Raspberry Wheat Beer

So I tried the raspberry wheat that I started a few weeks ago. It was flat, but other than that I thought it tasted awful. I think I have fixed the carbonation issue. I have read previously that the raspberry extract that I used can cause a soapy flavor. That was exactly what I tasted. I am hoping that the beer will "grow" out of it. It definitely doesn't taste like tasty natural raspberries should. I think if I do fruit in beer like I am with the apricot wheat, I will only use fresh fruit, or fruit pure going forward, those flavorings are nasty.

I also started the beer for an apricot wheat ale. It was going to be a heffeweizen, but The Beer Nut didn't have a heffe kit. I did a wheat beer instead, it should be basically the same, I am using a heffeweizen yeast. Speaking of yeast, I also used a liquid yeast rather than dry yeast. Supposedly the liquid yeast will make the beer that much better. I am planning on adding the apricots to the secondary fermentor. Right now the apricots are frozen. When I am ready for them, I am going to thaw them, mash them, and bake them for about a half an hour at 150 F to pasteurize them. It will have to taste better then the soapy raspberry flavoring.

The amber ale I first kegged keeps getting better. My first brew, the American Brown Ale tastes awesome. I cracked open a bottle this weekend, and didn't want to stop drinking it. I think that my next beer will be a stout or something else with some body to it.

That's all on the beer front for now.

Bottled: Brown Ale
Keg 1: Amber Ale
Keg 2: Raspberry Wheat
Keg 3: empty
Secondary: Cream Ale
Primary: Apricot Wheat
On deck: Irish Stout

The Great American Lager!

Budweiser was one of the primary sponsors of the MLB All Star Game. I find it ironic that their tag line was "The Great American Lager!" in their commercials right after it was announced that InBev, a Belgian company, is going to purchase Anheuser Busch. Sam Adams is actually the largest domestic brewer in America now which is okay because I actually prefer the fuller bodied beers like Sam Adams.

Home Kegging

I purchased some CO2 from Bevco yesterday, and I set up my keg system. The first beer on is an amber, and it tastes great! I am having some problems balancing the system though. Basically that means there is a lot of foam on the beer and I'm not sure if it is super carbonated. We'll get the balance figured out, there are a lot of equations to calculate the propper pressure, but I think trial and error will be better in the end.I ended up drinking enough last night to give me a headache today though. The alcohol content on the amber ended up being almost exactly 5% abv.
The Raspberry Wheat is looking really good so far. I think my goal is to brew a batch a week, I think that is very doable

Bottled: Brown Ale
Keg 1: Amber Ale
Keg 2: empty
Keg 3: empty
Secondary: empty
Primary: Raspberry Wheat
On deck: Cream Ale

My first beer...

I cracked open the first of the first beer that I brewed this past weekend, I've actually drank three of them at this point. They are 24 oz. bottles so it is quite a bit to drink once the bottle is opened. The overall impression of how it looks is very cloudy. It does however have a similar color to any other brown ale so that is good. I really enjoy the smell.

The first one kind of had a soapy aftertaste. I think that will go away as I get better at brewing, it is likely that some chlorinated water got into the beer after it was pitched. That is what I am attributing it to anyways.

The second one was probably my favorite, it tasted just right. It had just the right amount of hoppiness and you could definately taste the caramel and chocolate undertones.

The third one, which I drank last night, was tasty, but it tasted a little more bitter. One thing that I am noticing is that beer taste different depending on different conditions. My mood plays a major role in how much I enjoy a home brew. Kevin H from RedRock said I should keg the beers so they all taste the same.

I sent one beer to work with Hollie so the brewers at RedRock could try it. We'll see what they have to say. My brother did try it, he seemed to like it just fine. In fact, he went back for seconds without being prompted.

I have an amber ale in my secondary fermentor right now. I think it is ready to bottle, but I have ordered some kegs so I am not going to bottle the next batches, I am going to keg them. I even bought a refrigerator last week to put the kegs in, it cleaned up really nice. Eventually I am going to turn the refrigerator into a kegerator.

that is all for now

Brewing Update

Bottled my first batch of beer on Sunday or Monday, I can't remember. The yield was just over twenty four 22oz. bottles. They should be ready in ten to fourteen days. It tastes decent so far, and the dog liked it. It should be about 5% abv.

I started a new batch last night. We went with an amber this time. I feel much more confident about this batch, I'm not sure why, it just seemed to go smoother. It was recommended to me to taste the beer often, but I hate the taste of Wort (that is the beer before it is fermented). It tastes like soap I think.

Three things that I will be exploring: kegging, a kegerator, and a wort chiller. Those should be some fun projects.

Saturday Night Baseball

So Saturday night Hollie and I went to the Bees game. We got there at about 6:45 p.m., the game was supposed to start at 7:05 p.m. Turns out there was a double header that night, and it was a fireworks night so it was a little crowded. We purchased our tickets, bought a few beers, then went to our seets, they were on the top row. We caught the last inning and a half of the first game wich the Bees lost to the Las Vegas 51's(lame name I think) 3-0. The Bees managed to come from behind to win the second game 6-4. Then we waited a few minutes while the people in left field moved down to the field to watch the fireworks. After the fireworks started (about 10:00 p.m.) I realized that that was the perfect night... beer, baseball, and fireworks what more do you need?

10 Reasons Why Beer is Better than Jesus:

10. No one will kill you for not drinking beer.

9. Beer doesn’t tell you how to have sex

8. Beer has never caused a major war.

7. They don’t force Beer on minors who can’t think for themselves

6. When you have a Beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give it away.

5. Nobody’s ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured for their brand of beer.

4. You don’t have to wait 2,000+ years for a second beer.

3. There are laws saying Beer labels can’t lie to you.

2. You can prove you have a Beer.

1. If you’re devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.

My first brew

I am starting out with a brown ale. Brown ales are some of my favorites. Newcastle Brown Ale, aka "Newkie" is very tasty, but I haven't had it in a long time.

Rogue makes a very good Hazlenut Brown Ale but it is very strong.

One that I have recently tried and loved immediately was Red Rock's Nut Brown Ale. It has won many awards. You can read more about Red Rock beers here:

http://www.redrockbrewing.com/

I know my first attempt and maybe none of my attempts will be up to par with these fine ales, but I can always aspire

Home Brewing

I got a home brew kit from the Beer Nut in SLC today. I'm going to try and brew my own beer. Wish me luck.