#58 Skeeter Pee

The original, inexpensive, quick, easy to make, easy to drink, naturally fermented, lemon, hot-weather, thirst quencher.

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.30 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG

Estimated Color: 1.9 SRM
Boil Time: 30 Minutes
ABV: 10.4%





Skeeter Pee
Ingredients:
Amt                   Name                                           
16.0 cup              Washington, DC
7 lbs                 Sugar, Table (16 cups)
0.33 cup              Lemon JuicE
Primary (Stir Ingredients)
64.00 oz              ReaLemon
0.75 tsp              Tannin
1.00 tsp              Yeast Energizer

3.00 tsp              Yeast Nutrient

Primary (~2 days)
1.00                  Yeast Slurry
Primary (~4 days - 1.050 SG)  (vigorously mix)
32.00 oz              ReaLemon
3.00 tsp              Yeast Nutrient
1.00 tsp              Yeast Energizer
Secondary (0.995-0.998 SG) (degas)
2.50 tsp              Potassium sorbate (sorbate)
0.50 tsp              Potassium metabisulfite (Kmeta)
1.00                  Sparkolliod - Clears without the Sparkolloid in 30-45 days
Bottling/Kegging (2 weeks after sparklloid)
2.30 lb               Sugar, Table (Sucrose)

After two weeks, the Skeeter Pee should be crystal clear. Rack into a clean, sanitized carboy, add 6 cups sugar, and stir to dissolve. Wait two weeks to be sure no new fermentation begins and bottle.

Notes from Lon DePoppe:
"Not a “hard lemonade” because too many people have tried the commercial versions and they tend to make a mental impression of what it’s going to taste like before trying it. When it doesn’t taste just like the commercial versions (which are usually 5% alcohol, lemon flavored malt beverages) they conclude that it’s a poor reproduction. This stuff isn’t a reproduction; it’s the original home-style without the big marketing budget and price tag. Please be advised that you need to keep an eye on those you serve this to. Because it drinks easily on a hot day and the alcohol is about double that of commercial hard lemonades and beer, it is easy to accidentally over consume; it sneaks up on you real fast."

If you don't have a slurry to start your batch.
Some people have had luck simply sprinkling the yeast on top of the must in the place of using a slurry.  Be cautioned though, that the ferment will take much longer to get started.  It helps to whip the must with a wire whisk to introduce lots of oxygen and keep the must warm.  Be prepared to wait up to a week to see signs of ferment.  An alternative method that has been successful is starting a 1 gallon batch of wine using frozen concentrate, letting it go for 5 days to a week to get good and active, and then using the whole thing in place of a slurry.

#52 Hard Cider

I wanted to create a hard cider for Saint Patrick's Day.  I waited too long so the options are now limited. My initial thoughts were to follow DayFlyer55's 5 Day Sweet Country Cider from HomeBrewTalk.  I was in a rush while making dinner so I skipped the Brown Sugar and went straight for the Molasses and Sugar.  I was just guessing and only decided to lookup the correct ratio now that I am writting down what I actually did.  The ratio for brown sugar is 1 cup sugar to 1 Tbs Molasses.  So, twice as much molasses as need.

My goal is to stop the fermentation as soon as we are below 1.04.  This should give us a sweet cider with 4.9% ABV.  Update:  It was a little too sweet.  So we let the cider go another day and then put it in the lagering fridge to have the yeast stop.  The final is a FG 1.034 and 5.7% ABV and 260 calories/12 oz.

Fermentables 13 frozen concentrate Giant brand Apple Juice    (~4.875 gallons) 2 lbs Dominion Sugar    (~3.8 Cups) 4 oz Grandmas Molasses    (~8 Tbs) Misc 2 Cinnamon Sticks Yeast Munton's Gold

#49 Apfelwein Recipe (German Hard Cider) Apple Wine Recipe

After a number of recommendations from other brewers, 10,838 replies and 1,668,170 views on HomeBrew Talk, I decided to try Ed Worts Apfelwien

The recipe placed 1st in the Cider & Apple Win category at the BJCP sanctioned Alamo Cerveza fest (out of 11 entries) and took 2nd place for Best of Show for the main category of Meads & Ciders (out of 50 entries).

