My first completely all-grain beer and my mash was as brutal as their breakdowns. Consider this batch a first draft I will definitely make this again. It needs to be bigger, rawer. I want drop B in a bottle. I want this to be like a sledgehammer to an Orange amp. I guess I’ll get [...]

This beer turned out to be an experiment in more ways than one. The idea came from a collaboration between Brian and I after he suggested his mom’s caramel as an ingredient. After some thought, I thought it would be interesting to attempt to make my first cream ale. The combination of the two brings [...]

Initiate man-party! My fiancee Jenny is back home for two weeks visiting the parents so I have ultimate brewing freedom. I did not waste any time and got straight to work brewing up this hoppy American pale ale. Earlier failures drove me to return with a vengeance inspired in part by the mental music of [...]

Immediately after cranking out #006 Solanka Stout I decided it would be cool to do one more big fruity beer on my Wyeast Irish Ale yeast cake. The original plan was to do chocolate raspberry but prices at my grocery store moved me over to the equally appealing cherry. I bought two pounds of fresh [...]

Finally, the first truly dark beer I have made. Sure I have flirted with browns, played around with ambers but now I go black and convoluted. This recipe is the result of discussions with people from my homebrew group, Palmer’s “How to Brew” and my experience drinking Great Divide’s Yeti. Although it’s my first stout, [...]

Finally! I’ve been building up the brewery for almost 3 months now and finally all the equipment I need to brew great beer is in place and ready to go. 10 gallon stock pot (with 2000W supplemental heatstick)? Check. Immersion chiller? Check. Some experience and lessons learned? Check!
This recipe is a take off of one [...]

Whew! I am exhausted after that grueling brew session. Fun, but tiring. This recipe was a joint-effort with my lovely fiancee Jenny, who has been gracious enough to let me brew away in our kitchen. We definitely went ginger crazy, and I could not have done it without her. This was a 2.5 gallon batch, [...]

My buddy Chris Danzig and I threw together what I hope to be a rocking IPA on the day before my convocation ceremony at Northwestern. This third one-gallon batch rounds out the end of my inaugural ‘pale’ series as well as the end of my first batch of yeast (this is their 3 pitch). Approximately [...]

With batch #001 in bottles and ready to drink, I was anxious to get a chance to brew again and implement the lessons learned. Jim and Brian came on out (with brew beer, very important) to help with this batch. I centered #002 around Simcoe hops, known for their aggressive, citrus tones. For kicks, I [...]

Finally got the guts and time to whip together my first homebrew. Instead of doing a full 5 gallon batch as I had originally planned, I scaled down and did an ‘experimental’ one gallon batch. I approached it as a learning experience and definitely learned many valuable lessons on the way, even though my beer [...]