What is your house beer you keep on tap?

I like my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone but I made this "Ultimate" Amber Ale kit from Annapolis Home Brew and am starting to think that will be my house beer. Almost everyone seems to like it. The nice thing is that it has a good malt hop combination so the casual beer drinker will drink it and like it but is complex enough to be interesting to folks like us.

I used to think I'd want to make my house beer a beer that I really like, but now I'm leaning toward beer that makes everyone happy. Nothing better than seeing your friends and family enjoy the fruits of your labor.

I remember when I first started home brewing I wanted to brew anything and everything. I was also a relative beer newbie in that I didn't know that much about the myriad of different beers out there or more importantly which ones I actually liked.

Now a couple years later I have honed my palate to know more or less what I like. Although everyday I'm exposed to new things and ideas and inevitably my preferences may drift from where they currently lay. I still brew random stuff and one-offs (gotta keep things interesting:cross

I guess my two that I've settled on for now are an American Blonde Ale which is a great introductory beer for the water (BMC) drinkers and a wonderful Oatmeal Stout because well uhh.... oatmeal is good for you?

I always have either an IPA or an APA on tap. Random stuff does appear, but those are the two styles I go through the most.

Daybis said:

I always have either an IPA or an APA on tap. Random stuff does appear, but those are the two styles I go through the most.

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Same here, although I am thinking about modifying my blonde ale recipe to a little less gravity, maybe around 1.035 for an FG of 1.008, and keeping it on tap. Some days I come home and want a beer or three but dont need or have room for the calories. Plus the ladies love it.

I can't say that I yet have a house brew, but I'd say I'm heading in the direction of a Hobgoblin clone and some type of IPA. I love hops and these fit the bill. Even those who say "I don't like homemade beer" love these two. So do I.

B

birvine said:

Even those who say "I don't like homemade beer" love these two. So do I.

B

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Yeah! I've found that too. Its funny too because the people who really like my IPAs and highly hopped pales normally say they do not like hoppy beers. I am pretty sure that they just have no idea what they are talking about but whatever gets them to drink and enjoy my homebrew works for me.

Its crazy how many of my friends and family have learned about good beer because of my homebrew. They start to ask questions like "Why's this porter darker than the brown ale?" and "What kind of hops did you use to make this IPA fruity?"

And my wife, parents, and brothers are just starting to be able to decide on their own what kind of beer they want when we all go out to the local restaurant that has 25+ taps. Before, they would be asking me for recommendations, and wouldn't order until I proved they would like the beer that I selected for them. I still do give them my 'expert' opinion on their choices from time to time though (no mom, Shocktop is not a microbrew!).

Sorry for the little OT rant/rave

I have a blonde that we like to keep on tap all the time (though sometime we plow through the kegs so fast that there's gaps in service )

85% Pilsner
10% Munich
5% Crystal 10

Do a step mash with a 15 minutes protein rest at 122, a 45 minute sacc rest at 149, and a 20 minute sacc rest at 158. Bitter with cascade to about 25IBUS and add about an ounce of cascade per 5 gallons at 15 minutes and 5 minutes. Ferment at 66F with 001.

I filter it now so it goes grain to glass in about 2 weeks, and every pint is as clear as any commercial beer.

The one beer that I make all the time is a Bell's Best Brown clone, it seems to come out perfect everytime and runs out quicker than everything.

I usually have some sort of session beer on on tap, but it rotates based on season.

I almost always have Brandon O's Graff (a malted cider) on tap.

I have a stout and a oak aged ale as my two house ales. Others do show up.

I usually try to keep an IPA/APA (I have a couple I like) around and also keep an Amber Ale around also. So every other brew session is one of those.

I then do some other beers I like but are not everyday brews. Saisons, Belgians, Wheat beers etc. With the cooler weather of Fall I wil start throwing in a Stout or a Porter into the rotation.

I have a house Blonde that is similar to the BombShell Blonde that is always on tap...especially during the summer. During the winter months I have a house Irish Red or an Amber. At the moment I am brewing a refreshing Cream Ale.

