Posted By Chris O'Neill on July 14, 2009

Now is the time I have started experimenting with batches of beer. Previously I’ve only changed very small variables in the brewing process, such as extra dry hopping or flavour additives. The vision I have for this beer is a cream ale with very intense flavour and a higher than usual alcohol percentage (shooting for 7% if possible).

In order to accomplish this I had to use considerably more malt (grain) and adjust the method to extract more essence from the grain. This will provide more body in addition to more fermentable sugars, which will create more alcohol. Also, the quantity of hops has been slightly increased in anticipation of it needing to match a stronger body.

I have to give a shout out to Dan for helping tweak the recipe. He’s the guy I buy my beer making supplies from here in Vancouver.

There are two main differences used in the method for this batch compared to others I’ve made. Firstly, due to the very large amount of malt there wasn’t enough room in my mash tun for all 18 lbs of grain and its matching 18 litres of water. I was only able to fit roughly 16.5 litres of water for the mash. Secondly, I steeped the mash for almost 2.5 hours at a lower temperature, around 60-65 C. By the time I started the mash, completely cycled the sparge water, and drained the wort, it was just over 3 hours.

Here’s the recipe (all grain)

16 lbs 2-row pale malt
1 lb barley flakes
0.35 lbs crystal malt
0.25 lbs carapils malt
0.25 lbs chocolate malt
2 oz willamette whole hops
nottingham ale yeast

I’m excited about this experimental batch and will keep you posted on its progress.

Category: General, Homebrew Recipes, My Brews | No Comments »
Tags: alcohol, cream ale, experiment, intense, strong

Posted By Chris O'Neill on July 14, 2009

My latest drinkable batch is an Extra Special Bitter. I am really enjoying this one, almost as much as my very popular Irish Red Ale. This is a great traditional British bitter ale that I am enjoying both chilled and at room temperature just the same. It has a delicious hoppy taste from the very beginning of the sip right through the finish. There’s not much on the nose as all the hopping was done during the boil, focusing the flavour into the body.

Here’s the recipe (all grain).

11 lbs 2-row pale malt
1 lb barley flakes
0.75 lbs crystal malt
0.05 lbs chocolate malt (this refers to the darkness of roasting, there’s no actual chocolate)
0.75 oz zeus whole hops
0.3 oz cascade whole hops
0.3 oz willamette whole hops
Nottingham dry yeast

The hops are divided 75% for the boil and remaining 25% (finish) hops for the last 5 minutes of boil.

Category: General, Homebrew Recipes, My Brews | No Comments »
Tags: beer, brew, british, extra special bitter, hoppy

Posted By Chris O'Neill on May 30, 2009

I will be bottling my latest batch of beer soon, an Irish Red Ale. This is my second time making this recipe and it’s at the top of my (and many friends’) list for being a favorite beer. I wrote a commentary on the previous batch a while ago.

Here is the all grain recipe:
11 lbs 2-row pale malt
1 lb barley flakes
0.35 lbs crystal malt
0.25 lbs wheat flakes
0.05 lbs roast barley
1.3 oz amarillo whole hops
0.45 oz cascade whole hops
0.45 hallertau whole hops
Nottingham yeast

This is a standard all grain recipe method that uses both boil and finishing hops. Use 75% of the hops through the entire boil and throw in the remaining 25% of the hops 5 minutes before the end of the boil.

Category: General, Homebrew Recipes, My Brews | No Comments »
Tags: ale, beer, beer home brew, hoppy, irish, recipe, red, red ale

Posted By Chris O'Neill on April 25, 2009

While writing this, I am starting a batch of vanilla brown ale. My vision for this beer is to have a traditional full bodied brown ale with the added refreshment of vanilla, ready right for the beginning of summer.

Here’s the recipe (all grain):
10 lbs 2-row pale malt
1 lb Barley flakes
0.5 lbs Chrystal malt
0.5 lbs Wheat
0.5 lbs Chocolate malt
1.3 oz Goldings whole hops (full boil)
Nottingham dry yeast
2 Full vanilla beans (doing this from scratch)
Small quantity of rum

This is a standard all grain recipe. I will be soaking the vanilla beans in rum for 1 day before adding to the secondary. The alcohol will extract a lot of the flavor from the vanilla.

I’ll let you know how it turns out through the process.

Category: General, Homebrew Recipes, My Brews | No Comments »
Tags: beer, vanilla brown ale

Posted By Chris O'Neill on April 13, 2009

This Saturday I started a batch of Hefeweisen (German wheat ale) with my friend John.  If we stick to the 1,2,3 rule we will start drinking this in early June, as this is a perfect Summer beer.

