Yuengling Clone

Alright, this was supposed to be my feeble attempt at a Yuengling Clone, came out decent but it's no Yuengling Clone. First of all I don't have the ability to lager it, so I was forced to use Ale yeast.

On the other hand it tastes pretty good so i can't complain all that much, hey I made beer right!

New Logo

With the help of Nino Barte, the site had a brand new logo, now we look professional n stuff, guess we have to start making better beer now lol..Below are a few other logos Nino created for the brewery which we'll be using on our labels.

Thanks Nino, you the BEST!

Fallen Wheat 10.16.09

Picked up a can of Munton's Wheat, 3.3 lbs prehopped extract along with a 1 lb bag of Munton's DME, that'll add alot more body to the beer.Had planned on doing a 5 gallon batch with this, then adding 4 oz of Peach exract before adding to the bottling bucket but didnt' have time to pick up the Ale Pale. So for now I split the ingredients, it'll be a 2.13 gallon batch.

I got the water to a nice boil, added 1/2 lb of DME (Dry Malt Exract) , stirred it in real quick that stuff gets hard quick, then poured in half the can of the Wheat extract, stirred that in, poured into the fermenter and pitched the yeast, now all I can do is sit back and let the yeasties do their thing.

I put the remaining Wheat extract into a zip lock bag and into a plastic container that I stuffed in the freezer for now. The DME will stay at room temp as long as it's in a ziplock bag, I'll pick up a Wheat yeast and some Peach extract and I'll make the next batch a Peach Wheat.

Edit 12.01.09: Well here's the finished product, pours well, nice head retention. Decent body, only regret was did not use German yeast , but that i'll do that when I brew up the Hefeweizen, came out pretty good.

Oktoberfest

This was my first Oktoberfest and it came out great, very happy with it, good malt character and dense creamy head of this delicious seasonal brew will surely win anyone over.










Oktoberfest Label

Raspberry Lager

A dark red lager with a sweet but tart raspberry finish, this turned out REAL GOOD! I popped one open tonight and had to have another it was so good. It measures out to 4.7 % but it seems stronger than that.









See I'm thinking about ya, I took pics of both pours

Raspberry Lager and Oktoberfest Label Play

Had some time and created new labels for the soon to be released Raspberry Lager and Oktoberfest brews. The Raspberry Lager label looks a tad light, wonder if I can play with that a little more.

Oatmeal Stout

Black as a Midlands night. Oatmeal Stout is a masterful blend of pale, caramel, chocolate and roast malts, along with a generous portion of malted oats. Moderately bitter yet creamy and satisfying, this has the roasted flavor of an English stout and a dense, rich head from the oats for a truly unique experience.

And by the way, it was GOOOOD!!!

Pilothouse Pilsner

Combine the tradition of a classic pilsner with the fresh fruity aroma of the Nelson Sauvin hop and you have a crisp and refreshing golden beer as exotic as the South Seas. Never before has this rare hop variety been used north of the equator, making this beer a rare treasure.

This was my first attempt at a Pilsner and it's actually pretty good, I'm happy with the results.

I Am a Home Brewer

Inspired by, and in tribute to, the "I am a Craft Brewer" video shown at the 2009 Craft Brewers Conference. This is dedicated to all of the men and women who comprise the American Craft Brewing Movement.

This was made by a bunch of guys from Homebrewtalk , after watching the Craft Brewer video they realized they can do much better and did.

Here's the thread that started it all

Witty Monk, Raspberry Wheat #2 and Honey Wheat

Witty Monk Witibier- Almost as good as Blue Moon, a few people said it was close, but I liked it, good citrus flavor, next time i'll add some orange zest. One of the most refreshing brews i've made so far.













Cowboy Honey Wheat - This came out really well, guys who tasted this loved it, will definitely brew this again, I love wheat beers.
















This was my 2nd Raspberry Wheat, first one turned out incredible and this was just as good if not better, VERY SMOOTH!

Homebrewing Basics

Found this on YouTube, small video by Jordan Wright, found it helpful.

