St. Louis Mini Micro Brew Tour

This past weekend, I visited St. Louis and got to play a couple of rounds of golf and visit several microbreweries. As you can imagine, a very fun and relaxing weekend was had. On Friday evening, our first stop was The Stable, a somewhat new brewpub and microbrewery in the old stables of the Lemp Brewery (almost across the street from A-B). Looking at their brew system, it looks like they’re just getting started brewing their own and it looked like it was about a 20-25 gallon brew system. Despite only having one of their beers on tap – the Marzen, which was quite good – they did carry quite a nice selection of local and regional brews on tap. I was able to try another newer nearby brewery’s beer, which was recommended by my friend – Charleville Brewery‘s Hoptimistic. Our next stop was Mattingly Brewing Company, where I had the brown ale and their tripel. Both were pretty good. Our next stop for the evening was Square One Brewery in Lafayette Square. I had the IPA from the cask and their Single Malt Scotch Ale. Not bad, but both seemed a little on the light side. We stopped at Randall’s to pick up some bottles to go, and I got some of Charleville’s Hoptimistic and Amber Ale, some Schlafly APA, Racer 5 IPA, and some of Avery’s Maharaja. Our last stop of the evening, was the Cabin Inn at the City Museum – not a microbrewery, but a unique bar where we could get Schlafly.

Saturday was an early tee time at Tapawingo National Golf Course, but we finished in perfect time to enjoy lunch at Schlafly’s Bottleworks. There, I enjoyed their Helles Summer Lager and their Export IPA… both very good. The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent laying by the rooftop pool watching the activity at the City Museum and enjoying some of my homebrews. Sunday was a rough morning, but we managed to get in a round at Annbriar Golf Course before I headed home.

A great weekend, which I can’t wait to repeat again soon!

2008 Pale Ale

This was originally posted on my personal blog in 2008…

I brewed a Pale Ale this past weekend. It might be close to an IPA, but I’m not sure. Here’s the recipe…

Steeped .5 lb of Crystal 40L for 24 hours in 5.75 gallons of hot water from the tap
Brought up to 155F and let sit at that temp for 30 min.
Brought to a boil and removed grains.
1 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3%
Boiled for 30 min.
.5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3%
2 cups of corn sugar
2 cans of Alexanders Sun Country Pale Malt Extract
1 tsp Irish Moss
Boiled for 15 min.
.5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3% Boiled for 10 min.
.5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3%
Boiled for 5 min. and removed from heat
Cooled the wort and added Muntons Gold yeast at around 79F
Gravity = 1.066

I’m planning on dry hopping (my first experiment with dry hopping) with .5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3% after a week in the primary and let sit for another week in the primary before transferring over to the secondary. Again, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Brewed a Pumpkin Porter

Finding the time to brew (and do other household projects) has been tougher and tougher, especially now that our 1 year old daughter is mobile (and loves to climb). Keeping an eye on our 1 and 3 year old has forced me to start brewing in the evening until late into the night (or morning). Well, Sunday night I got a chance to brew a pumpkin porter. I’ll post the recipe here shortly, but it was based on one I found in Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head.. I was just happy to brew again after about a 8 week hiatus.

1 gallon of water
60 oz of pure Libby’s pumpkin
Boiled it for 20 minutes
Let sit for 2 hours (not by choice, the kids were acting up)
Added 1 gallon of water
Brought to 156 degrees and added crushed grains in grain bag:
1 lb Briess Chocolate Malt – 6-row Lovibond 350
1.5 lb Briess 2-row Pale Malt Lovibond 1.5
Added 2 tsp of gypsum
Maintained the heat between 153 – 157 degrees for about 45 minutes
Removed the grain bag and strained some of the pumpkin out (as best I could)
Added 4 gallons more water and brought to a boil and added
1 oz Kent Goldings (product of UK) pellet hops A.A. 4.8%
Boiled for 40 minutes, then added
3 lbs Muntons Plain Amber Dry Malt Extract (color 20 EBC)
3.3 lbs Muntons Light Liquid Malt Extract (color 8-12 EBC)
.5 lbs of Lactose
1 oz Ken Goldings (product of USA) pellet hops A.A. 4.5%
2 tsp of Irish Moss
Boiled for 10 more minutes and added
.5 oz Cascade pellet hops A.A. 6.3%
.5 lb corn sugar
1 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
Boiled for 10 more minutes and removed from heat.
It cooled down slowly over 24 hours.
Original Gravity = 1.074
Shook the carboy vigorously and added Coopers Dry Ale Yeast – 7.5 grams

It started fermenting today, so I’ll try and keep you updated on its progress. I’m still debating adding 15 oz. more of pumpkin and 1/4 teaspoon of each of the spices to the secondary. Your thoughts?

Brewed a Pale Ale

I brewed a Pale Ale this past weekend. It might be close to an IPA, but I’m not sure. Here’s the recipe…

Steeped .5 lb of Crystal 40L for 24 hours in 5.75 gallons of hot water from the tap
Brought up to 155F and let sit at that temp for 30 min.
Brought to a boil and removed grains.
1 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3%
Boiled for 30 min.
.5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3%
2 cups of corn sugar
2 cans of Alexanders Sun Country Pale Malt Extract
1 tsp Irish Moss
Boiled for 15 min.
.5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3% Boiled for 10 min.
.5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3%
Boiled for 5 min. and removed from heat
Cooled the wort and added Muntons Gold yeast at around 79F
Gravity = 1.066

I’m planning on dry hopping (my first experiment with dry hopping) with .5 oz. Cascade hops A.A. 6.3% after a week in the primary and let sit for another week in the primary before transferring over to the secondary. Again, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hefe Weizen

