I've recently got back into homebrewing. I made my first few batches in college, but they didn't turn out that great because I really had no idea what I was doing. Luckily for me (and most of my friends), good beer isn't a necessity in college, so it served its purpose. Nowadays, I'm far more interested in drinking GOOD beer. So to make beers actually worth drinking, I'm finding it takes a little more preparation and care during the brewing process.
We bottled the latest batch today. It's a hazelnut porter, made with a standard porter kit from MoreBeer.com. Now we buy supplies locally from Party Creations in Red Hook, NY. Bruce & Gloria run a great store, and have all the supplies and expertise brewers need to make great beer. My fellow brewer Russ is a big fan of hazelnut porters so we decided to try our hand at one. We added hazelnut liquer right before bottling to give it the added flavor. A taste from the bottling bucket was positive, with a nice smoky flavor from the smoked malt we added to the recipe. It'll be ready in a week or two, after some carbonation is made in the bottles. I'll write up more when we get a real taste.
Our next set of brews are a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone and a Bellhaven Scottish Ale clone. Both of these are personal favorites and I can't wait to get them both in the fermenter.
One last note...I have to give a Super Bowl shout-out to my hometown Bears! They just beat up on the Saints 39-14 to get back to the SB after 21 years. Go Bears!!!
5 comments:
Holy cow! Has it been 21 years since "The Superbowl Shuffle"???? Eeek! Of course, it's been 17 years since the premier of "Joe Douls" premium homebrew. Glad to see that you're still into it, and may all your batches be bubbly!
Tee-hee...I'd forgotten about Joe Douls. Ah, the days when you used a radiator hose for funneling PBR (or was it Keystone?) and hurled off the balcony to make more room for beer.
Egads. I just realized. We're getting freakin' old...
This batch was measured at 4.4 ABV, but I'll believe it when I feel it :-) Joe'Douls is a wicked reminder of how fragile yeast cells are.
The radiator hose from the Competition Jetta was used to funnel Keystone LIGHT, BAYBEEE!! Oh, those were the days...
I only have this to say...."Buhhhbaa, Buhhhbaaa...we need more Jell-ooooo. Here's a twenty, buy what you can!"
You had me at "hazlenut"!
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