Redeeming my homebrew...

I'm a bit disappointed in my recent homebrewing efforts.  I picked up a Woodforde's Wherry kit from Beers of the World (it's actually a very good English Bitter, in its commercial form).  Think the kit must have been sitting on the shelf for a while, because the brew has this awful twang to the flavour - I just can't bring myself to drink the stuff.  

So, I am throwing it all out and starting afresh!  Northern Brewer has Wyeast's 1469 (West Yorkshire Ale) yeast in stock right now, which is reportedly the yeast that Timothy Taylor uses to make its Landlord bitter - one of my absolute favourite beers from old Blighty.  So, I've ordered their Innkeeper extract kit which is their Landlord clone.  It's odd because their version is very different from Graham Wheeler's recipe in 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale'; however, I'd rather buy this kit right now than have to search for obscure hop and malt varieties, then have to convert from Metric to US units, then learn Wheeler's brewing process, etc etc.  I'll get to that one eventually, I promise.  But for now, this kit will do very nicely.  

Exciting stuff!  I'm expecting to take delivery of the kit on Monday.  Will post on my exploits after it's brewed.

A few updates...

Since my last review (which was back in...JULY?!?  I really need to update this thing more), I've got a couple of updates for you.

The first thing I want to mention is that my good friends at Upstate Brewing Co. have finally found a home for their microbrewery and we can expect to see their fine beers commercially available early next year.  I've been following these guys since I first discovered their website earlier this year and it's fantastic to see their plans coming together.  These guys are particularly notable for their Common Sense Ale, which is a revival of the old Kentucky Common style popular in pre-Prohibition days.  Looking forward to trying it!

I've also gone through a whole batch of homebrewed British bitter (with a little help from my #1 fan and some friends), which was good but a little on the hoppy side for my liking.  The instructions said to dry-hop - this may have been the cause.  I have a second batch of Belgian ale (The Muscles from Brussels, Mk II) - this time I halved the bittering hops and used Wyeast 1214 (Belgian Abbey) to ferment, it worked out pretty well!  I'll have a full post on that soon.  I'm also bottle-conditioning my Winter Spiced Ale, in 22oz bottles.  that should be ready just in time for Christmas.

All in all, it's been a busy, beerful few months!  Watch this space, Upstate Brews is coming back...

A couple of good books

I thought I'd take this opportunity to recommend some really good and informative books on beer and homebrewing -they've been really helpful to a lot of beginning homebrewers including myself, so if you're thinking about starting out with the hobby you really ought to get a hold of these. 

Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing is a standard textbook which countless homebrewers have relied on for years.  It'll introduce you to all the basic concepts, guide you through your first few batches, and it'll also have you chanting the mantra every homebrewer needs to hear: Relax, Don't Worry, Have A Homebrew.  So true! 

Papazian takes a really balanced approach to homebrewing, and unlike a lot of brewing hobbyists he doesn't assert the absolute supremacy of all-grain.  Rather, he very diplomatically assures beginning brewers that excellent beer can be made using any of the methods available to us - extract, partial mash or all-grain. 

Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide is what reignited my interest in homebrewing, about 5 years after I left the UK for graduate school.  Before that I'd been helping my dad brew a few batches of British bitter, and had really loved it, but didn't have the time or resources to do it in school.  On a trip to the Genesee Country Village (about which I'll probably be writing very soon - well worth a visit!), I picked up Dave Miller's book and immediately the homebrewing bug returned.  Miller deals with pretty advanced techniques (most of the book is devoted to all-grain brewing, which I'm really not ready for at this point), but the wealth of knowledge he presents regarding the chemical, biological and engineering aspects of brewing is nothing short of staggering.  There's a lot of advice in there for correcting off-flavors (he even goes into great detail as to what chemical reactions cause each problem), and it's basically a great read if you want to get beyond the basic instructions that came with your first homebrew kit, and actually understand what goes on in your brewing bucket. 

Well, there you have it.  Should be enough to get you started.  By the way, it you enjoy reading Upstate Brews and want to see more beers reviewed, why not buy me a pint through the Paypal button at the top right?  Thanks for helping me meet the costs of this blog - I really appreciate it.

New and Improved Beer Reviews!

Greetings, readers!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update, but a lot's been going on, particularly on the Upstate Brews front.

