What is your House beer?

[Young Brewing]

Essentially lived with 12 roommates last year (3 houses sharing a courtyard) and one of the only beers that kicked after 12 hours on tap was a White IPA fermented with BE-134. I brewed it a couple more times that year but it never seemed to taste quite as good as that first time.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Saison

I used to try to always keep a wit on tap, but since I'm gone most of the time now, I've just been working through what I have on deck.

 

[Immocles]

I brew with the seasons (ales in spring. hefeweizens and kveik in the summer. ales/lagers fall. lagers all winter), so I have found a few variations I brew a couple times a year.
One that I brew the most, and gets requested the most, is a rye lager. If I'm running out during warmer months, I just switch out for a clean ale yeast. I brew quite a few attempts at WCIPA and American pale ales, but switch the hops up a bit and havent quite nailed it down to call it a house beer.

 

[duffy5018]

For me its a NEIPA all the time

NEIPA has become my house beer here too.

Thats was mine, too. Until the cost of certain hops doubled or, in some cases, tripled. Now I refuse to spend $20 on just hops for a 6% beer.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I buy hops in bulk, 11lbs or more at a time.. still expensive but not as bad as by the ounce or pound

 

[seatazzz]

For many years my house recipe was a simple Cascade Pale Ale similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It is a really nice beer that I enjoy and my Lite or wine drinking friends will ask for a second pint. A 5% Pale Ale is something I wish I had on tap all the time. I tend to mix up the hops these days.

I am about to keg the 5th iteration of an IPA that is probably my favorite beer. It was inspired by Racer 5 and the info I could find about that beer. I have tweaked the grain bill a little (around 85% 2-Row, 10% Malted Wheat, 5% Crystal 20), usually throw in a different blend of classic American hops, and ferment with Chico. It can be hard to find an American IPA on tap, so I brew my own.

A Saison is probably my other standard beer. They are such simple and cheap beers to make but can be loaded with flavors.

Racer 5 has been my "bogey" beer for the last four years. In about 10 attempts I've only gotten it semi-right three times. Part of that was being a noob that thought she knew what she was doing; the other part was Ninkasi having me on, I think! I will still buy a 22 of the real thing a few times a year, it's one of my favorites.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

Not always on tap, but every 3rd or 4th beer is some kind of bitter or mild through my nitro tap. Lovely. Not as good as through a beer engine but they are quite expensive here in oz. A disposable nitrogen setup and stout nozzle is fairly cheap and worth having imho

 

[renstyle]

My house beer is a variation of BierMuncher's Aberdeen Brown. Fantastic recipe.

It gets brewed every third batch. Newcastle originally turned me onto beers that weren't American Pale Lagers nearly 30 years ago. Now the US recipe has transformed into a hoppy American brown, but I yearn for something closer to the original. This fall I am planning on doing a partigyle and brew up an old beer to blend with a new beer, like they did it in the old days.

It's a simple recipe, tasty and refreshing, to me an improvement on English Newcastle.

Plus for whatever reason, it's difficult to find almost ANY English style brown ales at the stores in central IA... Tap rooms usually have one, but you can tell it's NEIPAs getting all the love at the grocery store these days.

Nothing wrong with that... unless you want a traditional Northern English Brown LOL

 

[IslandLizard]

Thats was mine, too. Until the cost of certain hops doubled or, in some cases, tripled. Now I refuse to spend $20 on just hops for a 6% beer.

You're not addicted, or enough yet...

It's worth it IMO, and I get a whole keg's worth. Going to a bar or taproom, we'd easily spend twice that in a single sitting, with my wife.

I buy my hops by the pound (e.g., YVH, Hops Direct), usually a whole load at a time to reduce the impact of shipping. That keep me set for about a year. Or only half a year...

 

[duffy5018]

You're not addicted, or enough yet...

It's worth it IMO, and I get a whole keg's worth. Going to a bar or taproom, we'd easily spend twice that in a single sitting, with my wife.

I buy my hops by the pound (e.g., YVH, Hops Direct), usually a whole load at a time to reduce the impact of shipping. That keep me set for about a year. Or only half a year...

