Summer home brew

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cghinds

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So I was looking for a good brew that I could make for the summer time. I know most will say that any beer is good in the summer time. But I was looking for something that was really crisp and refreshing Something easy to drink and relatively easy to make. Being here in Ga. Summer means humidly hot which means there is no getting away from the heat no matter where you hide. Any suggestions?
 
So I was looking for a good brew that I could make for the summer time. I know most will say that any beer is good in the summer time. But I was looking for something that was really crisp and refreshing Something easy to drink and relatively easy to make. Being here in Ga. Summer means humidly hot which means there is no getting away from the heat no matter where you hide. Any suggestions?
Biermunchers Centennial Blonde is what you are looking for, light crisp, low alcohol, and just plain refreshing on a hot summers day, that is one to try:mug:
 
well I'm kinda new to brewing just done 3 true brew kits so no experience with all grain recipes. I guess I should go to the newbie forums and see if there are any posts that may be beneficial to me. I always get ahead of my self on stuff.
 
BM Cent blonde has Extract, PM and All-Grain. another one to consider is a wheat beer. I have AHBS Spiced American Wheat sitting in primary waiting for a keg as we speak.
 
How about taking a page out of the Sam Adams book and brewing something simple, light, refreshing, and quaffable. Here's my summer recipe that I'm brewing this Saturday:

6 lbs Light DME - 30% @ 60 min, 70% late addition
½ lb Crystal 20 - Steep @ 155 for 30 min
½ oz Simcoe - 60min
1 oz Amarillo Gold - 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - 15 min
2 oz fresh grated Orange Peel - 5 min
1 zest of 1-2 fresh lemons - 5 min
1 ea White Labs WLP008
 
How about taking a page out of the Sam Adams book and brewing something simple, light, refreshing, and quaffable. Here's my summer recipe that I'm brewing this Saturday:

6 lbs Light DME - 30% @ 60 min, 70% late addition
½ lb Crystal 20 - Steep @ 155 for 30 min
½ oz Simcoe - 60min
1 oz Amarillo Gold - 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - 15 min
2 oz fresh grated Orange Peel - 5 min
1 zest of 1-2 fresh lemons - 5 min
1 ea White Labs WLP008

UPDATE: Things are looking good. Just racked to secondary and the beer had a strong citrus aroma and a nice yellow color. Some tweaks I made to the recipe on brew day- I used 3 lbs. Light DME and 3.3 lbs Wheat DME, plus I did a 4-gallon boil and cut my hops by about 1/4.

The late addition and Irish moss were also good ideas. I will re-update after we bottle and taste some of the stuff.:mug:
 
So I was looking for a good brew that I could make for the summer time. I know most will say that any beer is good in the summer time. But I was looking for something that was really crisp and refreshing Something easy to drink and relatively easy to make. Being here in Ga. Summer means humidly hot which means there is no getting away from the heat no matter where you hide. Any suggestions?

Bavarian style Hefeweizen. Use the WL300 Hefe yeast. Not the American bastardization of a hefe. There is nothing better than pouring a big glass of Hefe on a hot summer day. Easy to brew, short aging, meant to be drank young. A great summer brew!
 
I keep reading that the wheat beers a require a short time to age and be drinkable. How long after 1st fermentation? A week? 2 weeks?
 
I keep reading that the wheat beers a require a short time to age and be drinkable. How long after 1st fermentation? A week? 2 weeks?


Depending on the actual recipe and yeast, primary from 4 days to 2 weeks, bottle condition from 7 days to two weeks. I've done it as little as 4 days in the primary, straight to bottle, bottle condition for a week, and served.

This gets me as close as I've come to what I drank when I was stationed in GE:

6 lbs. 2-Row

6 lbs. malted wheat

8 oz. Carapils

2 oz. Sterling hops (1 oz at first bubble, 1 oz last 2 minutes)

1 tsp. Coriander

WL Hefe #300

Mash 1.5 quarts/lb at 152 for 60 minutes.

Cool wort to at least 70 before pitching. I ferment it at 60 degrees for two weeks, then bottle it for 10 days.

I've been brewing this about every other weekend for a couple of months. You can leave the coriander out if you want as well. I don't use Irish Moss in my Hefe's.
 
UPDATE: Things are looking good. Just racked to secondary and the beer had a strong citrus aroma and a nice yellow color. Some tweaks I made to the recipe on brew day- I used 3 lbs. Light DME and 3.3 lbs Wheat DME, plus I did a 4-gallon boil and cut my hops by about 1/4.

The late addition and Irish moss were also good ideas. I will re-update after we bottle and taste some of the stuff.:mug:

ANOTHER UPDATE: After a week in the secondary, this beer is showing a lot of promise! Took a sample out yesterday, gravity was at 1.015, color was a deep yellow, great clarity, cirtusy aroma and a nice touch a simcoe...

I tasted this beer and dare I say it, I think this is my best beer yet. It's just fantastic! At first there's a bold flavor, nice sweetness, noticeable lemon and orange zest tones, and great hop aroma. All the flavors linger for a moment and then disappear suddenly and go smoothly down the hatch. Extremely quaffable. This beer will be fantastic for hanging out in the sun with friends.

Bottling next weekend, this brew will be ready for May, right on time for the heat.
 
ANOTHER UPDATE: After a week in the secondary, this beer is showing a lot of promise! Took a sample out yesterday, gravity was at 1.015, color was a deep yellow, great clarity, cirtusy aroma and a nice touch a simcoe...

I tasted this beer and dare I say it, I think this is my best beer yet. It's just fantastic! At first there's a bold flavor, nice sweetness, noticeable lemon and orange zest tones, and great hop aroma. All the flavors linger for a moment and then disappear suddenly and go smoothly down the hatch. Extremely quaffable. This beer will be fantastic for hanging out in the sun with friends.

Bottling next weekend, this brew will be ready for May, right on time for the heat.

LAST UPDATE: I don't know if anyone even cares to follow this, but perhaps one day someone will stumble upon the thread and know exactly what's up with this brew.

This batch is bottled, it is approaching the 3 week point.

I cracked one open 2 days ago, it was very well carbonated, poured a 1.5 finger bright white head. It is a really nice, deep yellow color, the clarity is just OK. The aroma is heavy on the citrus, between the lemons and Amarillo it's definitely the most noticeable scent. The flavor is well-balanced, sweet, minimal bitterness but a decent hop profile, and it disappears on the back of your tongue as you swallow.

FG is 1.015 and it is around 5.5% ABV but this beer tastes like it's <4% ABV. Definitely very quaffable.

All together I'd say this is my ideal summer beer. I recommend this recipe very highly!
 
UPDATE: Things are looking good. Just racked to secondary and the beer had a strong citrus aroma and a nice yellow color. Some tweaks I made to the recipe on brew day- I used 3 lbs. Light DME and 3.3 lbs Wheat DME, plus I did a 4-gallon boil and cut my hops by about 1/4.

The late addition and Irish moss were also good ideas. I will re-update after we bottle and taste some of the stuff.:mug:

with your tweak you have 3.3# Wheat DME do you mean LME by chance??? Just seems an odd amout for DME.
 
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