First of all, I've now discovered the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program)! This is a brilliant way to get to know beer on a more intimate level. One of the most impressive aspects of the BJCP is its Style Guide, which lists (pretty accurately, if the British styles are anything to go by) tasting guidelines on all the major beer, mead, perry and cider styles in the Western world. It's available as a PDF, a booklet, or as an app on your smartphone, and it'll greatly broaden your horizons on beer appreciation.   

The BJCP also holds training and examinations for members to become Certified Beer Judges (as the name suggests).  I'm seriously considering training, I think it'll be a great thing for this blog if I can be a bit more articulate in my reviews.  One thing I've noticed about my earlier reviews is that they're a bit vague about certain details in the aroma and flavour of the brew under my beady eye.  

I had the opportunity last weekend to be involved with the UNYHA homebrewing competition.  In addition to submitting my latest homebrew, I was privileged to help out with judging some of the styles - effectively putting into practice what I've picked up from the BJCP.  It was tremendous fun, I highly recommend getting involved with local homebrewing associations and competitions - you'll learn a lot. 

So, to sum up - expect my future reviews to be a bit more specific and detailed.  I'm not going to give a full BJCP-style review, but I'll probably refer to the Style Guide and revise my scoring system.

Look out for some more reviews coming very soon!

My first homebrew batch, Code: Frankenstein

My in-laws bought me a Maestro Homebrew Beer Equipment Kit for Christmas, and the ingredients for my first homebrew batch.  I've promised a write up of this, and it's long overdue, so here goes!

First, here's the equipment I used:














 Muntons Malt Extract, Dry, Amber , 3-Pound Bags (Pack of 2)

6-quart stockpot for the boil

B-Brite cleanser


Though the link shows two 3-lb bags of dry malt extract, I only used one 2-lb bag.

First off, all the books I've read are very clear on the importance of cleanliness - which makes total sense.  If you're going to be producing what is ultimately a living product, and letting it sit at room temperature in your home for several weeks before drinking it, you certainly don't want it infected by any bacterial nasties.  Everything that touches the brew (particularly after the boil) has to be sanitised - the cleanser B-Brite was included with my kit, and it seemed to work well.  However, it turns out this wasn't actually a sanitiser, and in order to properly sterilise your equipment you need to use a product like Iodophor Sanitizer for Brewing or Wine Making or Star-San.  This wasn't included with my homebrewing kit. 

I started off with a boil - mixing about a gallon of water with the can of liquid malt extract and the dried extract.  When you first add the ingredients, the mixture kind of foams up violently and you have to keep moving it away from the heat until it calms down.  Eventually it settled into a steady boil, and looked like this.

At this point my tiny kitchen smelled absolutely amazing - wort has this incredible and unique aroma which is really hard to describe.  It's a bit like oatmeal, or a rich fruitcake - makes sense when you consider it's made of basically the same stuff.

After boiling the wort for about 45 minutes, it was ready to go.  I'd added some cold water to my fermenting bucket, so I poured the mixture on top and topped up to the 5-gallon mark.  Then I sprinkled the yeast (which came with the liquid extract), let it sit on top of the bucket for 10 minutes, then stirred it in and firmly sealed the lid, adding an airlock.

About 2 weeks later I bottled it into 6 growlers and 12 500ml flipper bottles, mixing in the corn sugar to carbonate it, then very, very patiently waited until it had conditioned and aged perfectly...well, alright, maybe I had a couple of glasses before it was ready - patience may be a virtue but it's not a skill I've yet mastered.

Sadly I don't have pictures of the final product, but I can describe it as a dark, almost black ale with a medium body - it wasn't a stout by any means.  ABV was approximately 5-6% - I forgot to take an OG reading so I couldn't tell for certain.  It wasn't aggressively bitter, but had a pleasant caramel hint in the aftertaste which was extremely satisfying.  As it was my first experience of bottle-conditioning, I under-filled several bottles which resulted in insufficient carbonation and zero head, but the growlers turned out better as they had a 'fill to here' line that was pretty foolproof.  Overall, I was impressed by my handiwork - it goes to show that even beginners can make fine homebrews that compare very favourably with commercially prepared beers and ales.

Homebrew batch # 2 - a Belgian ale named The Muscles from Brussels - is due for bottling tomorrow and I'll have a write-up in a few weeks, once it's ready to drink.