From the category archives:

Homebrewing

X Brew Tasting Notes – X IPA 1

by Spence on January 11, 2010

Beer: X IPA 1 – 36/50
Tasting Date: 1/4/2010
Appearance [max 5] : 3
Solid head that keeps its form, and slowly settles into a 1/4″ blanket  on the surface that slowly gets consumed through the beer.
Deep copper color.  Definitely darker than what I remember West    Coast IPA would have.  Going to need to do a side-by-side comparison [...]

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X Brew – Brew Notes: XIPA1

by Spence on January 8, 2010

This was the first brew session with the new equipment, so I thought I would document some of the issues that came up.  Here are my brew notes.
11/23: First run with the 1 gallon immersion “mash tun”.
Added 1/4 tsp gypsum to 2 gallons of Bend, OR tap water
Mashed in, and think I hit target [...]

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Worth Reading – 12/30/09

by Spence on December 30, 2009

Arctic Alchemy
“Arctic Alchemy, discoveries of the Red Hand ……”, a discussion on the Homebrewers Association forum kicked off by Chris Bowen talking about a documentary project he’s embarked on.
In July 2010, I am departing from Bethlehem with two friends on a 3 week journey about 2000 miles north to the Canadian Arctic. The purpose is [...]

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Hitting your target infusion mash temperature

by Spence on December 14, 2009

When I first began learning about mashing from a friend, we used his setup which employed a plastic bucket and a thick, insulated sleeve slipped over the bucket. We rarely had problems hitting our target mash temperature. Like many others making the transition to all-grain brewing, when I purchased my own equipment, I chose [...]

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First X Brew Lessons Learned

by Spence on December 8, 2009

X Brew Lessons Learned
Sometimes it can be a challenge to “Relax, Don’t Worry, etc…”.  It has been a while since I have broken in a new mash tun, and man did I forget how frustrating that can be.  Yesterday was one of those brew days where you are constantly maneuvering trying to stay on course.  [...]

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X Brew Inauguration Day

by Spence on December 6, 2009

Today I am embarking on the first in a (hopefully) long-running series of experimental brew days, which I plan on sharing here on brewerman.com. The inspiration for my approach is a combination of the recent revisiting of some Brew Your Own articles, and a lay-off that has given me more free time.  [...]

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Bells Best Brown – BYO Clone recipe

by Spence on April 30, 2008

Another clone from Brew Your Own.  This time it’s Bell’s Best Brown from Bells in Kalamazoo, MI.  I have loved Bell’s ever since a buddy first brought home some of their Expedition Stout.  Those guys just crank out excellent beers, and lots of them.  They remind me of Rogue in that way.  When another friend [...]

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Pliny the Elder – Brew Day

by Spence on September 15, 2007

Last time I went in to my local homebrew shop, they were thankfully carrying copies of the special edition of Brew Your Own magazine that contains nothing but clone recipes they have published over the years. I had seen advertisements in my subscription, but hadn’t bothered sending away for my copy. Lucky for me, my [...]

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Hazy Daze Wit – Transfer to Secondary

by Spence on August 26, 2007

So the Witbier has been in the primary for a week.  It is approaching its final gravity, so it looks like we’re on target.  Thie wort collected did not hit the target OG, 1.052.  It fell way short at 1.040, so it looks like this is going to be a Witbier Mild weighing in at [...]

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Hazy Daze Wit (2007) – Update and Pictures

by Spence on August 22, 2007

Quick post to say that I updated the brew day post for the Hazy Daze Wit by uploading some pictures so that people not familiar with homebrewing can get a clearer picture of the process.  Also, the fermenter is bubbling away.  The starter I made provided a big enough yeast colony to firmly take root [...]

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