Its starting to become an exciting time in the BrannBrew Kitchen, my last two proper brews (not counting the Proper Job Extract Kit) were a great success, both of which were original recipes.

My next brew will  be Red Baron - a Red IPA - hopped like a west coast American IPA but with a malty backbone that should balance the hoppyness well.  I was going use Brewdogs DIY Dog and their Punk IPA recipe but there is something quite satisfying when your own recipe comes out well, chuffed to bits!

Red Baron will also christen my latest brew purchase of a Ace Boiler. Ive been looking into this for awhile as an alternative to brewing on the stove (as the boiler is all self contained with a 2500w concealed heating element!)

I really think this will aid my brew days by speeding things up when heating the water and transferring the wort, which currently are the most clunky parts of my brewday.

The Ace Boiler is a great starting point to improvements, as over time I will make this into an all in one brewing system, essentially my own Grainfather.

For now though I'll still be sticking with using my grain bag (BIAB) in the Ace, but there is so much scope to enhance the boiler it will be a good project to work on over time.....adding bits to it slowly.

I'll post the Red Baron recipe up after brewday next week and will give my impressions of the Ace too.

Until Next Time.......Happy Brewing

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This weekend I tapped my keg, full of a new brew for me. A Saison (Saison of Love).

I have tried a few Saisons from a bottle in the past, but it is usually a style I wouldn't pick if given the choice.

However I thought I try to brew my own, based off what I read in a recent BYO Magazine article and also the idea of not worrying too much on fermentation control, as at the time, around brew day, we were having some very hot days & evenings.

I'm very pleased now this has come out, I'm still fine tuning my keg setup but the outcome was very successful. The recipe was modeled off the Firestone Walker Opal and was additionally dry hopped.

 I gave wifey a taste tester and she then asked for a full glass of it, after which I went to cook tea (a 5 of your 5 a day Thai green curry - was yummy too!) during cooking all I kept hearing squeaks over Gilmore Girls of how nice the beer was.

That was enough approval of the beer I needed, even though wifey has small tastes of my brewed beer she has never had a full glass (or even two) before. So certainly has proven to be a drink for non beer drinkers.

My detailed report: A yellow color with 2 & 1/2 fingers of white head that leaves some good lacing. The spicy funky yeast of the saison was the prominent smell, with some malty wheat notes. The taste matches the smell, with light citrus coming through at the end but doesn't overwhelm. Compared the bottles I've had in the past I my brew certainly compares to the commercial equivalent I purchased from Tesco.

It was stronger than the other recent brews I've done but actually tasted the lightest, I had 3 glasses before I knew it.. Would I do this again.....Yes......Yes......Yes! (4/5)

It is difficult to compare it to if its better than my G.E.B pale ale because of the different styles, however they are both my best brews to date - given how clunky my all grain brew days I'm pleasantly surprised.

It would be interesting to see how it ages in the keg, as I'll probably wont have any this weekend due to the Victorious Festival. So it could be a few weeks until I get another real taste of it.
The last beer I had in the keg didn't last the one night (I did take it to a party people!!).

Until Next Time.....Happy Brewing

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A year has now past and have just celebrated my 1st Brewversary, over the last year I have developed my skills from a complete beginner, however I am still learning the ropes of all-grain after just brewing my first proper for a Fathers Day Brew (G.E.B Pale Ale). 

Although that did turn out the most successful to date the brew day itself didn't quite go according to plan.

Reflecting and looking back on the past brews there will certainty be brews I would do again, like pro breweries having a regular 'core' range of beers along with seasonal specials.

 I think I will do the same, using this repetitiveness to improve on a recipe and hone the brew days.

As the next year goes on I'm sure there would be beers to replicate from my BYO subscription or ideas to adapt - brews that you may not be entirely sure on or test batches like a SMaSH beer to discover if you like the flavour profile of certain hops, but may not brew again.

So what have I got in store for the next year? 

