SWMBO wants another beer ! / My best beer ever !

We cracked the Cranberry Ale that I brewed earlier this winter and its the best beer I've ever brewed ! And its a dark beer too and they aren't my favorite, but its still a really good beer. Very drinkable. A good session beer.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22191&page=2

So SHMBO wants me to brew another beer ! We've got a Corona clone bottled and a Blue Moon clone lagering. She wants something light, for the summer. Like maybe a hefe or something with apples in it.

Any ideas, guys ?

brewman ! said:

We cracked the Cranberry Ale that I brewed earlier this winter and its the best beer I've ever brewed ! And its a dark beer too.

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I *told* you that you would eventually come over to the dark side, brewman! Put away the Corona and do a big beefy stout or porter next!



Seriously, congrats on the killer brew. I vote for a hefe or an American wheat. Or why not Ed_Wort's apfelwein?

*laughs Yah got me, Fly ! Who knew I would like a dark beer ?

I've already got 6 gals of apfelwein aging. (See my sig.) We are kind of saving that for a winter brew and half of it is wine-ish because its a bit strong, so she wants it for special occasions. (SWHBO, remember !)

She wants a light beer for summer. I'll test drive some darker beers this fall to see what I like and brew accordingly.

So what else could I brew, tomorrow ?

I'd love to brew a Lamboise, but I don't have any raspberries.

I was kind of giving up on fruit beers until I tasted this cranberry ale. It really worked.

I asked for a recipe a couple weekends ago and you guys gave me the Blue Moon clone, which I think is going to be killer. How about one more ?

Sorry, missed the apfelwein in your sig. It's quite a list...

Do a blonde ale then, or a California common. Great summer session beers, and easy brewing.

Sorry -- one more suggestion. Do a kolsch. Mt Begbie Brewing Company (Revelstoke) has a fabulous one in bottles right now. I have seen them locally at the Coop liquor stores. Have you tried it?

I haven't tried it. Do you have a recipe ? I wonder if I could find some liquid yeast tomorrow ?

I've always wanted to try this recipe: Apples in the Snow
http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/08_02.html

Here is a recipe for you, Flyguy.
http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/08_06.html

You do realize... You are brewing for two now. lol. Time to double up your production. Maybe his and her kegs?

*chuckle I caught her looking at my Complete Encyclopedia of Beer the other day...

Maybe I should brew another Belgian Wit with different flavoring ? I could test another vial of my frozen yeast. I'd love to try a Belgian with some tart apples. Too bad crab apples aren't in season !

What if I brewed Blue Moon without the corriander and zest and added some apple concentrate and spice to the secondary ? Anyone done anything like this ?

brewman ! said:

I haven't tried it. Do you have a recipe ? I wonder if I could find some liquid yeast tomorrow ?

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Yeah, you will have a tough time finding a Kolsch yeast in Calgary, I am sure. Darn -- I didn't think of that.

A California Common yeast will be equally hard to find.

But you could still do a blonde ale. Any neutral ale yeast would be good for that!

brewman ! said:

Here is a recipe for you, Flyguy.
http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/08_06.html

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Blackberry stout, eh? Sounds yummy. Or maybe I could tweak that into a porter, instead -- I think that might go better with fruit.

Actually, doesn't Cannery Brewery (Penticton, BC) make a blackberry porter? I think they do, and it is really good. Maybe you should give that one a shot brewman, since you like fruit beers so much. Warning for you though, it is daarrrkkkk!

I'll leave the heavier beers for winter.

But you could still do a blonde ale.

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I like blondes. I'm game. Recipe ? I'm still debating the Belgian Apple though.

These aren't simple recipes. Special yeasts, special malts.
http://www.brew-monkey.com/recipes/recipesbystyle.php?id=19

Try a heffe with the wyeast 3638 bavarian wit yeast (true heffe yeast).

This lambic looks killer, if I could get the yeast tomorrow.
http://***********/recipe/1330.html

We decided that I will brew a simple brown ale for my wife. I made one for her years ago and she loved it. I won't need a special yeasts or ingredients.

Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I'll use the recipe for the Northern brown ale on page 226 of Dave Millers The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing.

For 5 gallons,
5.5 pounds of pale ale malt (How is that different from 2 row malt ?)
7 ounces British crystal malt
2.5 ounces of chocolate malt
1 pound light brown sugar
11 AAUs of Northern Brewer

Ale yeast. I'll use a dry yeast, probably Nottingham.

The mash schedule is 150F falling to 141F over 2 hours.

Any comments ?

brewman ! said:

Who knew I would like a dark beer ?

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We all did. "Dark" beer carries with it steriotypical images of being strong in flavor and such. You can make a darker beer taste however you want, just like a lighter beer.

Thats awesome you liked the cran ale! That was out of that recipe book I've got....I'll look through it again if you want.

I didn't know it would be so dark but thats cool.

It's always cool when your girlfriend/wife likes your beer! I haven't gotten there yet....

greenhornet said:

Thats awesome you liked the cran ale! That was out of that recipe book I've got....I'll look through it again if you want.

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Be careful what you offer, GH. Actually, you should tell us the name of that book and its ISBN, author, etc, so that everyone knows about it.

I guess I owe you one for sharing the recipe.

I didn't know it would be so dark but thats cool.

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Yeah, its dark. I'll post a picture the next time I drink it. Now that I know its good, I'm leaving it age and I'm rationing them. At least its an ale... I could brew it in the summer if I had to.

It's always cool when your girlfriend/wife likes your beer! I haven't gotten there yet....

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Go AG and steam mash. I swear it makes a big difference. I'm brewing small batches (3 gallons) until I get recipes dialed. My beers aren't bad, but they can always be improved. For example, I brewed the Corona clone with the wrong corn. (cracked) Its OK, but it tastes too corny. Luckily we only have 3 gallons of it to drink. And when its gone, I'll rebrew it with the right corn. (rolled)

The more batches you brew, the faster you learn.

Yep I've started brewing 3 gallon batches for that same reason (if it's not that great you don't have a crap load around and you get to brew more often to tweak recipes)

All 3 are my first AG batches...I think I messed up a bit bc my process isn't all that great but thats ok....I learn best by F'ing up!

I've got 3 fermenters filled at the moment and I'm hopefully going to bottle/brew tomorrow....maybe tonight if I'm NOT lucky!

Sure I'll post the name...It's at home right now. I think I posted it a while back....I'll do some searching.

adios

here you go....this is the book that has the recipe that Brewman! is talking about

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0684829215/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's a pretty cool book if anyone is interested. I got it at Barnes and Noble for like 15 i think but there are used ones for like 5 on amazon

You see most people think dark means roasty and bitter. Where as, in reality, a dark beer can be sweet and a light beer can be bitter.

My local grocery store has Jolly Rancher candies for $1 per 100g. I'll need about 600g or $6 worth of them. My LHBS has liquid Lambic yeast. I think I'll be brewing the candy Lambic next weekend.

The brown ale is fermenting. Thats 7 batches of beer for me in 2007.

I'm having second thoughts about brewing the Jolly Rancher lambic. There are a number of posts about the commercial varieties of this beer and the consensus is that its too sweet and candy like. That's not what I'm after.

http://beersnobs.tribe.net/thread/af744701-e35b-4a62-aa30-247add0c5b33 http://thomsbeerblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/365-lindemans-pomme-lambic.html
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/314848