My go-to generic keg is usually Yuengling. If I know that I have company that isn't into real beers, it has enough flavor that I like it but is drinkable enough that they like it also.

I'll usually alternate Yuengling with other beers. I've recently had Harp, Harpoon Octoberfest, Budweiser American Ale, Ybor Gold, and I think my next keg will be Cigar City Jai Alai IPA.

I need to get a G keg coupler so I can start getting some British beers as well.

My kegerator is big enough to hold 2 1/6 bbl kegs (or 2 of the tall 1/4 bbl kegs). Once I've made a couple of homebrew batches, I plan on getting kegging equipment so I can keep at a homebrew on tap in addition to a commercial keg.

I've been brewing for a couple of years but I still like to try brewing new stuff more than rebrewing the same recipes. I do have a hatch green chili beer I made last year and my gratzer that will get a rebrew this year but I still have lots of bottles of various batches from the past 15 months or so floating around. Most of my brewing now is 1 gallon batches to test drive recipes for fine tuning, at least until I go through a lot of the beer I have in the house. I have 15-20 gallons of beer and we don't go through that much so I need to slow down on the brewing.

I seem to always have a wheat beer or two floating around so I guess I would say that weisse is my house beer.

If I had the time to smoke grains more often I would definitely keep my gratzer as a house beer. I also have a mild I am starting to tinker with that will probably become my session beer during to cool months. The kolsch I made would happily be a good summer house beer.

Special Bitter, and English IPA's with lots of late addition hops. I'd be happy if they were the only styles of beer available, but I must admit that my IPA's don't fit into the style as described by BJCP.

-a.

I pretty much always have an IPA or APA on tap, but even those aren't the same recipe everytime. So I guess I don't really have a house beer.

I always try and keep an IPA on tap and my newest stout recipe is probably going to be making more and more appearances.

I keep an ongoing rotation of IPA , APA and a Vienna SmaSh of some kind.

I'm far too early to even comment...

But if I had a couple taps and were to choose right now, it'd probably be a Hefeweizen and a Stout.

Popularity with guests might affect my choices when I get that far... next step: a kegging system.

My Warbird red ale, and aussie amber, seems like im never in short supply of those two! love em both and they are brewed frequently...they dont stick around to long.

Ive got an original IPA recipe down now..it will probably be a full timer too.

Does anyone have a good Hefeweizen recipe? Partial.. Looking for a clean refreshing summer beer. Any thoughts!

can answer a couple of questions...

usually have an apa on tap, and rotate some sort of wheat during the summer...fall and winter get oatmeal stout, ipa, or porter

hefe recipe i use is all extract, and pretty temperature dependent (varying ferm temps give off varying flavors). i like around 66-68 deg. this one is shadowmage's recipe, sans the spices:

6 lbs Wheat DME (55% wheat, 45% barley)

1 oz. Hallertauer pellets (3.8% AA) @60 min
0.5 oz. Hallertauer leaf (4.3% AA) @10 minutes
0.5 oz. Hallertauer leaf (4.3% AA) @flameout

Safbrew WB-06

Simple! Thanks!

I have a house IPA that I brew every couple of months. I like to play around with it though, so it's never quite the same recipe. Next time, I'm planning on FWH instead of (or in addition to) dry hopping or using a different yeast, for example.

Another style I brew quite frequently is Koelsch, although I'll be the first to admit that this style has been giving me fits. Very hard to brew an authentic version of this. I have brewed more than 10 of these, and I still don't have a grist, hopping schedule, mash profile, yeast or water profile that I am entirely happy with, but I'll keep on trying. It's one of my favorite styles year-round, but in the summer, it's hard to beat.

Third most frequent would be my house porter recipe, which I also like to play with. Sometimes "plain", sometimes with peanut butter, sometimes smoked... etc.

hopdreams said:

Does anyone have a good Hefeweizen recipe? Partial.. Looking for a clean refreshing summer beer. Any thoughts!

