First Brew of the New Year!!

Well the first brew of the new year is the Widespread American Wheat. The brew session went smooth, as I hit all my target gravity readings. The only thing that I changed was the amount of Chinook, due to the lower alpha acids. Everything else stayed the same.


WideSpread Wheat
an American wheat

4.5 lbs American 2-row
4.5 lbs Briess Wheat
1/2 lb Belgian biscuit
.75 lbs Munich
7 grams Chinook (11.4%AA) 60 min
1/2 oz Liberty 15 min
1/2 oz Cascade 0 min
1 pk Wyeast American wheat
1 pk Wyeast American Ale

Gastro Brewery Update!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so here’s what’s been happening at the Gastro Brewery.  First the Brewery has a new employee, a 3 month old black lab mix named Maximus, which we hired from a no-kill animal shelter.  We’re hoping that he brings the Brewery some good vibes. 

The Brewery recently produced a Belgian Strong Dark, at 8% ABV.  It’s a nice clean beer that has a great Belgian ester profile.  It’s very similar to the Delirium Nocturnal.  Here’s the recipe:

Meridius Belgian Strong Dark Ale

ABV 8%

11 lbs Belgian Pils

½ lb Belgian Special B

½ lb Belgian Aromatic

½ lb Caramunich 45*

1 lb Belgian Munich

3/4 lb Dark Belgian Candy Sugar 0 min

½ lb Cane Sugar 0 min

1 oz Tettnanger 4.5% AA 60 min

1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min

3 qt starter using Wyeast 1024 Belgian Ale

This is a great example of the style. The fermentation was right on target.  Although it’s not like you can have a lot of these, you certainly can have a couple and feel nice and toasty.

The Staff Vacation this year was to Aruba.  What A great place!  As soon as we got back, we cranked out our Harvest ale using our own home grown hops.   It’s basically a cross between blonde ale, and pale ale.  I used a commercial hop, Chinook, for bittering and then used the home grown hops for the flavor and aroma additions.  I was surprised on how it tasted after fermentation.  When I tasted a sample before I pitched the yeast it was very similar to most of my pale ales, but when I tasted a sample after fermentation it lacked that hop aroma and flavor.  It has a nice backbone with the Chinook, but the home grown Cascade and Chinook just didn’t come through.  Having said that, the beer is clean, and it taste good.  It’s a nice session beer.  Here are the vitals….

Maximus Harvest Ale

ABV 5.12%

8.5 lb American 2-row (organic)

4.8 oz Munich (organic)

1.5 lb wheat

7.6 oz American Caramel 20*

½ oz Chinook 11.4% AA 60 min

2.5 oz Chinook 10 min Home grown, AA % unknown

1.3 oz Cascade 0 min Home grown, AA % unknown

2 ea Wyeast 1056 American Ale

1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min

Brewery Update!!

The Latest Cider:
the last batch of cider turned into a great discovery. The preservatives in the apple cider used to back sweeten, did not kill the yeast left in the cider. So, if you add fresh apple cider and a simple syrup to the fermented cider to back sweeten, the fresh apple cider will not ferment, but the simple syrup will!
When I put the cider in the keg I was lagering a pilsner, and a keg of chocolate porter was carbing. So, for lack of room the cider stayed out at room temp for about a week. After I bottled the porter, I hooked up the cider to the gas and saw foam inching its way up the gas line! I quickly unhooked it and released the pressure valve. When I did this, massive amounts of foam started oozing out the relief valve. I then took it out side, and released the valve to let it do its foaming volcano like thang!
LESSON: "Use campdem tabs to sulfite the cider before adding more sugars!"

After it was still, I hooked it back up and then carbed. It tasted pretty good, I definitely could drink a couple of jars of this. It's dry with great apple flavor, although it has this bready characteristic that lingers in the background, Not necessarily a bad flavor. Its like an apple pie effect.

