Bottled Some Shiznum

Tonight we bottled/kegged over 50 gallons of beer, which goes something like this.

Bottled:
Brown Ale
Porter
Pale Ale

Kegged
Porter
Brown
Pale (with 2oz Anthinum)

Balls Out 95 minute IPA

35lbs (10 scoops) Muntons Pale
3lbs Light Wheat
1lb Weyermann CaraAroma (comparable to Special B)

2oz 16.4% Warrior - Beggining of Boil
1oz Warrior - 10 mins into boil
2oz 4% Fuggles 30 mins
2oz Fuggles 60 mins
2oz 5.4% Cascade 80
Irish Moss
Yeast Nutrient
1lb Demerare Sugar (shh)

1.05-1.052 Original Gravity

Chilled to below 50 then racked, due to hops, and allowed to come to room temp

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast

A Day @ THE Dogfishhead

For those of you keeping up with the chronicles of the HomeBrewCrew,
This is our new brewing facility and don't the boys look happy about it?

Yeah Right! Actually, this beautiful monument to modern day brewing belongs to the guy on the left, closer to the camera, Sam Calagione and the rest of his crew over at Dogfishhead.

The perma-smiles on HomeBrewCrew members Ari and Mike is caused by what is called the Charley in the Chocolate Factory Effect which occurs when home brewers are given a tour of the best craft brewery in the world by the founder himself. He didn't bust out the glass elevator, but we did end the tour with pizza, 60 minute IPA and the opportunity to pick Sam's brain which was worth much more us. Thanks again Sam.

Oat Spice Granola

If you like making beer, you may get a kick out of brewing up some granola. All you need is a bunch of Rolled Oats, seeds, and nuts. Here is my usual recipe, though there is always opportunity for improv.

4 Cups Oats
1 Cup Crushed and whole pecans(I usually roll em over with the thing you use to roll out your dough)
1 Cup Almonds sliced(I buy em precut)
1/2 cup Walnuts
Some time's I'll use just almonds and pecans, maybe put in another cup of pecans. Lots of PEcans are good.
1/2 cup Raw pumpkin seeds
hand full Sunflower seeds
1/2 cup flax, golden or Brown
3/4 cup coconut grindings(for macaroons??)
1 cup wheat Germ
1 TSP Salt
1/2 TBS Cinnamon
1/2 TSP Nutmeg
Mix all the ingredients in a very large bowl. You will want ample space for mixing in syrup(for lack of a better word)
Feel free to change Honey to Juice or maple ratios.
2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup juice(Orange or Apple when it is in season)
Strong cider works well.
3/4- 1 cup maple syrup(THE REAL STUFF, No Aunt JAmYMa)
1/4 cup oil(sunflower or safflower, you can use veggie oil too)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
You want 1.5- 2 cups of liquid to mix in. If you put more you may have to cook it a little longer for it to dry out.
You want a 1:1 ratio of cups of Rolled oats to the amount of nuts and seeds, hence
x cups rolled oats= y cups pecans, almonds, etc...
Mix it up good and lay it out in a big pan.
The pan I use is 16" X 11"
You want your thickness to be no greater than one inch to get proper toastage.
Preheat oven to 325F.
It takes about 45 minutes, give or take 5 minutes. I will stir every 10 to 15 minutes. after half an hour it tends to toast faster, so give more frequent mixes.
When it starts to smell really good and looks like it isn't sticking together too much it is finished.
Take it out and mix in your favorite dry fruit :
Apricots, cranberries

As it cools it will get crunchy.

Serve with milk or yogurt or anything you wish.
Enjoy,
Ari

Lager

26lbs Muntons Pale (purchased poorly pre-milled):
4lbs German Weyerman Light Munich
1.5lbs Light Wheat

Mashed with 13gal (Full Keg) for an hour
Initial mash water temp near 180
Mash temp 156-158

6 oz Cascade(Boil)
2 oz Cluster (15min)
3 oz Kent Golding (finish)

Mystery Mash Hopped Imperial Porter

Brewed on January 28

30lbs Pale
4lbs Crystal
3lbs Wheat
.5Lbs Carafa
.5lbs German Chocolate Rye
.5lbs British Roast Barley

Mash Hopped with
2oz Warrior
1oz ??
10z ??