2015 Homebrew Season

A preview of beers I will be making this year. 

Its been over 2 years since I last brewed beer and I can't wait to get hopping again! These first two beers were brewed last month and are currently fermenting away. The last two are likely this month's contenders. If all goes according to plan, I will be brewing 2 batches at the end of each month.

The following labels are all works in progress.

KBA Ale is an Imperial Scotch ale named after my band, Kilty by Association. This is the second time I have made it, as it was a definite favorite the first time around. So far, it look to match the last batch's 9.3%!

A first go around for this one, Thai Tea Whitey is a Thai tea infused white ale. Its one of my many "mad scientist" concoctions. Thai tea, coconut water, orange peel and vanilla beans highlight this ale. I expect this is going to be a low ABV%.

Batch 2 planned for February, PBJ was a crazy idea from 2013, and it turned out a big hit that year! PBJ is just what it says--A wheat ale (the bread) infused with peanut butter and blackberry jam. Described by a friend as "drinking a PBJ sandwich".

A smoked porter is not an original idea, but I hope my twist on it is. Serengeti is going to be a South African inspired smoked porter--Although my "secret" ingredient probably isn't very secret! This is also on the docket for February.

Brewing Soda - Cherry Vanilla Cola

I brewed my first batch of soda in over 3 years!

This is the second time I have done "CVC". Unfortunately last time, I did not have a dedicated "beer" fridge and the batch over carbonated. Not to the extent that it was spoiled, but it was a bit volatile when opening a bottle... Look Out!! I also changed up the recipe this time in two major ways. Firstly I used a cherry juice blend instead of pure cherry juice because the last batch was way too tart for my taste. I also used a red wine yeast instead of an ale yeast--You could really taste the "beer" notes!

Brewing soda is actually quite simple. In fact you don't even need any special equipment! At its simplest, you put flavored sugar water into a sterilized bottle, add a little yeast, cap it, wait 2 days and you have homemade soda. The "flavored sugar water" can be juice or water flavored with an extract. Typically, if using an extract, more sugar is needed. You can use any extract sold in a grocery store, but there are companies that make extracts specifically for brewing soda.

Here is my recipe for this go around: 

• 1 cup Water
• 4 tbs Brown Sugar
• 5" of Vanilla Bean
• 2 tbs Cola Extract
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 gallon Cherry Juice Blend (100% juice)
• 1/8 tsp Dry Wine Yeast

1. Put 2 cups of juice and the rest of the ingredients (except for the yeast) in a small pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Then take off heat and let sit covered for another 20.

2. Pour the remaining juice into a jug or bucket and add the pot of liquid.

3. Put the yeast into 1/4 cup lukewarm water and let sit for several minutes until the yeast is completely dissolved.

4. Pour the yeast mix into the juice mixture and thoroughly mix.

5. Bottle and then store in a cool dark place.

6. Test carbonation in about 2 days and again in 4. Refrigerate when carbonation is just right.

I have a bottle capper as part of my beer brewing supplies, so I bottle my soda in glass bottles. But you could reuse a large plastic soda bottle--Pour the final mixture into clean and sterile plastic soda bottle(s). Replace the cap and shake. Store at room temperature for 4-6 days. The firmness of the bottle will tell you the progress of carbonation.

If you are interested in brewing your own soda, I recommend the book "Homemade Root Beer, Soda &  Pop". 

Taken off the interwebs without permission

Hello

Image used without permission

Hey guys! I have not had much to say over here for quite some time (7 months!!), but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy... I joined a band--Kilty by Association! We are a celtic/folk/punk band and have had a gig almost every month since June. If you are interested in checking us out, here is our FB page. We are in the middle of uploading a bunch of songs from our latest gig, and we should be finished with a 3-song CD by Christmas.

I also recently finished this year's home brews.

This was one of my most popular past brews,
so I made another batch!

This was another of my most popular past brews,
so I made another batch of this too!

 There are 4 stand-outs this year... Kona Storm (a coffee porter), Witch Hazel (a chocolate hazelnut nut-brown)--also a remake, KbA Ale (a 9.3% scotch ale)--named after the band, and a surprise hit, PBJ (a peanut butter and blackberry jelly wheat). The other two are quite good too... Quaker Beer (a maple brown sugar oatmeal stout)--named after the famous brand of oatmeal, and Autumn's Secret (a macadamia pumpkin ale). I always make labels for my beer (and soda). Click here for the album of all my creations.

Now that the cool days are here, and I am caught up with the band's current catalog, I will be posting the few projects I did manage to complete over summer and will start up some new (and old) ones!

Before I go, I do want to give a shout out to a cool Kickstarter project that I can't wait to get my hands on. It is called Boss Monster. The game is inspired by classic video games, and challenges you to become a villain, build a dungeon, lure adventurers, and destroy them! Check it out here.