Well I've recently brewed and now drinking a Proper Job Clone I got for my birthday.

This week be brewing a dry hopped Saison (The Saison of Love) - perfect beer to brew during summer.

I will also be developing/improving existing recipes:

Golden Flower - English Ale (brewed a partial mash in May, which I'm in the process of converting & improving into an All Grain version)
Fimbulwinter - Black IPA (brewed a partial mash back in February, another brew that I will tweek slightly and improve)

There will be atleast two new brews I'll try my hand at:
Brann's Own - American IPA based off Brewdog's Original Punk IPA Recipe 2007-2010
The Dark Pint Ryeses - Red Rye IPA

For my Fathers day brew (G.E.B Pale Ale) I designed a professional style label.

Now these will include my 'mascot' Kuàilè (happy) the Panda. It was an illustrated drawing my wife did for me on a birthday card, it will make the labels classic clean look a bit more fun.

Who cannot love the cuteness of a Panda!?

Until Next time.......Happy Brewing

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So my latest brew, a Fathers Day brew- American Pale Ale using Galaxy, El Dorado and Bravo hops (that share the same initials as my Dad) turned out to be a great success, my best brew so far.

At the time on brew day I got myself all in a state as I had already wrote my own step instructions but 1/2 way through the mash some part of me decided to follow Brewers Friend session.

After a few other little hiccups/problems faced I thought it wouldn't come out anything like I had planned and researched.

I bottled 18 bottles (as I specifically made it a small batch) I had 12 bottles for my Dad and 4 for myself, come Fathers day on Sunday, there was only my Dads left, how it turned out was incredible, deep layers tropical flavours. This would go into the core range of my home brewery, definitely going to brew this again and part of me wants to as soon as, just to correct my wrongs on in the first place.  

I was luckly enough to get a Proper Job Clone recipe kit for my recent birthday, which went like clockwork. I've being toying with the idea of purchasing a Braumeister but after settling myself back down with this Clone recipe kit I don't think I really need or can justify it. This is still brewing, so I cant comment on how close it tastes to the real thing however going by reviews prior to adding it to my birthday list it should turn out very close.

What makes me really happy and relieved at same time that my Dad liked it so much. So much  so after trying a bottle earlier in the day Dad was singing its praises all day long (it wasn't even that strong!). If only he really knew how much sweat & tears went into producing it. If I remember right my wife came home to a very emotional husband that day.

I ultimately put too much pressure on myself to get it right. Thanks to my brew journal I wont be making the same mistakes again. 

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Its being a while since my last blog post, so I thought Id write on a hot topic with homebrewers that is a long disputed and much asked question...to keg or bottle? 

Some like to bottle so they can keep track on how much they have drunk and like to just chuck a bottle or two in the fridge. Its cost effective to bottle, the equipment you need is very minimal. You will only need a capper, caps and of course the bottles which many I expect you could have from empties collected. 

When I first majorly bottled I 'minesweeper-ed' a lot of empties from a friends BBQ party. However there always is a constant rinse and clean cycle, which when it comes to sanitising and filling come bottle day some find it quite tedious which you also may run out of space in the kitchen surrounded by bottles. Bottling however is a great way to share the fruits of your labor. 

Kegging is very convenient, after a long day you get home and fancy a beer but only 1/2 having a keg is very handy for this. It also reduces alot of time come bottling day and cleaning. For carbonation and clarity kegging is the way to go. 

There are many entry levels to kegging you can get a 5l mini keg or Tap a Draft (TAD) that are seemed as a good stepping stone into the world of kegged beer.  

I have used a TAD when I first started out, I really liked using it, however after 4 kits (one which was a stove top extract kit) I quickly went into 12l BIAB batches as I didn't see the need of using these as I could easily just bottle 18 or so bottles and let them naturally carbonate over a few weeks. So I have lined this up to give to a friend who has very recently started home brewing, catching the bug very quickly however he has had problems with a leaky pressure barrel.