True. I'm just getting into buying by the pound. Got my first 2 pounds a couple weeks ago, Hallertau Mittelfruh and Amarillo. Those are my 2 go to's, style depending. I'm also looking at a place like Blue Lake Hops (heard them on a podcast a couple weeks ago, Experimental Brewing maybe?) cuz the idea of what they're doing sounds pretty neat.

Maybe I'll have to get a pound of Galaxy, Citra, Idaho 7 and something new like Sabro and pump out my NEIPA again before summer ends and its an arctic wonderland here in WI again.

 

[duffy5018]

Plus for whatever reason, it's difficult to find almost ANY English style brown ales at the stores in central IA... Tap rooms usually have one, but you can tell it's NEIPAs getting all the love at the grocery store these days.

This influences my brew schedule, too.
Sours? Saisons? Anything English or Scottish? How about a nice happy WC IPA?

Nah. This is WI. We have a ton of hazies and lagers with some brown ale sprinkled in. That's about it.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Thats was mine, too. Until the cost of certain hops doubled or, in some cases, tripled. Now I refuse to spend $20 on just hops for a 6% beer.

It is much better than the other option...spending $20 on a 4-pack of cans!

Places like Yakama Valley Hops make brewing hoppy beers possible. I avoid some of the high priced hops (like Galaxy) but have gotten hops like Citra and Mosaic for $20 per lb on sale. Stuff like Simcoe, Amarillo, El Dorado, Azacca, Idaho-7, etc. are normally $19 per lb. Cheap hops like Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Columbus can be a good fit as well.

MoreBeer also has some pretty good sale prices on hops (The Hop Market | MoreBeer). Honestly, I feel like some of my better quality hops have come from MoreBeer.

 

[JSetzer]

Although I have only been brewing about 8 months now, my “go-to” house beer is higher gravity (1.063) APA. Very flavorful with great hop aroma.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Although I have only been brewing about 8 months now, my “go-to” house beer is higher gravity (1.063) APA. Very flavorful with great hop aroma.

So what separates your 1.063 hoppy Pale Ale from an IPA? My house IPA is around 1.065 (and I shoot for around 1.050 for a Pale Ale).

 

[afd5001]

My favorite for 2021 has been my "cheater" Helles.
A 4.8% abv Pseudo lager with Pilsen, Munich, and aromatic malts. Crystal hops, and lutra yeast.
Grain to glass in 10 days or less, for quick turnaround and easy drinking

Share recipe and process please?

 

[kevin58]

Mine is a porter. The recipe varies somewhat but it is based on Ron Pattinson's 1880 Whitbread Porter.

https://mgbeer.blogspot.com/2019/05/1880-whitbread-porter.html

 

[JSetzer]

So what separates your 1.063 hoppy Pale Ale from an IPA? My house IPA is around 1.065 (and I shoot for around 1.050 for a Pale Ale).

My IBU is more in range of an APA rather than an IPA. I’m at ~36 IBU. Most of my hop additions were near the end of the boil/ dry hop for aroma. Although, maybe I’m classifying it wrong?

 

[Kerry]

One of my kegs is almost always filled with some version of my Irish red lager. My wife loves it, my neighbours love it and I quite enjoy it myself.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

My IBU is more in range of an APA rather than an IPA. I’m at ~36 IBU. Most of my hop additions were near the end of the boil/ dry hop for aroma. Although, maybe I’m classifying it wrong?

If you enjoy it, call it what you want. There is a lot of overlap between IPAs, Session IPAs, and Pale Ales.

 

[Velnerj]

One that I brew the most, and gets requested the most, is a rye lager.

I love rye and never even thought about a rye lager... Care to share your recipe?

 

[wepeeler]

Kolsch! Easy drinking beer that nearly everyone who likes beer likes to drink! Super simple recipe and way too easy to drink...

 

[Immocles]

I love rye and never even thought about a rye lager... Care to share your recipe?

Of course!
I full volume BIAB and squeeze like it owes me money. Most of my batches are 3g, but I have blown this up to 5G and it juuuuuust manages in my Mash & Boil unit.
65% 2 row
25% rye malt
7.5% munich
2.5% crystal rye
~12ibu tettnang or mittelfruh at 60
~8ibu tettnang or mittelfruh at 15 (I prefer tettnang at each addition, but have done both interchangeable.)
34/70 yeast fermented at 50, raising up after a few days to 66ish, then back down as low as I can get (about 50) until I package.
Alternatively, Nottingham yeast at 66 throughout. Much easier and similar end product.
Shooting for 1.051 OG, usually finishes between 1.008-1.010 to give me around 5.2-5.5% abv.

