AHS Texas Wildfire Relief Recipe Kits



In the wake of the recent devastating wildfires in central Texas Austin Homebrew Supply has released 13 limited edtion recipe kits to benefit the American Red Cross of Central Texas. All profit generated from the sale of these kits will be donated to the American Red Cross of Central Texas which is helping with the relief efforts for the vitims of this tragedy.

So click here pick up a great new kit and knock back some suds with the knowledge that your homebrew helped those in need.

Biggest news yet!

Earlier this year I wrote about the AHA sanctioned competition Amber Waves of Grain. The competition took place this past weekend. well unfortunately I was unable to attend due to the 1600 miles between the competiton venue and myself but Aaron did on saturday.

Aaron entered several beers that brewed on his own since I moved, along with the Bavarian Dunkelweizen and Fruit Cake Ale that we brewed last autumn. I knew that he was going to enter the Dunkelweizen but I just found out today that he also enter our Fruit Cake Ale when he called to tell me that it took first place in the Holiday Beers catagory! Click here to view the competition results page. If you scroll about half way down you'll find the Holiday Beers catagory. All of the beers were entered together under Aarons name (less mine) so that is the way it appears in the results.

This is a compete suprise. I was unaware that it was even entered and I haven't even had the opportunity to taste it yet (it was not finished fermenting at the time I left NY). My In-laws (Aarons parents) are coming to visit my wife and I in a few weeks and they are going to bring a few bottles down. I'm really honored to have done so well in an AHA sanctioned competition. This makes me miss brewing with Aaron even more.

Cheers,
 - Jay

Amber Waves of Grain.

Back in mid October Aaron and I brewed a Bavarian Dunkelweizen from extract. I neglected to post about it then because of my school work load. We bottled it and were able to serve it at my Graduation / Going away party right before X-mas. It went over well and was the favorite of all the home brews that we served (which included the Oak aged Barley Wine, Kitchen sink Pale Ale, and All-Grain Pumpkin Ale).


I found that it had a strong banana bread flavor and notes of vanilla typical for the variety of yeast we used (Wyeast – 3068 Weihenstephan). Full bodied and malty just like it should be. I found it just slightly bitter for the style. Looking back we should have either used less hops or boiled them for about 15 minutes less. It was the first time that we brewed a Dunkelweizen so lesson leaned. We didn’t quite reach the attenuation we were aiming for but I estimate the apparent attenuation was around 67%.

Here is the recipe:

Bavarian Dunkelweizen

15-B Dunkelweizen

Author: Jay

Date: 10/14/2010

Size: 5.0 gal

Attenuation: 66.7%

Original Gravity: 1.060 (1.044 - 1.056)
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Terminal Gravity: 1.020 (1.010 - 1.014)
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Color: 20.93 (14.0 - 23.0)
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Alcohol: 5.26% (4.3% - 5.6%)
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Bitterness: 18.7 (10.0 - 18.0)
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Ingredients:

6.0 lb CBW® Bavarian Wheat Powder (Dry Malt Extract)
0.5 lb Caramunich® TYPE I
0.25 lb Carafa Special® TYPE II
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt
1.0 oz Vanguard (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.0 ea WYeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 55.0 °F
Source Water:  Poland Spring Bottled water 60.0 °F

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Aaron has just informed me that he has just entered it in an AHA sanctioned competition, Amber Waves of Grain XV. The competition takes place on February 25th and 26th. I'm excited to be a part of this, unfortunately I won't be able to attend because the competition is back in Buffalo.

I'm not sure how well our brew will fair. The original and final gravity readings were both slightly high for the style. Regardless it will be cool to have some professional feed back. I'll post the results when I get them.

Cheers,
 - Jay

Final two NY brews

Aaron and I planned on brewing two holiday ales before I left New York for Texas. We only had the time to brew one, which was still in secondary fermentation at the time I left. So unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to taste it. He promised to save me a bottle for when I travel back to Buffalo in June.

The recipe that we did brew was a Fruit Cake Ale. Both recipes are based on two that we found in Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher http://www.radicalbrewing.com/ . We did some tweaking to the recipes (like changing the types of fruit used in the fruit cake ale) but that's what home brewing is all about. The Fruit Cake Ale was fun to brew as I had never used re hydrated dried fruit in a batch before. I decided to post both recipes even though we only had the time for one.

I'm already missing brew days with Aaron. I'll be brewing a batch of my own soon but half the fun was brewing with friends. Maybe we'll brew a batch next time we see each other (perhaps the Gingerbread Ale we ran out of time for).

So here are the recipes, enjoy!


Fruit Cake Ale

21-B Seasonal/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer

Author: Jay


Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 224.07 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.067 (1.026 - 1.120)
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Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (0.995 - 1.035)
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Color: 27.13 (1.0 - 50.0)
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Alcohol: 6.62% (2.5% - 14.5%)
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Bitterness: 34.5 (0.0 - 100.0)
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Ingredients:
6.5 lb Amber Dry
1.0 lb Crystal Malt 60°L
1.0 lb Special B - Caramel malt
0.25 lb Carafa® TYPE II
2.0 oz Liberty (4.0%) - added during boil, boiled 90.0 min
0.5 oz Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
0.25 tsp Nutmeg (ground) - added at end of boil
0.25 tsp Allspice - added at end of boil
2.0 tsp Cinnamon (ground) - added at end of boil
1.0 tsp Ginger (candied) - added at end of boil
1.0 tsp Vanilla (extract) - added at end of boil
1.0 lb Cranberries (fresh) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 lb Apple (dried) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 lb Raisins - added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 ea Orange zest - added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 ea Cloves (whole) - added dry to secondary fermenter

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Fruit Cake Ale with re hydrated dried fruit in secondary fermentation.



Gingerbread Ale

11-C Northern English Brown Ale

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 141.46 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.043 (1.040 - 1.052)
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Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (1.008 - 1.014)
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Color: 14.98 (12.0 - 22.0)
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Alcohol: 4.18% (4.2% - 5.4%)
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Bitterness: 34.5 (20.0 - 30.0)
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Ingredients:
5.75 lb Light
2.0 oz British Crystal 55°L
1.0 oz Black Malt
2.0 oz Chocolate Malt
0.8 oz Target (10.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.5 oz East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1.0 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
0.5 tsp Ginger (ground) - added at end of boil
1.0 tsp Cinnamon (ground) - added at end of boil
0.25 tsp Allspice - added at end of boil
0.25 tsp Cloves (ground) - added at end of boil

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12