For me I would dearly love to do a DIY Kegerator however I know the powers that be (aka Mrs B) will not have that until I have a man shed or such area she can lock me away in.  So if I can push it to just a 9L corny keg (tucked away in a corner) with a regulated Co2 charger and chrome tap will cost in the region of £130. That's not including a cool jacket or Co2 capsules. 

You never know I might try my luck placing it on my upcoming birthday list. 




There is so many pros and cons for the two so I'll leave it here....How do you do yours? do you bottle, keg or a mix of the two? What do you prefer?

Are there any Home Brew Suppliers/companies willing for me to test/review keg products? 

Until next time......Happy Brewing

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BrewDog have now released all 215 of their recipes online for free in one handy PDF. 

Titled DIY Dog, the free download includes a manual on equipment and ingredients needed for each beer - and suggests food pairings for each one.  

BrewDog have made all of their 215 recipes available for download on their website, via www.brewdog.com/diydog. 

With each recipe being scaled down to home-brew volumes of five gallons or 20 litres.

This is amazing news, as a fan of their Punk IPA Im really excited to give that one a go first off and trying to recreate some more of their beers now I have an actual recipe from the brewery themselves. Will this inspire other breweries to follow suite? I probably don't think so (I hold my breath) as BrewDog do like straying away from the norm. 

Regardless the PDF is immense! Especially as they could charge for a full book format, considering the only other official recipe came with the pre-packed beer kits that are on the higher priced side. 

I'll save this document just encase this is a timed free exclusive, the works printer best not run out of ink come Tuesday when Im back in.

Time to get punked! 

Until Next Time........Happy Brewing

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If you are like me and have been struggling on what to do with all the spent grains after brew day?  

It seemed to me wasteful to just throw them away, I don't have a dog and although my parents have a small allotment and compost bin, if I wasn't going to see them for a few weeks I didn't really want them laying around until that point. After some searching I found a recipe on Beer Drink Run. I believe they got the recipe from somewhere else originally.

You will be able to substitute some items if you don't have them in the cupboards and some are also optional. 

Ingredients:        

2 cups spent grains- dried
2 cups rolled oats (quick cooking or old fashioned)
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 to 1 cup chopped dried fruit (optional)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup barley malt syrup — can be substituted with Maple Syrup or in my instance Black Treacle as I didn't have enough Maple Syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

You can also add some milk chocolate chips (I had these on the side, staring me out and I forgot to actually add them in the end).

Directions:

1. Spread the grains on a cookie sheet and dry in the oven at 80°C (175° F) for 2.5 hours shifting the grains around every 30 minutes.
   
2. Increase the temperature to 160°C (325° F) for the final 30 minutes with the oats and chopped nuts to roast everything together.
3. During the final 30  minutes of roasting, start to mix the “wet” ingredients. Take a small saucepan and slowly heat the syrup, honey, butter, peanut butter and salt. 
4. Bring that to a boil and them simmer for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Once the syrup mixture was done simmering, mix it with the dry ingredients completely combining them.
5. Combine all the dry ingredients and set them aside in a large mixing bowl.
6. Spread the mixture out in a wax-paper lined 13 x 9 baking pan. Allow this to cool several hours at room temperature, cut the bars, and wrap them in a wax paper square.

Mixture left to cool. Hardens pretty quickly only took 40 mins or so, then a sharp knife was required. 

The verdict: They were very good, very moorish.  I could taste the malts especially since I brewed with Chocolate & Medium Crystal (60L) malts. I had a background flavour of the syrup with the honey coming through. A bitter sweet snack. 
They would be nice for a mid-day snack, I can imagine it going well with a coffee or an even an evening snack with a beer. 

A cheeky test corner.  

If you feel like you want to give it a try, the only other thing to remember is to properly store the grains you want to use before you start. So if you froze them for a few weeks and make sure you put them in the fridge for a day to thaw them before to keep them fresh.

Until next time.........Happy Brewing

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