After talking to my friend who has brewed mead decided to try my hand at brewing some ale. Went to the brewshop in Austin and the guys there helped me get set up equipment wise and pointed me to the recipe book where the "Evil Brown Ale" caught my eye (in addition to the guy telling me that it tastes, and i quote, "wicked pizziola").
So if everything goes according to plan I should have 5 gallons of delicious ale in a month.
With the certified population of beer snobs here, I was wondering if anyone else has tried to homebrew and if so any tips?
Update:
9/8/09:
Pics
9/10/09:
Got back from class and cooked everything up and made the wort. The chocolate hops gave off a fantastic smell while steeping. The hops smell however still lingers in my apt. Transferred to my primary fermenter and now I'm just waiting for fermentation.
Added more pics too
9/12/09:
The OG value before adding the yeast was 1.050 only .001 off from what they said it should be. In the last two days, the yeast has been fermenting up a storm so I should be able to transfer it to my carboy next tuesday or wednesday.
Moar Pics as well
9/15/09:
Primary Fermentation finished. Transferred brew to secondary fermenter, a glass carboy. Now just waiting for the brew to clear so I can bottle and then consume :evil:.
OG value of 1.011 so currently at 5.1% ABV which will be a tiny bit less than the final ABV which is expected to be 5.2ish
Can't wait about 3 weeks till drink time.
Added more pics
9/22/09:
Bottled on Sunday (9/20) but have been busy with school so i haven't had a chance to update the thread.
Anyways, measured the final OG value which is 1.009 now so it will be about 5.3 ~ 5.4% alcohol :evil:.
Had a little taste test while bottling and for being flat and warm it was damned good. Honestly i wouldn't mind drinking a cup of it the way it was... and i did lol.
It is a dark amber/brown colour with a slight hoppy aroma. It tastes very smooth with mostly malt sweetness complemented by a hint of chocolate. Not much bitter hoppy flavour, which though expected is a bit of a let down because i would have preferred the bite added by the bitter. When I went back to talk to the guys at the store they told me it is supposed to be comparable to Pete's Wicked Ale which upon googling seems to have declined of late so hopefully this recipe was based on the late 90's Pete's not the new stuff. However since i've never had the old or new Pete's (was only like 5 when the old one was out and since i can't legally by beer right now haven't gone to try the new stuff) I have no idea how close it is. If anyone has had it feel free to chime in .
Overall, very pleased so far with the beer and the whole experience in general and will definitely get my second batch going soon (thinking about a Pacific Pale Ale or something a bit more bitter and citrousy).
Added some more pics as well.
So if everything goes according to plan I should have 5 gallons of delicious ale in a month.
With the certified population of beer snobs here, I was wondering if anyone else has tried to homebrew and if so any tips?
Update:
9/8/09:
Pics
9/10/09:
Got back from class and cooked everything up and made the wort. The chocolate hops gave off a fantastic smell while steeping. The hops smell however still lingers in my apt. Transferred to my primary fermenter and now I'm just waiting for fermentation.
Added more pics too
9/12/09:
The OG value before adding the yeast was 1.050 only .001 off from what they said it should be. In the last two days, the yeast has been fermenting up a storm so I should be able to transfer it to my carboy next tuesday or wednesday.
Moar Pics as well
9/15/09:
Primary Fermentation finished. Transferred brew to secondary fermenter, a glass carboy. Now just waiting for the brew to clear so I can bottle and then consume :evil:.
OG value of 1.011 so currently at 5.1% ABV which will be a tiny bit less than the final ABV which is expected to be 5.2ish
Can't wait about 3 weeks till drink time.
Added more pics
9/22/09:
Bottled on Sunday (9/20) but have been busy with school so i haven't had a chance to update the thread.
Anyways, measured the final OG value which is 1.009 now so it will be about 5.3 ~ 5.4% alcohol :evil:.
Had a little taste test while bottling and for being flat and warm it was damned good. Honestly i wouldn't mind drinking a cup of it the way it was... and i did lol.
It is a dark amber/brown colour with a slight hoppy aroma. It tastes very smooth with mostly malt sweetness complemented by a hint of chocolate. Not much bitter hoppy flavour, which though expected is a bit of a let down because i would have preferred the bite added by the bitter. When I went back to talk to the guys at the store they told me it is supposed to be comparable to Pete's Wicked Ale which upon googling seems to have declined of late so hopefully this recipe was based on the late 90's Pete's not the new stuff. However since i've never had the old or new Pete's (was only like 5 when the old one was out and since i can't legally by beer right now haven't gone to try the new stuff) I have no idea how close it is. If anyone has had it feel free to chime in .
Overall, very pleased so far with the beer and the whole experience in general and will definitely get my second batch going soon (thinking about a Pacific Pale Ale or something a bit more bitter and citrousy).
Added some more pics as well.