Paul and Maureen's Homebrew Recipe Notebook

Welcome to our personal homebrew notebook. We started brewing in 1999 and were quite haphazard, lacking direction and just picking recipes from the selection at our homebrew supply store. One of our problems was that we weren't very aware of which aspects of commercial beers we really liked or really disliked. And even when we did have some vague idea, we had no idea which ingredients contributed to which flavors. We decided that our homebrewing would not consist of brewing a different type of beer each session, but rather of making only what we really like and continually improving on a small selection of styles. Then we did what any reasonable people would do, we sampled lots of beers, paying attention to flavors and character, and learned about ingredients. Armed with all this newfound knowledge and a sense of direction, we became much more excited about homebrewing. And that means we are. . . making (and drinking) more beer! Right now, we are striving for a perfect beer menu of India-American Pale Ale, Irish Ale (a la Smithwick's), English Brown Ale, American Golden Ale, German Hefeweizen, and the occasional speciality brew. As of brew no. 7, we began formalizing our brew procedures began taking more detailed notes in "Data Sheets". We suggest every homebrewer keeps a similar notebook (whether online or on paper); we just find it easier to keep it online and maybe it will be of use to some other brewers out there. Thanks for looking.
Oh Molly Pale Ale. This classic American Pale Ale is all Cascade hops and nothing but Cascade hops. The criteria are medium body, good head retention, quite bitter, very slight sweetness, and a very crisp dry finish. It is not a unique brew, but it tastes INCREDIBLE.   no. 13: Nothing different for this next brew! It's a winner.

no. 9 (Data Sheet): Recipe: 3 lbs American/Klages 2-row (29 ppg), 1 lb Crystal 70L (8 ppg), and 2 lb Vienna (27 ppg) malts mashed at 67C. 4 lbs Alexander's liquid malt extract (30 ppg), 10 oz of Munton and Fison's DME, and water for a full 5 gallon wort boil. Cascade whole-flower hops (6% AA, 3 oz at 60 minutes, 1 oz at 25 minutes, and 1 oz at 5 minutes). Pitch White Labs California Ale yeast. Bottle prime with 160g DME for 2.0V CO2. IBU: 70's. Color: 12 SRM. Starting SG (31-DEC-01): 1.059. Ending SG (13-JAN-02): 1.014. Calories (per 12 oz): 204. Alcohol (% by volume): 6.1.

Mother's Milk Pale Ale. We were striving for a Pale Ale similar to Sam Adams' IPA. We learned from Sam Adam's web site that the ingredients are: 2-row, Vienna, and Caramel/Crystal malts as well as hops of Spalt, Kent Goldings, and Fuggles. The criteria from tasting are medium body, good head retention, quite bitter, very slight sweetness, and a very crisp dry finish. Maureen has just recently gave birth to our daughter Molly and we're hoping this brew (with it's liberal hops) will aid her in her motherly duties, hence the name. With the success of no. 9 Oh Molly Pale Ale, we probably will not be brewing any of this one anymore.  

no. 8. (Data Sheet): We thought we would try to obtain more yeast complexity than Sam Adam's by using Northwest/Redhook ale yeast. What we got was a big fruity character and lots of carbonation reminiscent of the German wheat beers. This made my wife most happy, since she loves fruity beers. This brew aged exceptionally well, with its fruity character becoming subdued after 60 days. Recipe: 7.2lbs light malt extract (high dextrin Canadian bulk extract for dry finish), 1 lb Crystal 70L for color and depth, .5 lb Torrified wheat for head retention, 3.5 oz Spalt 3.5% hops for 60 minutes, 1.3 oz Kent Goldings 5% for 40 minutes, 1.25 oz Kent Goldings 5% for 30 minutes, .75 oz Kent Goldings for 10 minutes, 1 oz Fuggles 4.75% for 5 minutes. Wyeast Northwest Ale (Wyeast 1332XL) for a more malty and complex character than the generic Wyeast 1056. Sanitized Oak chips in the fermenter after the initial blowoff subsides. IBU: 83. Starting SG (22-SEP-01): 1.045. Ending SG (): 1.013. Calories (per 12 oz): 155. Alcohol (% by volume): 4.25.