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6lbs Wheat DME (or 5lbs Bavarian Wheat LME)
1lb Munich Light (Seep in grain bag)

1oz Hallertau @ 60m

Liquid Hefe yeast (NOT dry) like Wyeast 3068 or WLP 300.
Ferment cooler for less yeast flavor, warmer to crank up the bannana.

Good stuff, though I recently tried a lighter, summer AG version. Cut the grain a bit, increased the flaked wheat, removed the Munich. Excellent session brew. Had a graduation party Saturday, and the darn keg is almost gone already.

My Haus Brews are Hefe and Amber Ale. They are ALWAYS on tap.

heferly said:

can answer a couple of questions...

usually have an apa on tap, and rotate some sort of wheat during the summer...fall and winter get oatmeal stout, ipa, or porter

hefe recipe i use is all extract, and pretty temperature dependent (varying ferm temps give off varying flavors). i like around 66-68 deg. this one is shadowmage's recipe, sans the spices:

6 lbs Wheat DME (55% wheat, 45% barley)

1 oz. Hallertauer pellets (3.8% AA) @60 min
0.5 oz. Hallertauer leaf (4.3% AA) @10 minutes
0.5 oz. Hallertauer leaf (4.3% AA) @flameout

Safbrew WB-06

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WB-06 for a Hefe?

Really? No, really?!?!

Well, at least it's cheap.

I've had my keezer for exactly 1 year now and have had an IPA or APA on tap the whole time, but most have been a handful of clones that I love (2Hearted, Mojo, Loose Cannon). However, the last hop forward IPA, I'm proud to call my own house IPA (2row,munich,C20,Dex with comb of Chinook,Cent,Cascade and Citra). A neighbor stopped by could not believe I could make a beer that had so much grapefruit/citrus character; quickly downed one and asked for another, which is always a good complement. Anyhow, I plan to make this as much as the hops situation will allow as well. The downside is the number of hop varieties needed, so plan to try some Smash type recipes next.

@ Capt Kirk
What do you mean by...Ferment cooler for less yeast flavor, warmer to crank up the bannana.

I always have something hoppy and big in the works or on tap and then another sessionable ale on tap. Usually a bitter, mild , apa or kolsch. Summertime is kolsch time.

Cpt_Kirks said:

WB-06 for a Hefe?

Really? No, really?!?!

Well, at least it's cheap.

Click to expand...

cheap is right! last keg lasted 4 days...can't afford liquid yeast :cross:

@ hopdreams, warmer temps with a hefe yeast bring out the banana flavors...good stuff! if you ferment cooler, the yeast impart less flavor to the beer

@ Capt Kirt
What temps? What do you consider warmer or cooler? Thanks for the help!!!

I usually have Ed Worts Haus Pale on tap, but with Hallertau (or Saphir) instead of Cascade. Always comes out great, quick turn around time, middle of the road gravity, and most beer drinkers enjoy it.

This one is a regular batch as it stays on tap as it is a huge hit with everyone who is not used to home brewed beer(The Budweiser crowd) and is a SOLID easy weekend drinker that even seasoned my seasoned home brewing friends love. Credit to The Electric Brewery for this one as I re-sized it and lowered the IBU's a touch in BeerSmith for a 5 gallon all-grain batch. There is also a lager option for this recipe in the link.
Simple and delicious.

I call mine the "Blond Beachcomber"
9lbs 8oz 2-row Pilsner(2.0SRM)
1.25oz Hallertauer(4.80 Alpha) @60min boil
1 Whirlfloc Tab
1 pk S05 or WPL001 Yeast
Sach rest at 152 for 60
Mash out @170 for 15-20mins(Batch Sparge)
Ferment at 62 Deg for 3 weeks
Keg at 10PSI for 2 weeks


My other "always on tap" is the all-grain Chinook IPA from Northern Brewer.

During the holiday season(Fall-New Years) I usually drop in a keg of Pumpkin and a keg of Holiday Ale. The all-grain Holiday Ale kit from Midwest supplies is awesome.