How to Brew Video - Part 2

This is 2nd Brew Your Own at Home video on Bottling.

How to Brew - Part 1

Found this video on the forums, it's a 2 part video on Homebrewing, from Brew Your Own at Home, pretty cool.

Beer Wars Movie

Director Anat Baron takes you on a no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry that ultimately reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer. Told from an insider’s perspective, the film goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate one of America’s favorite industries.

Beer Wars begins as the corporate behemoths are being challenged by small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers. The story is told through 2 of these entrepreneurs - Sam and Rhonda - battling the might and tactics of Corporate America. We witness their struggle to achieve their American Dream in an industry dominated by powerful corporations unwilling to cede an inch.

This contemporary David and Goliath story is ultimately about keeping your integrity (and your family’s home) in the face of temptation. Beer Wars is a revealing and entertaining journey that provides unexpected and surprising turns and promises to change the world’s opinion on those infamous 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

I AM A CRAFT BREWER

Beer Quotes

What's a brew blog without beer quotes??

He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato

A woman drove me to drink and I didn’t even have the decency to thank her. -W.C. Fields

Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your drink. – Lady Astor to Winston Churchill
Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it. -His reply

If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs. -David Daye

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.-Henny Youngman

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. –Benjamin Franklin

If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose. -Jack Handy

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza. –Dave Barry

Why is American beer served cold? So you can tell it from urine. -David Moulton

People who drink light "beer" don’t like the taste of it they just like to pee a lot. – Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI

Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.-Kaiser Wilhelm

I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer. -Homer Simpson

Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer. — Dave Barry

I drink to make other people interesting. -George Jean Nathan

They who drink beer will think beer. -Washington Irving

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools. – For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway

Oatmeal + Stout

Dictionary. com definition of Oatmeal

- meal made from ground or rolled oats.
- a cooked breakfast food made from this.
- a grayish-fawn color.

Dictionary.com definition of Stout

A dark, sweet brew made of roasted malt and having a higher percentage of hops than porter.

Now, the only Stout I have ever had is Guinness, which happens to be one of my all time favorite beers, especially on tap. I have NEVER had oatmeal, for some strange reason I always got turned off by the mess in the bowl lol....

Well, for some reason I decided to brew a batch of Oatmeal Stout, now ya' can't have this in the morning for breakfast, but you certainly can enjoy a few with your dinner :)

Pembroke Farms Brewery Family Portrait

And you thought I was going to upload a family pic....

Brewery suffers a great loss..

Sad day at the brewery, suffered a great loss..we had to dump the Dutch Apple Ale batch, which I didn't even get a chance to blog about.

Not exactly sure what went wrong, wondering if the brown sugar didn't settle right since most of the bottles had alot of dark thick sediment floating around. I let it ferment 3 weeks per the directions on the recipe, but I''m wondering if that was part of the problem, maybe I should have left it in for another week. Thought I could salvage a few bottles, I popped one open over the sink to check on the carbonation and we had a gusher. Yep, our first beer gusher, and boy did this thing spray, even scared Zoey, who high tailed it upstairs lol..

We followed the same process that made 7 other great brews so I'm not worried about it, since we brewed a Pilothouse Pilsner this past Saturday night and going to try a Cherry Stout tonight, next up after that will be a Raspberry Lager.

Oh well, live, learn and most of all...drink.

Pilothouse Pilsner

Finally got around to brewing Pilothouse Pilsner, I haven't tasted a Pilsner yet so can't wait for this to be done, yep another 6 week wait.

Here's a wort pic taken before going into fermenter.

Big Brew Day - May 2nd

In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association created Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day not only in the United States, but around the world. Big Brew is held each year on the first Saturday in May.

Homebrewing has been practiced in America since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Today there are an estimated 750,000 homebrewers in the United States. Homebrewers are passionate about brewing beer and love to share that passion with others. That’s what Big Brew is all about: homebrewers getting together all over the world to share their love for the hobby.

