MGD Lemonade

This is just too funny.  At least I know what NOT to try...  Here is a short quote from Joe Sixpacks blog,

"...You might say MGD Lemonade 64 is nothing more than an alcohol delivery device, but it doesn't do even that very well.
A 150-pound woman could commence drinking one bottle of MGD 64 Lemonade every 15 minutes, and after an hour and a half (a full sixpack!) she still couldn't get herself pulled over for DUI. She would, however, have consumed 384 calories - about the same as a McDonald's Sausage McMuffin...."



Read the whole thing for the rest of the story here.  www.joesixpack.net/columnArchives/2011/062411.htm

Born on the 4th of July!

Brewed a kit for the second time in my brewing life.  Boundary Waters American Wheat from Midwest.  I modified it a little, some on purpose, some by accident.  It is currently bubbling away in the basement awaiting the day it can be drunk in honor of the 4th!

As a was explaining the brewing process to a friend who happened by, the boil started unexpectedly and in my rush to get the first hops in I grabbed the wrong bag and dumped them in.....  soooo......  it will be an all new beer!   Put Palisade in for the bittering hops and Sterling for the flavor/aroma hops instead of the other way around.  Meant to look up the hops and see what they are but have yet to get around to that.  My guess is I will drink it when it's done.

On another note. 
The Amber Ale I brewed a few weeks ago finished its primary fermentation and I decided to try something.  I had planned on kegging half and bottling half, 10 gallon batch, and have heard allot on the uselessness of secondary.  Now I have always made very clear beers and think it's due to the secondary fermentation.  But I put half right in the keg and the other half in a carboy to bottle in a couple more weeks.  The kegged half I started drinking last week, it did not clear out very well, so I dubbed it Merriman Mud Ale.  It tastes great and has had good reviews from samplers who happen by, and has cleared a little but not much.  The big test will be a side by side comparison after the bottles are ready.

Cheers!

Brewing with the Tri-County Fermenters

Had the Tri-County Fermenters over on Saturday and we brewed up an Amber Ale while sampling Sam Adams Latitude 48's.

I must say I liked the English styles over the American style IPA's. The Hop flavor and aroma is strong but not the bitter taste I have associated with IPA beer.

http://czartcf.blogspot.com/ is the new web site for the Tri-County Fermenters by the way. Give it a look, better yet, join!

As for the brew day, it went well. The first 10 gallon batch on my new system. Glad I had help as lifting the mash tun of the rack would have hurt me by myself. Thanks to Gary for reminding me to start the timer for the mash then again for the boil, someone was paying attention. Also note to self, again, charge battery for drill BEFORE brew day or you will keep crushing grain by hand.

18# 2 Row, 5# Munich 20L, .5# Roasted Barley, 1# Honey Malt

2oz Cluster 60 min. 1oz Cascade 10 min. 1oz Cascade 0 min.

Tsp Irish Moss 15 min.

Mash 1.15 qt/# at 155' for 60 min. Sparge 170' till 13 gallons in the kettle. 60 minute boil. 2, 5 gallon fermenters with Muntons dry ale yeast.

Crying over spilled BEER!

Came home from vacation and went for a beer. Temperature controller on my keezer locked up and I had four and a half gallons of frozen beer! Cried for a little while and started the thaw, had a few bottles of porter to ease the pain and agony, worked the temp controller a few times.

Two days later the keg was thawed, placed it back in the keezer and kept checking the temp.

Had a batch ready for a friends birthday party that needed to be kegged and force carbonated so I did that but I only had one picnic tap. Took the tap off the keg in the keezer to use on the new batch. Checked the temperature again.

Got up the next morning and went to check the temp again….. apparently the o-ring on the beer post was damaged by the freeze! About 2 gallons of beer in the bottom of the keezer! (more crying)

Anyway, the beer still tastes GOOD! It’s an amber ale by the way. Going to have to invest in a good controller.

Heard the birthday beer was good, I couldn’t go, had the pager, (more crying). It was a toasted blonde with some honey malt. Had a bit of a sweet taste to it but very drinkable.

Cheers!

MAY DAY BEER!

Brewed a 'Toasted Blonde' for a friend of mine on May 1st. It's for his birthday and he is REAL OLD! Happy Birthday Mike!

Brewed it on my new rig I picked up on Friday. Should be done by his party.

Bought the rig thru the Green Bay Rackers brew club. (Thanks Randy) . The previous owner departed in March so thanks and condolences to the family. I will toast to Kelly with the first beer and use his system often and well.

Amber and something like a Porter?

Kegged an Amber Ale today. Maria said it smelled funny... tasted good though. After kegging I noticed some kind of scrunge in my auto-siphon, didn't notice it while sanitizing before use, hope it's not some kind of nasty growth....

Opened a bottle of what was supposed to be a Scotch Ale last week. Made it with a bunch of grain I needed to use up and when I put the recipe into TasteyBrew it seemed to fit a Scotch, too dark and roasty though, closer to a Porter, maybe even a Stout. Have to drink more and get some opinions to see what catagory it fits.


Next up is a kit from Midwest, haven't done a kit since my first beer. It was on sale in their newsletter, they call it 'Boundary Waters Ale'. I got the all grain version, have to see what it looks like when I get it, may modify it. :-)

Cheers!

BLUE RIBBON! 2011 BrewMasters

Won a blue ribbon for a Coffee Vanilla Stout at this years TriCounty Fermenters Brew Masters competition. This was a beer my wife "made me" brew. She normally does not care for beer but tasted this at a brew club meeting and loved it. Asked the girl who made it for the recipe and made that beer. Also entered an Oktoberfest but it did not score well, seems to have fermented too warm. Live and learn, and drink all the mistakes! :-)