Walter Brown Ale. My neighbors only drink dark ales so, named in their honor, this is our nut brown ale. The name is also in honor of Boston sports figure Walter Brown (1905-1964) who founded the Boston Celtics, helped to create the NBA (its championship trophy is named after him), and whose father began the Boston Marathon.   no. xx. Next time, we think we'll be doing a something like a nut brown-like infusion mash with more body and mildly bitter.

no. 6. Our first attempt at a brown ale led to our first homebrew catastrophe. It smelled and tasted like what we imagine jet fuel to taste like. A New England heat wave shot the temperature up to 35C on the first day of fermentation! This first try was an extract recipe. Recipe: .5lb Crystal 70L, .5lb Chocolate malt, 6lbs amber malt extract, 1 oz Northern Brewer for bittering, 1 oz Willamette for flavoring. Wyeast 1098.Starting SG (14-AUG-01): 1.042. Ending SG (): 1.012.

Honeymoon Irish Ale. My wife fell in love with Smithwick's Irish Ale brewed in Kilkenny, Ireland. They do not import to the US, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the taste of Ireland to us. We got a recipe from the now-defunct Ken's Homebrew Source which called for an infusion mash. We've never been successful in cloning this beer, but it keeps making a wonderful brew nonetheless. This brew is chestnut brown, mildly hoppy, rich nutlike flavor yet smooth.  

no. 10(Data Sheet): Our no. 9 IPA worked so well as a partial mash, we're going to stick with that technique for a while. Recipe: 4.5 lb Maris Otter malt, 1.5 lb Crystal 70L and .75 lb roasted barley. Single infusion mash at 67C for 60 minutes; 4 lbs amber extract; 1 oz Fuggles for bittering, .5 oz Fuggles for flavoring, 1.5 oz Kent Goldings finishing hops; Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 yeast tube. This is a good brew, but it wasn't what I was looking for (and isn't anywhere near as good as the full mash). For starters, the roasted barley is a tad overwhelming, or I should say that it's not balanced enough by the hops. So, as a solution I would either add lots more hops or reduce the roasted barley. I think I will do the former. Also, it has a "thin" feel, and I think the mash could have infused at a slightly lower than desired temperature (<67C). Starting SG: 1.054 (27-MAY-02). Ending SG: 1.014 (13-JUN-02). Calories (per 12 oz): 162. Alcohol (% by volume): 4.2%.

no. 7 (Data Sheet): Our second attempt was our first all-grain mash (i.e., no malt extracts were used). Since we did not yet have an 8 gallon pot or a wort chiller, we wanted to extract a concentrated wort from our mash, hence the 16 pounds of grains and almost no sparging. We sparged with about 1 gallon of water and ended up extracting about 3.5 beautiful gallons of wort. Our OG was a bit high (leading to a high alcohol content, Smithwick's is 5.25% alcohol by volume). Next time we brew will have our big pot and chiller so we can mash less grains, 16 pounds is rather cumbersome and we will shoot for a lower OG. All-grain is the way to go! The flavors of this brew merged together like a well-practiced orchestra. Recipe: 15 lb Maris Otter malt, 1 lb Crystal 70L and .25 lb roasted barley. Single infusion mash at 67C for 60 minutes; 1.5 oz Fuggles for bittering, .5 oz Goldings finishing hops; Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 yeast (2 day starter). Starting SG: 1.062 (1-SEP-2001). Ending SG: 1.012 (15-SEP-01). Calories (per 12 oz): 162. Alcohol (% by volume): 6.80.

no. 3. For our first attempt, we adapted the all-grain recipe to an extract recipe. Recipe: .25 lb roasted barley and 1 lb crystal 20L; 6 lbs light malt extract, 5 oz corn sugar, and 1.5 oz Fuggles hops for bittering; .5 oz Goldings finishing hops; Wyeast Irish Ale tube. Starting SG (AUG-00): 1.045. Ending SG: 1.010. Calories (per 12 oz): 153. Alcohol (% by volume): 3.89.