I brewed up a batch of Dutch Apple Ale for the holiday, gonna be a good one :)

Purple Daze Pour Pics

Finally cracked open Purple Daze, was kind of worried about this one, never tasted Boysenberries in my life, even promised alot of this brew to people figuring it would be a dud. Not that case, it taste awesome! Great body, nice lasting head, good lacing, I can drink this all day, goes down real smooth. Will definitely make this one again.

Take this from a Yankees fan, for this brew not to be ruined by the Fenway glass, it HAS to be good, and you can tell from the next pic, it was.

Chubby Cherry Wheat Pour

Well, we finally got to drink some Chubby Cherry Wheat, at first I was a tad disappointed, seemed slightly over carbonated. My brother in law said his was fine, so I tried a few different glasses and it was perfect, body could have been better but that was due to using booster vs Umalted Extract which I'll use next time. Very refreshing, decent color, not Sam Adams Cherry Wheat but a good 2nd best :)

Cowboy Honey Wheat Label

Went beer label builder site and created a quick label for Cowboy Honey Wheat.

Witty Monk Witibier

Many years ago, when Belgium Monks ruled the world, they were human and needed a break once in awhile like we do today, with no bars in sight, they brewed their own beer. We found a long lost beer recipe, possibly stolen and smuggled out of Belgium by a Monk, for this blog we'll say it was since we can't prove it was, and let's face it, you can't prove it wasn't. After very little to do, not much hub bub, someone made an executive decision and decided to brew the monk beer, Witty Monk Witibier is born.

Crisp and refreshing, this spiced wheat beer is perfect for keeping cool during the long days of summer.

We found the image on google images, loved it so much we decided to borrow it. We like to give someone credit for it but don't know who.

Basil's Brewing

We scored a bottle of High County Canadian Draft from Basil's Brewing today, popped it open tonight and, well we have to give it props, it was good. Basil Brewing owner Basil Fottis' first venture into the home brewing arena was a success.

We gave him a 4 out of a possible 5, looking forward to Basil's Brewing next brew, Left Coast Pale Ale.

Just click on the image to view the actual size.

Purple Daze Bottling Day

Bottle up Purple Daze last night, guys in work can't wait for this one. I honestly think it's the cool label, not the beer inside :)

Click on the Image for a better view.

Cowboy Honey Wheat

Was a busy weekend at the Pembroke Farms Brewery, realizing we had a lot of readers down South, we started off by brewing a batch of Cowboy Honey Wheat, for the Suuuuthernerrr's . Yeah, I know , not everyone down there reads THAT slow, just percentage of the residents from what we here, 33% reads slow, 33% reads average and the rest just can't read at all.. Just kidding, (heard the percentage is a little higher than that)

Back to the serious nature of home brewing, Cowboy Honey Wheat is gonna be a good one.
Click on image for actual size.

Recipe

1 Can Cowboy Golden Lager
1 Can Golden Wheat UME
1 Packet Dry Brewing Yeast
1 Cup of Honey

In two weeks we'll bottle and prime.

Purple Daze Label Play

Played around and created the Purple Daze label, should be a hit.

Looks cool..

































Bottle with label ..

Chubby Cherry Wheat Bottling Day

Well, another sighting, as Chubby Cherry Wheat is in the house, er bottle I mean, as we bottled the Cherry Wheat this past weekend. Had left it in the fermenter for an additional week, can't hurt it. Will be drinking this April 1st, can't wait.

Purple Daze

We decided to honor Jimmy Hendricks and the 60's generation tonight by brewing up Purple Daze, gotta admit the wort had a great aroma.

Recipe

High Country Canadian Draft
Golden Wheat UME (Un-Malted Extract)
1 can Boysenberries in light syrup
Dry Brewing Yeast

Can't wait for this one, gonna be another long six weeks to crack this one open.

Spiced Lemon Wheat Pour

After a long weekend, finally cracked open the long awaited Spiced Lemon Wheat, very good brew. Goes down easy, nice taste, decent head and good lacing. The guys in work enjoyed it also, but hey, they enjoy any free beer, but who wouldn't?

