30 Days of Creativity - Day 22: Relax, have a homebrew

We are just enjoying one of our latest beer creations. Our "White Tea Steam" beer recipe is based on the "The sun has left us on time" steam beer from "The new complete joy of Home brewing". The change we made was adding 1 gallon of steeped white tea (that looks anything but white) and 1 1/2 lbs. of honey, just to offset the bitterness of the tea.

So here is the recipe:

- 2 oz. White Tea Garden Aria from Teavana boiled in 1 Gallon of water.

- 1 1/2 Lbs. Honey

- 7 1/2 Lbs. Light Malt Extract

- 1/2 Lb. Crystal Malt

- 1 Oz. Northern Brewers Hops (added while boiling)

- 1/2 Oz. Cascade Hops (Finishing)

- Lager Yeast

The beer came out really good, it is a good summer beer, similar in taste to an Steam, but with a rather fruity aftertaste. It's also got a very fruity aroma.

We are thinking of brewing a Heffeweizen as soon as we have time. First we need to bottle our Dunkelweizen. For the Heffy we are thinking of using tea, and maybe some fruit... stay tuned ;)

solace (does it = beer?)

It's a black and white kind of day. Not for any particular reason, it just is.

We've been a moving target for the past month. It almost seems like we haven't been around at all on weekends, and when we are we have to play catch up from not being around. Through it all we've managed to keep our shelves stocked with homebrews (to the tune of 200+ bottles).

We're getting nervous as the summer approaches, as our place may be too warm for brewing. We just have to wait and see. We got a Dunkelweizen kit at Northern Brewer this weekend, and are hoping to at least add that one to our collection.

Yesterday we went to the AHA Homebrew Rally at Lakefront Brewery. Not only was the beer good (as always!), but it was nice to meet other homebrewers. I was surprised by the diversity of homebrewers. Folks of all ages. So refreshing to see so many beer lovers. Perhaps the best part: Getting free wort (Riverwest Stein to be exact) from Lakefront. Woot, woot! We just paid off our membership for the year with that wort. We cannot wait to enjoy it.

All this talk about beer is making me thirsty. Cheers to the start of a new week!

rss taste test.

Last night we decided to taste the fruit of our efforts. And by fruit, I literally mean fruit. About six weeks ago we brewed our first stout - a raspberry slow stout (aka RSS). I'll explain more about the name in a minute.

Overall, I'd say I was impressed with the body, aroma, and taste of this one. It has some very complex flavors on the front end and a very strong hint of raspberry as an afterthought. It's pretty rich and creamy, and even has some hints of coffee and chocolate. A lot going on in this small sampler glass. With that said, it needs more time to condition in the bottle. I think the flavors still need to mellow out a bit, and the carbonation isn't quite right yet. In two weeks this brew is going to be ready to drink, share, and enjoy.

The biggest problem I have about homebrewing is the wait. Whenever we try a new recipe, I always get anxious to see how the end result will be. This is also, mind you, why I will never brew wine. Beer from start to finish is ready to enjoy in under two months. I would not have the patience or will power to wait 1-2 years to sample my wine. I'll happily leave winemaking up to the Spaniards, Chileans, and Californians.

All right, back to the name: RSS. We started this brew out from a Northern Brewer kit - Sweet Stout to be exact. It was our first time using lactose in the brewing process and (gasp) our first time using wet yeast. (I don't think I am going to ever be able to go back to dry yeast). We started the brew process and gave the yeast a good 24 hours to work its magic before pitching it into the wort. [For all you brew newbies - wort is unfermented beer. It has no alcohol content yet.]

Now here is where the problem began to arise; the problem that led to the name. I wake up in the morning after brewing expecting to see the fermentation process going full steam. Wrong. Nothing was happening, at all. This has never been the case before. I waited all afternoon - still nothing. Panic began to sink in. Was the yeast expired? Was the wort too hot when we pitched the yeast? Did we forget to add something? We decided to wait until that next morning - a good 36+ hours later before really panicking.

Next morning still nothing. I consult brew forums and posts to see if this is "normal." I am just about to head out the door to get more yeast when I see a bubble! Amen! We've never had such a slow start to our fermenting process. Hence, this is why we are calling this brew the Raspberry Slow Stout. (We infused fresh Michigan raspberries during the secondary fermentation process and added a little of extract during bottling.).

Anyway, that's the history behind this one. We'd love to hear stories from other homebrewers - leave us a comment on the blog or on our Twitter @ampmcrafts. Salud!

Back on track.

One way I have been able to gauge being "settled" in a new city and new apartment has been getting back into brewing. On a side note, we also realized that our reserves from previous batches (sangria tea ale, orange coriander wheat..etc.) were quickly dwindling. This helped expedite getting settled.

In many senses, brewing is just as "therapeutic" to me as baking. The one main different is time. Baking, thankfully!, only takes at the most a day to complete. Brewing on the other hand, requires patience, and at the very least 1 month to complete. I found each very difficult to mess up, but following directions and knowing the process is key.

We've got quite the pantry fermenting happily. Our spicy hard cider is bottled and will be ready to enjoy this fall. (See what I mean about patience?). Our belgium tripple is nearing the end of its secondary fermentation. Our raspberry slow stout (RSS) is almost ready for secondary fermentation.

I was thinking last week as the RSS was taking forever to start fermenting on just how much I enjoy the whole process. And, when I say whole process I mean it. Drinking your masterpiece is the big payoff, but having an adult science experiment in the house is exhilarating!

I have to laugh now as I was panicking that the yeast hadn't started to kick in 24+ hours after it was pitched. I realize now that this is not uncommon for stouts, especially when they contain lactose. This certainly is something I will keep in mind in the future. I look forward to learning more tips of the trade from the American Homebrewers Association. (We just got our membership!).

Now if only we knew what we'd like to brew next? We've got a couple recipes up our sleeve, as well as some exciting ideas, but we are certainly open for suggestions. Cheers!