy as pie and cheap as mud. Damn I could go for a mud pie.

Based off of an extremely popular recipe found here, I just scaled it down to do two gallons, and changed ingredients just a little bit. It yields a very dry wine of about 10% ABV, and can be carbonated like beer to make a knock-you-on-your-ass cider. Here it is:

Simple Apple Wine, 2 gallons (thank you for inspiration, EdWort)

Ingredients:
- 2 gallons of Apple Juice (no preservatives added, but ascorbic acid is fine)
-1 lb white granulated sugar
-2 tsp yeast nutrient (optional)

Yeast:
Montrachet wine yeast

Directions:
Mix all that stuff up in a pot (or your fermentation vessel), and take a gravity reading. Don't worry about boiling or any of that crap, the commercial juices are pasteurized. You could boil the yeast nutrient in a bit of water if you're really worried, but what's the point of worrying?

Our original gravity reading was 1.071. Then open your little yeast packet and pour it in there, and fit with an airlock. We mixed everything in a bigger pot since we use 1 gallon jug fermentors then split evenly airlocked each.

Seriously, make some of this stuff, you'll love it.

-Myles Nestok

Cure-All

2010-02-18T16:55:00.001-05:00

Here's the recipe for a small (2 gallon) batch I bottled and corked the other day. I tasted the hydrometer's share to make sure it didn't need to be sweetened (FG was 1.001!) and it was amazingly smooth, especially considering the high alcohol content. Carla doesn't like chamomile or mint, but she loves this wine. We're excited to see what age will do to it!

With the antioxidants and beta-carotene of carrots, anti-inflammatory and soothing effects of chamomile, and digestive healing powers of mint, who's to say it isn't a cure-all? If you use tea bags for your chamomile and/or mint, make sure the only ingredient in the tea is its respective herb. The measurements are in grams because each Bigelow tea bag I had contained one gram of material.

Cure-All

SG: 1.121
FG:1.001
ABV: 15.75%

Ingredients:
-10 g dried chamomile
-8 g dried mint
-2 black tea bags
-5 lbs carrots, chopped but not skinned (you can save these to eat!)
-handful of raisins (optional)
-2 tsp yeast nutrient

Yeast:
Montrachet dry wine yeast

Sugar:
5 lbs white granulated

Directions:
Boil the chopped carrots in a little over 2 gallons of water, or as much as your container will hold, until they are soft to the touch. Remove carrots through straining and throw them in the fridge to heat up as a quick side dish later (throw some butter and chili salt on there!) Turn off heat and steep all tea bags/herbs in carrot water for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags, stir in 5 lbs white granulated sugar. Pour into fermentation vessel (I used two 1 gal glass jugs from commercial crapper wine), top off with water if needed, pitch yeast and nutrient, fit with airlock.

My batch was started on 12/30/09 and bottled on 2/7/10, with fermentation at 64-66 degrees Fahrenheit. You could ferment at a higher temperature to finish it quicker, but I'm not sure if it would taste quite as smooth as it does this way. It's a full-bodied elixir, silky smooth...mmm!

Engagement/Valentine's Day American Ale

2010-02-17T17:07:00.015-05:00

Valentine's Day is my lady's favorite holiday. I planned on popping the question months in advance, and when she suggested we make her favorite holiday coincide with brew day, I was excited. We brewed a basic American Ale, with more grain than we've ever used before (62.3 percent of the fermentables!) I proposed during the cooling period, and she accepted. Then we went to Elsa's and ate like gluttons and drank Bad Juans (strong but tasty margaritas!) Here's the recipe, followed by a pictorial tutorial:

UPDATE 3/8/10:
Bottling time! We bottled this last night, so the Final Gravity and bottling pictures are below. And it meets BJCP guidelines for American Pale Ale! Success!

VD American Ale

Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV: 6.17%

Fermentables
5 lbs US Pale 2 row Malt
1 lb US Victory Malt
0.25 lb US Carapils Malt
3.3 lbs Briess Golden Light Liquid Malt Extract
0.5 lb generic honey

Hops
US Cascade 7.5 % 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
US Cascade 7.5 % 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops 10 Min From End

Yeast
Safale US-05

Others
1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 Min From End

Left to right: 3.3 lbs Golden Light Liquid Malt Extract, 2 oz Cascade pellet hops, grains milled at brew shop (5 lbs Pale Malt, 1 lb Victory Malt, .25 lbs Carapils Malt), dry yeast, Irish Moss, Iodophor (sanitizer), honey

First we used 2 clips to secure our super large straining bag, partially rolled up, into our 22 quart kettle.

We heated 2.5 gallons of water in the giant pot on our tiny stove until it reached 164 degrees Fahrenheit, then shut off the power. This is called the strike temperature because...

...it's that temperature before the grains strike! We heated to 164, calculating that with our grains at the kitchen's ambient temperature (65 degrees), we would get a 152-153 degree mash.

After pouring all our grains in the bag and stirring to break up any clumps, we took a temperature reading, and were right on the money with 153 degrees Fahrenheit. So we put a lid on it, wrapped a towel around it (all to maintain the heat for the full 60 minute mash), and drank a homebrew!

Of course, I had her pose in front of the kettle with the mash paddle first.

This was some of our first 2.5 gallon batch from after Christmas (thanks for the carboy Sandy!), a Dry Stout. It's thick and roasty, with a strong bitterness reminiscent of burnt coffee. With an ABV of 4.1%, it's a good beer to drink when a strong taste is desired, but the day is still young.

After the 60 minute mash we had to remove the grains to pour the first runnings into a bucket. I lifted out the swollen grain sack, and put it in this severely undersized drip-catcher,

poured the wort into a bucket,

and started heating another 2.5 gallons of water in the pot for the sparge. Once the water was around 180 degrees, I transferred the grain bag into the water to extract as much remaining sugar as we could from the grains.

As we waited on the water to work its magic I weighed out the honey.

After about 10 minutes, I removed the grain bag, and set it back in our tiny pot for one last drip session before meeting the garbage disposal.

In later calculations, I found our process this session to be 85% efficient! Next we poured the first runnings back into the kettle and cranked the heat up to get that sucker boiling. We also added the first ounce of boiling hops.

At this time we stir like hell to prevent the hot break (coagulating proteins) from boiling over. We did a good job on this one, it was probably our cleanest brew to date. Towards the 45 minute mark we added our honey and liquid malt extract. We did this late in the boil to prevent carmelization.

We added the second ounce of hops, in a muslin grain bag, 10 minutes before the end of the boil. Then we turned the heat off, filled the sink with ice, and set the kettle in it's cooling bath.

She went to shower so I dressed up real purdy. When she came out I took a knee, and asked that woman to marry me. She said yes and my systolic pressure dropped 20 points. Don't worry though, the greasy goodness of Elsa's made up for it! Here I am taking the hops bags out:

heheh

And here she is with her necklace and ring! Isn't she pretty?

Another happy homebrewing couple! We're going to try to have only our own beer at the wedding reception...fitting, isn't it?

-Myles Nestok

Oh yeah, and of course, after cooling (and 3 plates of food and 2 Bad Juans!) we poured into the fermentor, pitched the dry yeast, and fit with an airlock. Cheers!

Bottling time:

Isn't that beautiful beer?

Just grab...

And go!

Look at all that beer...

And if you're thinking of popping the question yourself, accompanied by a gorgeous bouquet, check out the coupons here. 20% off is no joke!