Captain & Crew's Homebrew

[CaptainWhiteEye]

Ahoy, avast and listen me RWP hearties, here I will be sharing my future projects of homebrewing some lovely batches of me finest brews!

But yeah, I'll do some documenting and sharing recipes as I make them up and try them. Feel free to share your own recipes if you are also a homebrewer or maybe some recipes and photos of any delicious dishes that go alongside beers, wines, etc. that you like.

First on the list, an all-grain brew!

I intend for this to be a pleasant seasonal brew with mild bitterness and refreshing aroma.

Grain Bill

• 5 Lbs. Weyermann Barke Pilsner
  
• 1 Lb. Dingermans Biscuit Malt

Hops (pellets)

• 0.5 oz. Cluster 45 minutes.
  
• 0.5 oz. Cluster 30 minutes.
  
• 1 oz. Kent Golding 15 minutes.
  
• 1 oz. Kent Golding 0 minutes.

For yeast, I'm just going with good ole' Fleischmann's bread yeast

Starting Gravity of ~1.042, a little lower than expected but that can always be fixed with a bit of DME.

[Update: 10/13/23 - I step-fed some Bavarian Wheat DME to bump up the gravity.]

[Update: 10/18/23 - It's coming along nicely, a crisp taste with balanced bitterness and spicy herbal flavor notes, lacking a bit in aroma. Still got ways to go, needs a bit more time.

I'll keep ya updated for the results. I can also go further into detail if people would like a basic tutorial on how to brew their own.

11/2/23 - Missed an update, I took a reading on the 26th, wasn't moving below 1.020- so I added some sugar(Up to 1.0441) to bump up it's abv and it managed to eat it's way though all of it with some additional sugar. We're at a gravity of 1.015 bringing us to just above 7.5%. It's got a refreshing citrus taste and lightly bitter, going to let it sit one more week just to make sure it's done then I will bottle it up.

[CaptainWhiteEye]

I started up a second brew, this one is a much stronger batch. I wanted to go for a Dwarven theme, dark, rich in malty flavor, and high alcohol.

Grain Bill

• 12 Lbs. Simpson Golden Promise
• 1 Lb. Crisp Scottish Heavy 50, Peated.
• 0.5 Lb. Flaked Barley
• 0.25 Crisp Pale Chocolate (for color)

Added a tsp of Amylase to the mash to help ensure a full conversion.

This came out to a massive 11 gallons before boiling and reduced to 5 gallons.

Hops

1 oz. Cluster 30 minutes.
1 oz. Willamette 15 minutes.

We got about a .085 Spgr, and with an addition of 3 Lbs. of Bavarian Wheat DME, the estimated Spgr was brought up to .110. With this high starting gravity and long a boil, we are going to have to break out the big guns and some additives.
Pitched with EC-1118 yeast and to help it along I added 2 tsp Fermaid-o, 1 tsp Amylase, and 0.5 tsp diammonium phosphate. These help yeast grow and eat, higher starting Spgr can be difficult to chew through for even strong yeasts like EC-1118.

11/2/23 - Added another 3lbs of Bavarian What DME on the 20th. As of today it appears to have become stuck around 1.045. I added some more fermaid-o to try to get it moving again. Will take another reading next week.

[CaptainDredlokk]

I'll probably never start brewing my own or anything but it's cool that you are doing it. A nice beer after a long day is great and I can imagine brewing your own hits different. Ever thought at trying your hand at a cerveza?