I've gone as high as 35% rye, but I really like the addition of the crystal rye (and the added color) and it seems to allow me to lower the overall rye %. Its a hard flavor to nail down, but it goes over really well in my circles. But it gets squirrelly in a hurry. Without the crystal rye, I would probably bump the rye to 30% and drop a bit of 2 row. If I want it to look more menacing, I toss a pinch of special carafa 2 towards the end of the mash.

 

[verboten]

I do half barrel batches of Pilsner, so that is a staple, 10 gallon batches of the “house IPA” stout is almost always on, and I am bringing back the cream ale very soon here.
I try to keep orange cream soda and root beer on tap, I have been slacking on the seltzer.
I have to brew more, too many empty faucets, thanks for the reminder lol

 

[Velnerj]

Of course!
I full volume BIAB and squeeze like it owes me money. Most of my batches are 3g, but I have blown this up to 5G and it juuuuuust manages in my Mash & Boil unit.
65% 2 row
25% rye malt
7.5% munich
2.5% crystal rye
~12ibu tettnang or mittelfruh at 60
~8ibu tettnang or mittelfruh at 15 (I prefer tettnang at each addition, but have done both interchangeable.)
34/70 yeast fermented at 50, raising up after a few days to 66ish, then back down as low as I can get (about 50) until I package.
Alternatively, Nottingham yeast at 66 throughout. Much easier and similar end product.
Shooting for 1.051 OG, usually finishes between 1.008-1.010 to give me around 5.2-5.5% abv.

I've gone as high as 35% rye, but I really like the addition of the crystal rye (and the added color) and it seems to allow me to lower the overall rye %. Its a hard flavor to nail down, but it goes over really well in my circles. But it gets squirrelly in a hurry. Without the crystal rye, I would probably bump the rye to 30% and drop a bit of 2 row. If I want it to look more menacing, I toss a pinch of special carafa 2 towards the end of the mash.

Thanks for sharing! How would you describe the flavor profile?

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Bohemian Pils / Premium Czech Lager.

Brewed with very soft water, and Saaz Hops.

An awesome beer. And it will be entered in the upcoming brewoff.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

My house beer use to be Hefe Weizen but lately I've been brewing a nice Scottish export. I brew it near the low end of the style 1.048 and add a small amount of molasses. It's an easy drinking beer and the small amount of molasses lightens the body but doesn't thin the beer and it lends a bit of flavor that people can't put their finger on until you tell them. It is a beautiful little beer.

 

[FillWholeWell]

Mine's a Hefe Weizen, what I'm calling my "NICE 'N WEIZEN". 68Deg ferment in the basement, SafAle WB-06 yeast. I get nice 'banana' flavor, minimal spiciness and a lovely clean taste.

 

[Immocles]

Thanks for sharing! How would you describe the flavor profile?

I’m not fantastic with flavor descriptions, fyi haha.
I don’t get any sort of ‘spicy’ character from rye. I get more of an earthy taste from it. The crystal rye, at high quantity gives off sort of a black licorice or anise flavor. At lower levels it blends nicely with that earthy rye and malty bready sweetness from Munich. The hops are mostly an afterthought but the tettnang does give it an extra spice kick. I love tettnang in highly malty brews. It just works, ya know?

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Mine's a Hefe Weizen, what I'm calling my "NICE 'N WEIZEN". 68Deg ferment in the basement, SafAle WB-06 yeast. I get nice 'banana' flavor, minimal spiciness and a lovely clean taste. View attachment 734177

It has a good head on it's shoulders

 

[Miraculix]

Mine's a Hefe Weizen, what I'm calling my "NICE 'N WEIZEN". 68Deg ferment in the basement, SafAle WB-06 yeast. I get nice 'banana' flavor, minimal spiciness and a lovely clean taste. View attachment 734177

Technically, it is a wit, as 06 is not a German yeast (it's mislabeled...). You can try to brew it with lallemand Munich classic to see if the German yeast also does the job.

But it looks tasty!