I used following ingredients:

• 12 frozen concentrate Giant brand Apple juice (1 1/2 quarters each)
• 2 pounds Giant brand sugar
• 1 five gram packet of Montrachet Wine Yeast

1. First sanitize the carboy, airlock, funnel, stopper or carboy cap.
2. Add 100 degree water to the carboy, (*** Need Amount)
3. Add packet of Montrachet Yeast to hydrate
4. Add more 100 degree water to carboy
5. Warmed frozen concentrate apple juice
6. Pour melted concentrate into carboy
7. Add hot water to concentrate container to melt more concentrate
8. Add sugar and shake
9. Repeat Steps 5 through 8 until all of the Apple juice in the carboy and 2 lbs of sugar have been added
10. Fill Carboy up to the neck with 80 degree water.
11. Put your stopper or carboy cap on with an airlock and fill the airlock with cheap vodka. No bacteria will live in vodka and if you get suckback, you just boosted the abv.

Ferment at room temperature.

The advice is to let this sit for at least 3 months.

#46 Munton's Nut Brown Ale (1998)

So, this is a test into how bad will it be.  I received a can of Mutton's Nut Brown Ale with a best before October 1998.

The advice on the internet was "As long as the can is sealed, it'll be fine. Just a little darker than normal. Cooper's cans can be good if brewed well. I usually add a 3lb bag of Munton's plain DME & 2 oz of 2 different hops. The color of the DME depends on the style desired. In this case,I'd go with plain light DME. Maybe Fuggle or Kent Golding hops. Don't let anyone tell you cooper's is no good.

If you've got a good process down,you'll make good beer with the right ingredients. I do it all the time. Even my English bitter is coming along fine. And the IPA that started life as an OS Draught can is very good. When I get the recipe tweaked more to my liking,I'll post it."

The goal of the style Northern English Brown Ale

Aroma: Light, sweet malt aroma with toffee, nutty and/or caramel notes. A light but appealing fresh hop aroma (UK varieties) may also be noticed. A light fruity ester aroma may be evident in these beers, but should not dominate. Very low to no diacetyl.

Appearance: Dark amber to reddish-brown color. Clear. Low to moderate off-white to light tan head.

My thoughts:
We were only going to throw away both the can and the yeast.  Since there were extra ingredients, the cost is really about $8.  If it turns out tasting good, then great.  If not, nothing lost.

Grains

4.8 oz 60L Caramel Malt
3.0 oz Chocolate Organic
2.0 lbs Golden Light DME
Hops .35 oz Kent Goldings (15 minutes)
Yeast White Labs WLP002 English Ale (1 year old)

I wrote the above on kegging day.  We will know in a couple of weeks or maybe later today.

This turned out to be a hit.  Many thought that this was one of the better beers.  So a simple change and great results.

#12/44/53/66/82/83 Corona

This is a staple around the house, especially during the warmer months.  This is an inexpensive beer to make when washing the yeast.  This is a cheap $16 beer using extract.

Corona Extra is lighter than traditional beers, with a crisp and refreshing taste.

This light, dry beer has pleasant malt and hop notes with a round dry finish.  Best served ice cold, with a wedge of lime that complements and intensifies the flavor through the palate.

Fermentables

3 lbs Light DME

3 lbs Corn Sugar

Hops

.75 Hallertauer (60 min)

.25 Hallertauer (5 min)

Yeast

WLP940 Mexican Lager

158 Calories

8.7 IBUs

#42/50 NB Irish Dry Stout

This is the Northern Brewer recipe for Guinness. This is Ireland's most popular and well-known beers, this stout has a pronounced roasty, coffee-like flavor and aroma, imparted by a generous helping of roasted barley.
Guinness (pron.: /ˈɡɪnɨs/ gin-is) originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness (1725–1803) at St. James's Gate, Dublin. A feature of the product is the burnt flavour that is derived from roasted unmalted barley. For many years a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic flavour and fatures a characteristic "tang". The draught beer's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen when poured.
Prior to 1939 if a Guiness brewer wished to marry a Catholic girl, his resignation was requested.