Sidebar:  The 1,2,3 rule goes as follows: The beer is fermented in the primary (bucket) for 1 week.  Then it’s transferred to the secondary (carboy) and sits for 2 weeks.  The beer is then bottled and sits in the bottle for 3 weeks before drinking.  The 3rd step is the hardest to adhere to, but if you can hide some of bottles away you’ll taste the rewards of waiting longer.

The recipe for this beer is quite simple:
5.5 lbs 2-row pale malt
5.5 lbs wheat
0.8 oz Hallertau whole hops
liquid yeast

I’ll let everyone know how this batch progresses, as I always like to take a dip at every stage to see how it tastes.

Category: General, Homebrew Recipes, My Brews | No Comments »
Tags: beer home brew, German, hefeweisen, recipe, wheat ale

Posted By Chris O'Neill on April 10, 2009

I’m sitting in Boston Pizza drinking a Rickards Red and thinking about how it compares to the Irish Red Ale I just brewed. Thought I’d pull out the iPhone and let the world know.

The main similarity is the body and base flavour are quite close, of course both being red ales. What sets them apart are the aroma and hoppy finish. The Rickards has little aroma and a limp finish, leaving very little to talk about.

My bias is obvious, but based on simple characteristics alone my home brew Irish Red Ale runs laps around its mainstream counterpart. They’re both in the same sport, but completely different leagues. One delivers a strong full body out of the gate and down the stretch, with powerful follow-through on the bitter finish. And the other one seems to show up late for practice.

Category: General, My Brews | 1 Comment »
Tags: ale, aroma, hoppy, iPhone, irish, red, red ale, Rickards

Posted By Chris O'Neill on March 27, 2009

Long story from a Friday night with friends, so not sure how to explain it . . . just enjoy.

Category: Drunk Tank, General | No Comments »
Tags: chicken, drunk

Posted By Chris O'Neill on March 27, 2009

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged since I’ve been busy brewing and drinking beer.  Here’s an update on what’s been going on.

I have only 1 bottle of the espresso stout left, which is sad.  I will have to make more soon.  The problem is this beer is such a (delicious) novelty and everyone wants a taste.  Which is too say I’m either sharing too much or not brewing enough . . . or both.

The pale ale turned out amazing.  It surprised me with more fruity notes than I expected and was very refreshing.  This is a great drinkin’ beer (compared to a sippin’ beer like espresso stout).  I only have 2 bottles left as I see a trend of beer shortage developing here.  This is definitely a beer I would brew an entire batch of for a specific purpose, like a weekend full of BBQ or a camping trip.

I have sitting in my carboy right now a batch of Irish Red Ale that I am very excited about.  While transferring from the primary to the secondary I grabbed a taste and it has a very strong full bodied taste combined with a great hop edge.  Wide full body and depth with a pleasant face slap on the finish with a bitter hop taste.

After it’s been in a bottle and ready for drinking I’ll let everyone know how it turned out.

Category: General, My Brews | No Comments »
Tags: beer, espresso, irish, pale ale, red ale, stout, update

Posted By Chris O'Neill on February 25, 2009

The batch of espresso stout is one week in the bottle and I have dipped in for a taste.  Typically I wait at least 2-3 weeks in the bottle until I consider it ready to drink, but I wanted to see how the flavour and carbonation are developing along the way – with a pleasant surprise in this case.  Here are my impressions.

• The carbonation has acelerated quicker than I expected.  For my carbonation preference of stouts, it’s at about 60%-70% of ideal.  I expect one more week in the bottle will put this beer in peak form.
• I find many stouts (especially Guinness) to be lighter in weight, as expected.  However this beer has a sturdy weight to it, which matches the body of flavour.  There is also a slight hint of sweetness that softly tempers the bitter edge of the espresso.
• The headlining act, the espresso, has demonstrated an ability to front the band with crowd-capturing authority.  It also elegantly blends with the rest of the beer adding depth and pleasant complexities to the flavour.

I am very excited about this beer and will update you at week two once it’s ready for full drinking duty.

Category: General, My Brews | 1 Comment »
Tags: beer, brew, espresso, guinness, stout

Posted By Chris O'Neill on February 22, 2009

This is the first contribution to the Drunk Tank, a collection of beer-related images and videos I find funny or insightful.

A bit controversial?

As much as I don’t care for mainstream beers like Bud (home brew is so much better) this billboard is simply hilarious.  I find comfort in the fact that Jesus is into beer even more than I am.

Category: Drunk Tank, General | No Comments »
Tags: beer, brew, jesus, king