Brewed a Hefe Weizen. Here’s the recipe…

Steeped
.5 lbs Briess Wheat Malt crushed 6 row (lovibond 2.2)
.5 lbs Briess Dextrine Malt crushed 6 row (lovibond 1.5)
for 4 hours in 6.25 gallons of hot water from the tap
Brought water to 155-160 F and let rest for 30 min. and brought to full boil and removed grains
1 oz. Vangard pellet hops A.A. 4.4%
1/2 cup of Malto dextine
2 cups of corn sugar
Boiled for 30 minutes
3.3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat LME
3 lbs Munton’s Plain Extra Light DME (7 EBC)
1 cup of corn sugar
.75 lbs Munton’s Plain Wheat DME (55% wheat/45% barley, 9 EBC)
Boiled for 15 more minutes
.5 oz Willamette pellet hops A.A. 4.6%
Boiled for 10 more minutes
.5 oz Willamette pellet hops A.A. 4.6%
Boiled for 5 minutes and cooled
Pitched Munton’s Gold Yeast directly into Wort at 68F

This made about 6 gallons, and I forgot to measure my original gravity before pitching the yeast. I think I’m going to add a half can of Oregon canned raspberries to 1 gallon in the secondary for a raspberry hefe. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Brewed a Hefe Weizen

Brewed a Hefe Weizen. Here’s the recipe…

Steeped
.5 lbs Briess Wheat Malt crushed 6 row (lovibond 2.2)
.5 lbs Briess Dextrine Malt crushed 6 row (lovibond 1.5)
for 4 hours in 6.25 gallons of hot water from the tap
Brought water to 155-160 F and let rest for 30 min. and brought to full boil and removed grains
1 oz. Vangard pellet hops A.A. 4.4%
1/2 cup of Malto dextine
2 cups of corn sugar
Boiled for 30 minutes
3.3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat LME
3 lbs Munton’s Plain Extra Light DME (7 EBC)
1 cup of corn sugar
.75 lbs Munton’s Plain Wheat DME (55% wheat/45% barley, 9 EBC)
Boiled for 15 more minutes
.5 oz Willamette pellet hops A.A. 4.6%
Boiled for 10 more minutes
.5 oz Willamette pellet hops A.A. 4.6%
Boiled for 5 minutes and cooled
Pitched Munton’s Gold Yeast directly into Wort at 68F

This made about 6 gallons, and I forgot to measure my original gravity before pitching the yeast. I think I’m going to add a half can of Oregon canned raspberries to 1 gallon in the secondary for a raspberry hefe. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Bottled the Dunkel

I’m not sure if it would be considered a dark hefe weizen or a dunkel weizen, but anyway, I bottled my Dunkel Weizen today (I always put the month it’s ready to serve as the month it was bottled on the label so friends don’t think it’s too old). I decided to call it “1474 Dunkelweizen” in honor of an upcoming fraternity event at the end of July at which time I hope to finally crack one open. It’s currently being aged in basement at around 65F. It smelled and tasted pretty good when I checked final gravity. Based on some very basic calculations, I’m estimating the final alcohol by volume to be around 6.5%.

I’m also experimenting with a different way to label my bottles. The logo to the right is my label for the Dunkelweizen. I printed it off on the computer on regular paper, cut it out and then covered the entire thing on the bottle with packing tape. Hopefully the packing tape won’t stick too much when trying to take the labels off, but will prevent water from getting to the label if I decide to put these on ice. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Bottled the Dunkel

I’m not sure if it would be considered a dark hefe weizen or a dunkel weizen, but anyway, I bottled my Dunkel Weizen today (I always put the month it’s ready to serve as the month it was bottled on the label so friends don’t think it’s too old).  I decided to call it “1474 Dunkelweizen” in honor of an upcoming fraternity event at the end of July at which time I hope to finally crack one open.  It’s currently being aged in basement at around 65F.  It smelled and tasted pretty good when I checked final gravity.  Based on some very basic calculations, I’m estimating the final alcohol by volume to be around 6.5%.

I’m also experimenting with a different way to label my bottles.  The logo to the right is my label for the Dunkelweizen.  I printed it off on the computer on regular paper, cut it out and then covered the entire thing on the bottle with packing tape.  Hopefully the packing tape won’t stick too much when trying to take the labels off, but will prevent water from getting to the label if I decide to put these on ice.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

Brewed a Dunkelweizen

This weekend I brewed a very wheaty wheat beer. It’s my first use of my new turkey fryer (my wife wanted me out of the kitchen and it allows me to do full boils). Here’s the recipe…

.5 lbs of Briess Dextrine grains
.5 lbs of cracked wheat
Steeped and brought 6.5 gallons of water to 155F and set at 155 for 30 minutes
Brought water to a boil and removed steeping bag
3.3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat LME
1 cup of corn sugar
1/4 cup of malto dextrine
1 tsp of Irish moss
1 oz of Tradition hops (A.A. 5.8%)
Boiled for 30 minutes
3.3 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat LME
3 lbs Muntons Wheat DME (55% Wheat/45% Barley)
.5 oz of Willamette hops (A.A. 4.5%)
Boiled for 15 minutes
.5 oz of Willamette hops (A.A. 4.5%)
Boiled for 15 minutes and cooled

Here’s the interesting part… I’m fermenting 5 gallons in my carboy with Munton’s Gold Ale dry yeast, and then I’m fermenting 1 gallon in couple half-gallon growlers. In the growlers I’ve tried my first attempt at yeast harvesting (from a Schlafly Hefe). The original gravity is 1.070. I’ll let you know how it turns out.