A New Batch of Beer
I am making a batch of Extra Special Bitters. There is a little shop here in Asheville run by a master brewer. When the local brewpubs need some tech advice, they call up Andy.
He sells about 20 of his in house kits. With the ESB kit you get 6 pounds of liquid malt, and one pound of malt powder. There are three types of hops, one boils for 40 minutes, one boils for 25 minutes, one you add just when the boil is done. He also uses liquid yeast, says it gives much better results than powdered yeast. This yeast has to be refrigerated.
You also get a pound of ground barley grains. Andy has about 15 of the fifty pound sacks of different barley grain in his shop. For this kit, he takes .3, plus .3, plus .4 pounds of three types of this barley, and grinds them while you wait, so that they are extra fresh.
I have made this kit 4 times, and it is the best beer I have ever had, and I have had a lot of beer, trust me on that one. I have had Heineken draft right at the brewery in Amsterdam. I have had fresh Tuborg at the brewery at Copenhagen.
This time I added an extra pound of corn sugar, I am going for the 5.7 percent alcohol content.
Andy the master brewer has a mail order business, if any of y'all want to try one of these kits. Costs about $28 for ingredients for two cases.
If you don't have the equipment, will be $100 or so for that.
ashevillebrewers.com
He sells about 20 of his in house kits. With the ESB kit you get 6 pounds of liquid malt, and one pound of malt powder. There are three types of hops, one boils for 40 minutes, one boils for 25 minutes, one you add just when the boil is done. He also uses liquid yeast, says it gives much better results than powdered yeast. This yeast has to be refrigerated.
You also get a pound of ground barley grains. Andy has about 15 of the fifty pound sacks of different barley grain in his shop. For this kit, he takes .3, plus .3, plus .4 pounds of three types of this barley, and grinds them while you wait, so that they are extra fresh.
I have made this kit 4 times, and it is the best beer I have ever had, and I have had a lot of beer, trust me on that one. I have had Heineken draft right at the brewery in Amsterdam. I have had fresh Tuborg at the brewery at Copenhagen.
This time I added an extra pound of corn sugar, I am going for the 5.7 percent alcohol content.
Andy the master brewer has a mail order business, if any of y'all want to try one of these kits. Costs about $28 for ingredients for two cases.
If you don't have the equipment, will be $100 or so for that.
ashevillebrewers.com
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just ordered the altbier?? (the first german one)
i figured i needed a b-day present (well it should arrive close to or on..so it counts)
thanks allen [:D]
(ill let you know how it turns out...will be my first run at it [:I][xx(][:)])0 -
Thanks! I just may get one - is this a dark beer? BTW: This weekend I sample my beer that has been bottled since early January! Woo Hoo!
Can you post info on how to get that kit - sounds good to me.0 -
I get most of my stuff from Northern Brewer in St. Paul...I particularly like their "Tongue Splitter" ale; dry-hopped with alphas...great stuff! They also grind while u wait...I prefer to use liquid yeast, as well... 0 -
I made one batch of the Altbier. It is good. It is darker than the ESB. The ESB has a little better hops taste and aroma, in my opinion.
The ESB is a medium-bodied English ale. It is a beautiful amber color.
Good luck with your kit, mnhunter! I am sure you won't be disappointed.
HobbyGuy, you are a real wild man. I have never gotten in to the mash tun etc. You are really brewing from scratch. I imagine you get better results. Keep up the good work!0 -
I have never created my own recipes, but I have modified recipes.
When I used to live in Georgia I would buy cans of malt extract made by John Bull, etc. at the Wine Art store. Then I would add extra hops, and add extra corn sugar to kick up the alcohol content. Sometimes I would buy a pound of the barley grains, they called it "crystal malt," however they would not grind it like the brewmaster does. The Wine Art kits were primitive compared to the kits provided by ashevillebrewers.com.
These kits that I am getting here in Asheville are so good I have not tried to modify them. But, I did want a little extra alcohol this time, so I am adding a pound of corn sugar.
These kits are in accord with the strict German beer purity laws, the Reinheitsgebot. So, in adding the sugar I am violating those laws. It would be illegal to sell my new batch in Germany!0 -
quote:Originally posted by p64mak
I get most of my stuff from Northern Brewer in St. Paul...I particularly like their "Tongue Splitter" ale; dry-hopped with alphas...great stuff! They also grind while u wait...I prefer to use liquid yeast, as well...
where you at p64..sugar grinder?? work in the chaska area???0 -
No, I never have done mead. Is that pretty good?
I make wine all the time.
I did make one interesting batch of beer that was an experiment. I have a brother who is allergic to barley. Can you imagine a worse ailment?
So, he hadn't had a beer in 15 years, but he loves beer. A couple sips from a Heineken, he would get an allergic reaction and die.
So he found a guy up in Oregon who grows chestnut trees. These are the same trees that went extinct in Appalachia long ago. He grows them out there in the middle of a desert so the blight can't get them. So, he is looking for a use for chestnuts. He has invented chestnut beer for celiacs, people who are allergic to gluten. My brother doesn't have a problem with gluten, only barley.
So my brother got this guy to send him a six pack of the beer. He had to be careful only to cover the shipping cost, because to pay anything that could be considered profit, federal crime, ATF etc.
Well, this chestnut beer was horrible. I took one sip and spit the beer out.
So my brother asked me to make some and to try to improve the recipe.
I went down to Andy the brewmaster and got his ideas. I handed Andy a bottle of chestnut beer. He had never heard of chestnut beer. He reluctantly took a sip, and nearly vomited.
First, I roasted the chestnut chips for thirty minutes, to get a darker beer. Then, I had to soak the chestnut chips in water, with amylase powder in it overnight.
Instead of just corn sugar for alcohol, the brewmaster suggested a pound of dark Belgian rock candy, this is beet sugar. Also, one three pound jar of sorghum. Then I also added two pounds of corn sugar.
Well, this beer turned out pretty good, I mean, for a beer with no barley in it. I have had four bottles of it.
My brother loved it! The problem is, he expects me to continue to make him beer for free. He doesn't realize how much work it is. I told him, One batch for brotherly love, now, you need to buy a five gallon stainless steel pot and start making your own. He is just about to run out so I don't know what he will do.0 -
Go to forum@northernbrewer.com and ask your question about brewing a barley free beer. I'm quite sure someone there has done it at one time or another. Since your brother is allergic only to barley,it would seem to me that someone would have a recipe for rice, wheat or corn, or a combination of them. 0 -
Actually, more the Renville area--sugar refiner.
I get into the cities a couple of times a month.0
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