13A. Dry StoutAroma: Coffee-like roasted barley and roasted malt aromas are prominent; may have slight chocolate, cocoa and/or grainy secondary notes.
Appearance: Jet black to deep brown with garnet highlights in color. A thick, creamy, long-lasting, tan- to brown-colored head.
Flavor: Moderate roasted, grainy sharpness, optionally with light to moderate acidic sourness, and medium to high hop bitterness. Dry, coffee-like finish from roasted grains. May have a bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate character in the palate, lasting into the finish. Balancing factors may include some creaminess, medium-low to no fruitiness, and medium to no hop flavor. No diacetyl.
Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium-full body, with a creamy character. Low to moderate carbonation. For the high hop bitterness and significant proportion of dark grains present, this beer is remarkably smooth. The perception of body can be affected by the overall gravity with smaller beers being lighter in body. May have a light astringency from the roasted grains, although harshness is undesirable.
Overall Impression: A very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale.

#39 Town Hall Hope and King Scotch Ale

The Northern Brewer Pro Series beer kits have been developed in conjunction with professional brewers, using their own award-winning beer recipes.

Town Hall Brewery's beer is renowned throughout the US, but only available at their amazing brewpubs in Minneapolis - until now. One of a handful of breweries to have an "A" rating on BeerAdvocate.com, it is known for producing high-quality beers in both experimental and classic styles.

Bronze Medal Winner, 2002 and 2004 Great American Beer Festival, Gold Medal Winner, 2011 Great American Beer Festival.   Hope and King is a full-body brew and is rich in malt complexity.   “Our interpretation of the classic ale that originated in Glasgow, Scotland. A full-bodied ale, rich in malt complexity. Brewed with both English and American barley and many, many specialty malts allowing hints of roasted chocolate, caramel and raisins with very little hop presence.  Our interpretation of the classic ale that originated in Glasgow, Scotland.” - Town Hall Head Brewer Mike Hoops.
Rate Beer: 91 or 100 and Beer Advocate 88 of 100

SPECIALTY GRAIN 

Town Hall Brewery - A Beer for every season

0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 20 

0.25 lbs English Chocolate Malt 

0.25 lbs English Medium Crystal 

0.125 lbs English Roasted Barley 

0.1875 lbs Belgian Special B 

FERMENTABLES

6 lbs Gold Malt syrup (60 min) 

2 lbs Golden Light dry malt extract late addition (15 min)

HOPS & FLAVORINGS 
.25 oz Centennial (60 min)
3 oz UK Fuggles (10 min)

YEAST
 Wyeast 1098 British Ale

#14/54 AHS Dos Equis Amber Lager (3A)

Dos Equis is a lager that was originally brewed by the German-born Mexican brewer Wilhelm Hasse in 1897. The brand was named Siglo XX ("20th century") to commemorate the arrival of the new century, and the bottles were marked with the Roman numeral for 20 ("XX"), thus "Dos Equis" which is Spanish for "two X."

"The Most Interesting Man in the World"

"I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis."

"Stay thirsty, my friends."

BJCP Style 3A Date Brewed 41021 ABV 4.73 OG 1.049 FG 1.013 Calories 139 SRM 14.4

Grains  7 lb Extra Pale Extract 4 oz Malto-Dextrin 1 lb Vienna Malt 6 oz Crystal 20L Malt 1 oz Black Patent Malt  Hops-Bittering 1.25 oz Tettnang Hops-Flavor .25 Tettnang and .25 Saaz Yeast WL940 Mexican Lager Hops-Flavor .5 oz Tettnang Yeast WL940 Mexican Lager

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/can-you-buy-kit-dos-equis-118446/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/dos-equis-amber-clone-249478/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/dos-equis-361633/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/austin-homebrews-belgian-white-beer-135187/

#08/27/59/65/94 Austin - Samuel Adams Summer Ale (6D)

Great beer to start the summer.

Crisp and tangy with refreshing lemon peel and a hint of pepper from rare Grains of Paradise.  Golden, hazy, & thirst quenching, this American wheat ale balances bright citrus, Noble hops & spice for a lively brew that’s perfect on any summer day.

Sam Adams Summer Ale

BJCP Style 6D ABV 5.25/5.25 OG 1.052 FG 1.012 Calories 147 SRM 12.6

Grains Extract 7 lb Wheat Extract .5 lb White Wheat .5 lb 2-Row Malt Mini Mash 5 lb Wheat Extract 1.25 lb White Wheat 1.75 lb 2-Row Malt Hops-Bittering 1.5 oz Tettnang Hops-Flavor 1/2 oz Paradise Seeds 2 tbsp Lemon Zest Yeast WLP051 California Ale V

Austin Homebrew Supply - Sam's Summer Ale