Recipe's below

1 Can Whispering Wheat Weizenbier
1 Can Golden Wheat UME
1 Packet Dry Brewing Yeast
Juice of 2 Small Lemons (about 4 tbsp.)
3/4 Teaspoon Crushed Coriander Seed
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Chubby Cherry Wheat

We have a Cherry Wheat sighting! Chubby Cherry Wheat that is, we finally had a chance to brew this long awaited batch tonight, wort smelled good. Two weeks from now we'll bottle, 4 weeks afterwards we'll have a very good beer to drink. Ah, the rough life of a home brewer eh :) ? Since it is late and once I'm done typing this I'll be going to bed, so I as type I'm enjoying a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, (what else!).

We got home late tonight, so while I sanitized I put together my grilled chicken salad, once the salad was built, I started the boil. Being a huge Cherry Wheat fan I can't wait til this brew is ready for consumption, to make matters worse the Raspberry Wheat that I cracked open Super Bowl Sunday is practically gone.

Waiting for the boil, I had a chance to puree the heck out of the cherries.

New Beer Glass

Took James and his friend George to the mall today, picked up a new beer glass in Bed Bath & Beyond, this will go well at parties. That's right, it's the Half Yard Ale glass, have to tread lightly with this one.

Raspberry Wheat Pour

Finally cracked open the long awaited Raspberry Wheat, and it was well worth the wait, this beer came out incredible! Only problem is I only got 20 bottles out of this brew, I will definitely be making this batch again. Got a good aroma to it, head held up and lacing is good, very happy.

Spiced Lemon Wheat - Bottling Day

It was bottling day for the Spiced Lemon Wheat this past Sunday, as James and I santized 22 12oz bottles, bottle caps, measuring spoon and cup. We filled up half way with One-Step sanitizer, gave it a good shake, let sit for 20 minutes. Probably the most important part of the process is sanitizing, if you don't sanitize well you get skunky beer, and we all know Bud has that market cornered right?? It probably took us about an hr or so to finish bottling, can't have any air get into the wort as it drains into the bottles from the fermenter, eventually I have to rack to a secondary, instead of bottle priming.


This is right after we finished bottling, James took the pic while I closely examined a Sam Adams.

Spiced Lemon Wheat

Above , James is stirring the wort after all the ingedients are in, I had to take the pic before his arm fell off, poor kid should work out more lol..

Below, James is stirring wort after lemon juice, corriander seed, nutmeg and cinnamon added

Some ingredients

January 11th, 2009

Decided it's time to brew the Spiced Lemon Wheat, I've read alot about this one on the forums and am dying to taste it, so I hired a brewers apprentice, James to help.

Since his friend was here at the house, they were working on a school project together, I took care of all the sanitizing , while driving his friend home everything was soaking.

We need to do some additional prep for this batch, we need 4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3/4 of a teaspoon of Crushed Corriander seed, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, and a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Once I got home, I sliced 4 lemons in half and squeezed them into a sanitized measuring cup, then had James pick out the pits, took him awhile but it needed to happen. While he was doing that, I was crushing corriander seed in a container, once James had finally finished getting the pits out of the lemon juice, he took over the crushing corriander seed job.

I went to work and added 4 cups of spring water into the sanitzed pot, had James pour in the lemon juice, drop in the Corriander seed and measure out a half teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon and added both, and stirred. Next up, we poured in a 1lb can of Golden Wheat UME and a can of Whispering Wheat Weizenbier, stirred til my arm was about to come off, then had James stir til his arms were about to come off. After stirring , we poured the wort into the fermenter, stirried like crazy, added yeast, waited another 5 minutes and stirred.

In two weeks we'll bottle it up, we should have the bottles from the West Coast Pale Ale, if not I'll make sure to drink some Sam Adams in the mean time.

Raspberry Wheat

December 21, 2008

Yesterday I was able to bottle up the West Coast Pale Ale to free up the fermenter for the next batch, Raspberry Wheat. This may turn out to be a favorite of mine since one of my favorite Microbrew beers is a Raspberry Wheat, Abita Purple Haze. Raspberries go great in beer, it is the perfect fruit for beers, Cherry is right behind.