Ellie Ale. This golden summer Kolsch-style was very drinkable, almost too much so. I don't know a commercial beer that is similar. It's weizen-like cloudy (no clarifiers used) and subtle yet complex hoppiness. I think I liked the Saaz hops over the Cascade, but I did not have two side-by-side to compare. It's extremely full-bodied, but has an almost syrup-like quality to it which I'd like to fix in subsequent brews.   no. 11. A partial mash version will certainly come next.

no. 5. We're going with something pretty similar to last summer's attempt. We're adding a little more grains, changing the Saaz flavoring and aroma hops to Cascade hops for a little extra hop profile, and adding Gypsum. We have also learned a better, more quantitative, technique for adding priming sugar prior to bottling (e.g., based on the fermenting beer temperature of 70F, for a desired level of carbonation of 2.2 volumes of carbon dioxide, a very modest level, we require 104 g of priming sugar. This turned out to be nearly a cup, which is more than the recommended 3/4 cup, see below). Recipe: .6 lb Cara Pils and .6 lb torrified wheat; 8 lbs Alexander's Pale Malt extract and 1.5 oz Hallertau hops for bittering (60 minute boil); 1 tsp. Gypsum; .5 oz Cascade hops for flavoring (last 15 minutes of boil) and the same amount for aroma (last 5 minutes of boil); Wyeast 1056XL American Ale yeast. Starting SG (23-JUN-01): 1.040. Ending SG (07-JUL-01): 1.020. Calories (per 12 oz): 138. Alcohol (% by volume): 2.7.

no. 2. Recipe: .5 lb Cara Pils and .5 lb torrified wheat; 8 lbs Alexander's Pale Malt and 1.5 oz Hallertau hops for bittering; .5 oz Saaz hops for flavoring, .5 oz Saaz hops for aroma; Wyeast 1056XL American Ale yeast. June 2000.

Mo's Weizen. This Salzburger Weizen is true to the German wheat beer style and a great start to this wonderful hobby. Lightly hopped with Hallertau, wheaty, and very carbonated as expected. This first brew was a procedural disaster. The biggest mistake was that we didn't fill the siphon hose with enough water and we ended up not being able to siphon the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. Instead we ended up slowly pouring the beer by hand. But it still came out great. Go figure.   no. 12. We are planning on keeping this one about the same but perhaps adapt it to an all-grain recipe. We want to try Redhook's Hefeweizen first before brewing this one.

no. 1. Recipe: .5 lb each of Vienna and Munich grains; 6 lbs Weizen malt extract and .5 oz Hallertau hops for bittering; .5 oz Hallertau hops for flavoring, .5 oz Hallertau hops for aroma; Wyeast 3068XL Weihenstephan Wheat. March 2000.

Pumpkin Ale. We wanted to try something a little different, a seasonal brew. So, we decided on combining the fall flavor of pumpkin with the wintery spices. Our pumpkin ale was steeped with crystal grains, light malt extract and mashed pumpkin, Willamette hops, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel. This brew is not for everyone. But, I'll tell you, when we carefully swirled all the sediment (the pumpkin and spices and, yes, yeast) around, it made for a great tasting fall/winter brew. We will definately do this again, though probably not this year. Next time we will strive for a bit more body, less carbonation, and more of a pumpkin/spice flavor.   no. 4. Recipe: 1 lb crystal 20L; 6 lbs light malt extract, 5 lb pumpkin baked and mashed, and Willamette hops for bittering; 1 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel last 10 minutes of wort boil; Wyeast 1056 (made a starter culture 24 hours prior to fermenting). December 2000.