Brew Your Cask Off!

Thanks to my good friend, Harry from Bullock's Wine and Spirits, I've been invited to take part in this event. Our beer is a Belgian Imperial Porter aged on Oak and Chipolte. Hopefully I'll be able to post some videos of our brew day!

The brewday is Sunday, February 28th, and the event day is March 30th. I'm looking forward to both!

Various Beer Pics

Citra Hop Experiment

Well, it's been a while since I've documented any of my brew days. This one is from the AHA National "Teach your friend to brew day" on November 7th, 2009. I have read about Citra hops and from everything I read, I figured I now need to use them and enjoy some of their fruit punch-iness! Wonderful aromas of pineapple, mango, and citrus are prominent with this hop. Simply amazing! The batch I brewed was a simple grain bill to showcase the awesomeness of this hop. Here's the recipe for the IPA:


12 lbs. American 2 Row
2 lbs. Munich
.5 lbs. Carapils Dextrine Malt
.5 lbs. Crystal 40L

1 oz Sorachi Ace Pellets @ 60 (13.1% AA)
1 oz Citra Whole Hops @ 20 (11% AA)
1 oz Citra Whole Hops @ 10 (11% AA)
1 oz Citra Whole Hops @ 5 (11% AA)
1 oz Citra Whole Hops @ 0 (11% AA)
2 oz Citra Added to Primary (14 days)
1 oz Citra cones added to Secondary (7 days)

Whirlfloc @ 15

Here's some pictures of the dry hopping stage:










After carbonation, this beer will be full of fruity goodness! Hopefully, this will be so good, it becomes my signature beer!

Dark Lord Shepherd's Pie

This post is a little different than what I had intended with this blog. This was just a day that was too good not to share.

On a rainy, nasty day at home, I decided to throw down on some Shepherd's Pie and had a 2008 Dark Lord sitting around staring at me. I had to throw him into the mix. If you don't have a Dark Lord around, feel free to use any good Russian Imperial Stout as a substitute. It just wont be as good.
















Ingredients:

1 lb Hamburger Meat 93/7
8 Golden Potatoes Cubed
1/2 minced Onion
4 teaspoons of minced Garlic
1 teaspoon Parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground Sage
1 can Mixed Vegetables (corn, green beans, limas, peas, carrots)
6 oz Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout
1 can cream (as needed)
6 slices of Swiss Cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup Sour Cream

Process:

Brown hamburger meat in a pan with 2 teaspoons of garlic, 1 teaspoon Parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon ground sage along with the 1/2 onion. After browning, add 6 oz of Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. Let simmer for 15 mins. After simmering, add 1 teaspoon of cornmeal to juicy mixture for consistency.



After potatoes have been boiled, proceed to mash them but leave them chunky. Add cream and sour cream for texture and 1 teaspoon of butter. Add shredded cheddar.



Place meat in a casserole dish on bottom, add one layer of Swiss Cheese on top of that (I had to use American). After cheese, add strained can of mixed vegetables on top. Cover the top with the potato and shredded cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Bake in oven for 1 hour @ 375 degrees. Remove from oven and enjoy!



Beware of Scavengers!

The Show DIPA

I recently made my second attempt at a Double (or Imperial) India Pale Ale. My first attempt was just too balanced. The malt supported the hops and vice versa. I honestly don't think that's what a DIPA is supposed to be like, so I attempted to shove as many hops as possible into a 5 gallon batch. That lucky number was 12 oz...without the 4 oz of dry hops. Here comes the Hop Show.

The Show DIPA

Grains

17 lbs. American (Breiss) Two Row
.5 lbs. CaraPils
.75 lbs. 40L Crystal Malt
.5 lbs. Corn Sugar

Hops

3 oz Magnum (14.4%) @ 60 mins
2 oz Amarillo (8.7%) @ 20
2 oz Centennial (9.1%) @ 10
2 oz Simcoe (13.1%) @ 5
1 oz Amarillo @ 0
1 oz Centennial @ 0
1 oz Simcoe @ 0

Dry Hops:
1.5 oz Simcoe Plug
1 oz Centennial Plug
1 oz Amarillo Plug
1 oz Columbus Plug


OG = 1.079
IBU = (Calculated) 197.9 (Woo-hoo!!)

Yeast = US 05 Cake from APA