My wife Sally and James were spending the day in the mall, which gave me plenty of time to get brewing. I grabbed the wisk and measuring cup, stuck it in the fermenter, dropped a tablespoon of One-Step sanitizer in, added a few quarts of warm water, shook everything, and let it set for 15-20 minutes. Then I added some sanitizer to the blender and the 4 quart pot I use to make the wort. I drained the sanitizer from the fermenter into the pot and blender, gave the blender a nice shake and let it and the pot set for another 15 minutes, if there is one thing I have learned is the sanitization process is the single most important in homebrewing.

Poured 4 cups of spring water into the pot, then added a packet of Booster, (I'll start using UME later), These ingredients add the additional sugars needed to create the appropriate amount of alcohol. Booster simply adds the required sugar, and UME's add the required sugar and additional flavor. Once the Booster was added, it took about 25 minutes of nonstop stirring to break it up, since it clumps when added to water.

While waiting for the Booster to dissolve, I opened a can of Oregon Fruit Red Raspberries in Heavy Syrup, poured it into the blender and purreed it for almost 25 minutes.

Once the Booster is fully completely dissovled, I brought the water to a boil and held it for 20 or so minutes, then turned the heat off and added 1lb can of Whispering Wheat Weizenbier, then stirred that up for another 15 or so minutes, this is called wort.

I poured the wort into to the fermenter, then added the purreed Red Raspberries, boy did that smell good :). After stirring that for another 15-20 minutes, I cracked open the packet of yeast and threw it in, waited 5 minutes, stirred and closed the fermenter.

January 4th, 2009.

Bottling day for the Raspberry Wheat, dropped a tablespoon of One-Step Sanitizer into the pot, along with a few measuring spoons that'll be needed later, added warm water. Then took another tablespoon of One-Step in another pot, mixed it up nicely, and filled 22 empty Sam Adams bottles, laid a cap on top and shook each bottle, this way the cap gets sanitized also. Since it was midnight when I decided to to this, I thought I'd have a few Sam Adams Cherry Wheat while bottling, have to empty out more bottles for later right?

West Coast Pale Ale

Found a cool site for labels, says-it.com , played around and created a label for the West Coast Pale Ale above, just in time since it was my last brew; timing is everything :).

I need to do a better job cutting out the label though, too many ragged edges.

It went down pretty good

Brewed on 11/30/08

Carbonated 12/20/08

Bottled : 1/3/09
ABV : 3.7%

This is my maiden voyage in the home brewing arena, basic West Coast Pale Ale, I did alot of research on Mr.Beerfans.com before attempting this, wanted to get my first brew right, or at least drinkable. I sanitized everything with One-Step, went well, then made the wort, that went off without a hitch.

Left the fermenter in Jersey City for the 1st week of fermenting, but the temps there were usually 65%, I needed 68-70 so I was forced to bring the fermenter to Harrison, not going to be easy considering you are not supposed to move the fermenter during the process so not to let and air in. I drove REAL slow along Raymond Blvd in Newark on the way, not breaking any laws, not drinking and driving but not sure about kegging and driving. My wife was real understanding of my new hobbie and let me keep the fermenter under the kitchen table.

January 17th, 10.45 PM, A bouncing baby Ale was born!

Weight -12oz

Head - 2 in

Taste - Great!

I opened my first West Coast Pale Ale, was actually a success! Here's 2 pics of the newborn.

The Beginning of my brewing obsession

My wife Sally and son James gave me a Mr.Beer brewing kit for Father's Day, they figured if I'm going to enjoy drinking beer I might enjoy making it, boy were they ever right.

I went online and ordered a few recipes from the Mr.Beer website, and found Mr.Beerfans.com , a site dedicated to homebrewing with Mr.Beer, there are a great bunch of guys on that site who are extremely helpful for a newbie like myself.

I don't brew to save money. I brew for the comraderie involved with being able to "talk shop" with other homebrewers and commercial brewers. I brew so that I can build new equipment, refine techniques, and turn out a quality product that people besides myself like to drink. Beer is one thing that I know something about.