r@fink brews

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

strange brew brewing

I'm in the mash of my Rak's Mild Ale and this is the recipe I ended up doing.
Rak's Ale
Grain bill
9 lbs. 2 Row
1 lb. Crystal 20L
2 oz. Chocolate Malt
4 oz. Flaked Oats
Hop Schedule
1 oz. Glacier Hops 60 min.
.5 oz. Glacier Hops 15 Min.
Danstar Dried Nottingham Yeast
I hit a mash temp. of °152

It smells yummy!

Monday, August 25, 2008

stange brew

I've been concocting a new recipe with the ingredients I have on hand and came up with a sort of Extra Special Bitter with domestic grain. Here it is.

Rak's Ale
Grain bill

8 lbs. 2 Row
1 lb. Crystal 20L
1 lb. Carapils 2L
Hop Schedule
1 oz. Glacier Hops 60 min.
.5 oz. Glacier Hops 15 Min.

Danstar Dried Nottingham Yeast

Who knows how this one is going to turn out, but it should be a lighter easy drinking ale for all to enjoy.

Hailstorm Brown Ale kegged

I kegged the HS Brown Ale today. I'm hoping it'll be carbonated by the weekend to celebrate Labor Day.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

High Humidity Brown Ale racked

I racked the HH Brown Ale today. Look for kegging around the 31st.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Nukey racked

I racked the Nukey into the secondary tonight. It should be ready to bottle when Ann and Steve visit on Lobor Day. We tapped the Fat Tire clone yesterday, and it tastes pretty good, although I believe it could taste better with a little more aging time .

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Hailstorm racked

The Hailstorm Brown Ale has been racked into the secondary. I'm anxious to get this one in the keg because it has more hops than I've ever used in a recipe, and it smells wonderful. The Nukey and High Humidity Brown Ales are bubbling away nicely in their primaries.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

keg, rack, empty, and brew

It was a busy weekend at the r@fink brewery. The Moose Drool clone went empty and the Fat Tire clone was kegged on Saturday. I followed up on Sunday with a brew session resulting in five gallons of High Humidity Brown Ale. The sad news is, that we have a few days for the Fat Tire to carb up before we have any home brew. I'm already planning a Smiddick's clone in the near future to fill up that fourth keg.
The High Humidity Brown Ale recipe is nearly the same as the Hailstorm
High Humidity Brown Ale
Grain Bill
9lbs. 2 Row Pale malt
1 lb. Crystal (60L)
.5 lb. Crystal (20)
.5 lb. Carapils
.5 lb. Flaked oats
.3 lb. Chocolate malt
.25 lb Black Patent malt
Hop schedule
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (60 min.)
.75 oz. Liberty (30 min.)
1 oz. Willamette (5 min.)
.25 Liberty (flameout)
White labs English ale (WLP002)
Mash temp 154° 60 min.
Sparge 178°

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Give a man a beer today.........

Steve Klein and I brewed a batch of Nukey Brown Ale today. He was interested in the brewing process and I got someone to turn the handle on the Barley Crusher. We had a great time and managed to sip a couple Moose Drools. Hopefully he and An can make it back from the cities around Labor Day to bottle their batch of Nukey.

Nukey Brown Ale
9 lbs. Mild Ale Malt
0.25 lbs. Simpsons Dark Crystal
0.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt
0.25 lbs. Weyermann CaraRed

Boil Additions
1 oz. Argentina Cascade (60 min)
Wyeast #1098 British Ale Yeast

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Hail Storm Brown Ale

I put my Barley Crusher to work today and whipped up a Moose Drool clone. Brewing was delayed an hour or so to allow a big assed thunderstorm to drop a ton of rain and hail the size of my big toe. I have decided to name the beer Hailstorm Brown Ale.
Hailstorm Brown Ale
9lbs. 2 Row Pale malt
1 lb. Crystal (60L)
.5 lb. Crystal (20)
.5 lb. Carapils
.5 lb. Flaked oats
.3 lb. Chocolate malt
.25 lb Black Patent malt
Hop schedule
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (60 min.)
1 oz. Liberty (30 min.)
1 oz. Willamette (5 min.)
White labs English ale (WLP002)
Mash temp 154° 60 min.
Sparge 178°

I have a new crush on homebrewing

We spent a few days in Minneapolis visiting Ann and Steve recently. We had a good time and visited Northern Brewer and Midwest Homebrew to stock up on brewing supplies. I purchased a shit load of grain from Midwest and a Barley Crusher from Northern Brewer....... now I'm ready to brew.