The Bohemian Pilsner Experiment:
Well This turned out how to make a really bad beer. I used straight tap water, I should have used half R.O. water, and half tap. I under pitched my starter by about a gallon and a half. On top of that, I completely froze the beer when I attempted to lager it. It taste like crap! It's been a while since I brewed a DUMPABRAU. It is under attenuated and has a overly sweet flavor. It also has this buttery flavor, I can't tell if its the cooked corn flavor of D.M.S. It's Just Straight Nasty!
Oh Well Try, Try, and Try Again!

Hop Harvest!!

The hops are ready to be picked. When dried, I'll got a good 2 oz out of the Chinook, a little over an oz of Cascade, and about a 1/4 oz of Centennial. You can see the yellow lupulin at the base of the flowers.









I'm am using a food dehydrator to dry the cones. I set it between 90 and 115 for three hours. I'm going to make a harvest IPA. I'll use a store bought hop for bittering and throw in my hops for the flavor, aroma, and bittering hops.

Brewery Update

Today I did a double brew session. I chose to do a Dusseldorf Alt and a Pale Ale. The brew session was long but I was happy to be able to brew two beers in one day. The Pale Ale is a recipe on the fly.

Autumn Leaf Pale Ale

10 lbs British Mild Ale
1/2 lb Caramel 60
3/4 Victory
13 oz. Vienna
1 oz. Chinook 11.4% AA 60 min
1/2 oz Amarillo 10 min
1/2 oz Cascade 10 min
1/2 oz Amarillo 0 min
1/2 oz Cascade 0min
1 oz cascade dry hop
2 pks Wyeast 1056 American ale
1 whirlfloc tab 15 min

I wanted to experiment with some other base malts so picked up some British Mild. I put in the caramel for some body and sweetness, some Vienna for a soft malty notes, and some victory for biscuit flavors. I mashed at 152 for 90 min, boiled for 75 min, and pitched at 68.

The Alt Beer is yet another Brewing Classic Styles recipe. I use this book to get a frame of reference on style, and then I adjust to taste from there. It is very helpful when I find myself not familiar with a particular style, such as Alt. There are not too many commercial Alt beers on the market. I have found two so far, not that I'm looking. Southampton Alt, and the Heuttenbar has an Alt on draft. Alt is a brown ale with and off white head. It is clean with malt, roast, and caramel flavors in perfect balance.

Dusseldorf Alt

8 lbs German 2 row
1.8 lbs Munich
1 lb Aromatic
3 oz Carafa special II
5 oz Caramunich III
20 g Magnum 14.4% AA 60 min
14 g Tettnanger 15 min
2 pks Wyeast 1007 German Ale with a 2 qt starter
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min

Mash at 149 for 90 min, boil for 90 min, pitch and ferment at 60.

In other News!!
The Pilsner is lagering at a cool 34 degrees for four weeks. The beer was slightly under pitched and did not finish at the target final gravity, instead it ended up a couple points high. Oh well we'll see how it goes. As for the Chocolate Porter, It is stuck! I added a little more yeast from the slurry of the alt beer to see if would kick up. So far not much going on. I'll take reading in a few days and go from there.

Monday Night Chocolate Porter

With the new NFL season upon us I brewed a chocolate porter to drink while watching a certain football team from the New of England. Here are the stats.

Chocolate Patriot Porter
11.5# American 2 row
1.5# Munich Malt
1# Crystal malt 80
1# Crystal malt 40
.75# Chocolate Malt
.5# Black patent

1.5 oz Kent Goldings(american) @ 4.5 AA 60 min
.8 oz Wilamette @ 4.8 AA 30 min
.8 oz Wilamette 15 min
10 oz coco powder at 0 min
1 wirlfloc at 15 min
3 pks wyeast 1056 american ale

mash at 156 for 60 min, boil for 60 min and pitch at 67 degrees.

Wicked Hard Cidah!

The weather in Chicago has been on the cool side, and that means fall is here! Time for NFL football, baseball playoffs, and time for Wicked Hard Cidah!
Here are the stats:


3 gallons Organic apple juice, no preservatives
1 gallon 100% organic Gravenstien apple juice
1 vial White labs English cider yeast

I will ferment this bad boy for a couple weeks and then rack to secondary for 4 weeks. I'll back sweeten with apple cider and force carb in the keg. I will also add a touch of cinnamon and clove flavored simple syrup.