I'm going to be a little crazy for this batch and brew a chile beer. My uncle had made one a few years ago, and from what I remember, it was a good beer with a bite. I'm not sure what he used for his, so I looked around for recipes. I found a few, and they all had different variations on ingredients. Some were all-grain, and some were extract, and all used different chiles, so I decided to try my own concoction. I chose Serrano chiles because I was originally planning on putting a chile into each bottle. Their size would make it easy to slip into the bottle, but I decided that it could prove too difficult to get them out when it comes time to clean them. I don't think I'll be kegging this beer because it may be one that I drink only on certain occasions, and tying up the only tap with a beer that I don't drink very often wouldn't be prudent.

So, here is what I used:

8 lbs.	Light LME
1/2 lb.	Crystal
20	Serrano Chiles
2 oz.	Centennial Hops
1 oz.	Cascade Hops
1 packet	Safale S-04

I got started later than I wanted, and rather than staying up until early morning, I decided to go with my old method of steeping the grain until boiling instead getting it to 150º and steeping for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I halved the chiles to get ready to put them in the boil. I left the seeds, figuring that I'll be able to strain them out when I pour into the carboy. Once it reached a boil, I removed the grain bag, added the LME, chiles, and 1 oz. of the Centennial hops, and brought to a boil again. I boiled for 30 minutes and added another ounce of Centennial. Then after boiling for another 15 minutes, I added the Cascade for the last 15 minutes of the boil.

I cooled as usual, and poured into the carboy while straining out the chiles and seeds. I decided to try one of the peppers when I had gotten them all out, which was almost a mistake. They are hot! During the boil, the aroma from the chiles was very interesting. I could feel my eyes wanting to tear, but not enough to actually do so, at least not until I actually ate one.

The SG came in at 1.060, and I'll keep it in the primary for a week before transferring to the secondary. As usual, I'll update at each step, so stay tuned.

Update 8.12.08: I bottled tonight and the FG came in at 1.012 for an ABV of 6.3%. I actually racked into the secondary a few days after the fermentation started because of a blow-out. I didn't check the gravity at the time since I was more interested in getting everything cleaned up. The funny thing about the blow-out was that it just seemed to want the airlock off, since it pushed it out onto the floor, then backed down. There was only a few inches of foam down the outside of the carboy, and nothing else. Back to the subject; while botteling, I tried a small sample. It has a chili flavor with just a hint of heat. I'll write a review in the forums in a few weeks, after it's had a chance to carbonate.

I'm trying another IPA this time. The Amarillo IPA is very tasty, so another IPA seems like a good choice. This recipe has several types of hops, some that I've had in the freezer from a couple of prior batches, and some I bought for this recipe. I don't have a scale that measures less than an ounce, so I may be off a little on the measurements, but I hope I'm fairly close. Also, I'm not sure how long hops last in the freezer, so the IBUs may be lower than what each one is supposed to be.

So here are the ingredients I used:

8 lbs.	Light LME
1 lb.	Crystal 20
1/2 lb.	Munich Malt
1 oz.	Phoenix Hops
1 oz.	Cluster Hops
1 1/2 oz.	Cascade Hops*
1 oz.	Tettnanger Hops
1/2 oz.	Perle Hops*
1/2 oz.	Spaltz Hops*
1 packet	Safale US-05

The hops with the asterisk (*) are what I had in the freezer, with the exception of the Cascade, which 1/2 oz. of the total 1 1/2 oz. was from a previous batch. Instead of my usual steeping until boiling technique I've been doing in the past, I tried steeping the grains at 150ºF. I found that just turning the flame down all the way brought the temperature up to 160ºF, so I shut the flame off for about 20 minutes, for a total steep time of 30 minutes.The temperature came down to about 154ºF. I then removed the grain bags, added the LME, brought to a boil, and added 1 oz. of Phoenix, 1 oz. of Cascade, and 1 oz. of Cluster hops for 45 minutes. I then added 1/2 oz of Tettnanger, 1/2 oz. Cascade, and 1/2 oz. of Perle hops, and boiled for another 10 minutes. For the final five minutes of the boil, I added 1/2 oz. of Tettnanger, 1/2 oz. of Cluster, and 1/2 oz. of Spaltz hops.

As usual, I cooled the wort in an ice bath and poured it into the carboy. I now have a much better thermometer, so I was confident that I could pitch the yeast right away after topping it up to five gallons. The room in the basement where I normally set it to ferment was over 70ºF, so I brought it into the storage room, where the temperature is in the mid 60's. I'll ferment for a week, and rack to the secondary for three weeks. The SG was 1.060, and I'll post an update both when I rack to the secondary, and when I rack to the keg.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Update - 7.16.08: I racked into the secondary this evening. Gravity is currently 1.012.

Update - 8.4.08: I kegged this batch this evening, and the FG came in at 1.010. ABV calculates to 6.56%

I decided to brew an IPA this time, and I found an Amarillo IPA that sounded good. I followed the recipe except for the addition of 1 oz. of hops.  I did so because two people posted that the hoppyness was good for them, but could possibly use a little more, so I increased it slightly.

So, here is what I used:

7 lbs.	Muntons Light LME
1/2 lb.	Crystal 40
5 oz.	Amarillo hops
1 packet	Safale US-05

I used the grain bag method I normally do - steep until boiling. I then added the LME, brought to a boil, added 1 1/2 oz. of the Amarillo, and boiled for 45 minutes. I added another ounce, boiled for 10 minutes, and then added another 1 1/2 ounces for the last five minutes of boil time. The final ounce went in at flame out. The last two hop additions were 1/2 oz. higher than the original recipe called for, so I hope that it turns out like I want, but I'll just have to wait and see.

After adding the final hops at flame out, I let it steep for about 10 minutes while I finished sanitizing the carboy and airlock. I then placed the pot into an ice bath to cool the wort to 70°F. Once cooled, I poured the wort into the carboy, topped it up to five gallons, sprinkled the yeast directly into it, and brought it downstairs to ferment. I'm planning on using the secondary for this, and will rack it in a week. The OG came in at 1.052, lower than the 1.067 that the original recipe states. I wonder if my grain bag method is the culprit for that. Maybe I'll try another batch using a different method to see if I can get the OG higher.

I also bought a keg setup, so this will be my first time kegging my brew. No more bottle cleaning. I had just about every bottle I own filled, and washing those bottles after drinking the beer is getting to be a pain. I currently have three batches in bottles, and I just finished the Dawg Slobber Ale, which was also in bottles. I only have enough bottles for four batches, but I'll have enough kegs for six, so I will be brewing more over the next few months.

I'll update next week when I rack to the secondary.

Update (6/10/08): I racked to the secondary and checked the gravity. It was 1.014. I'll leave it in the secondary for three weeks before kegging, so I'll post the FG then.

Update (6.29.08): I racked to the keg tonight. The FG came in at 1.011 for an ABV of 5.38. This is my first batch to go into a keg, and it was much easier than bottling. I'm excited not to have to wash a bunch of bottles, and I'm looking forward to utilizing the six kegs I now own. Four are pin-lock, and two are ball-lock, so I'm going to have to work on my setup to accomidate for the two types, but my hobby is going to be much more enjoyable now.

I found a site that has a great idea, and I'll participate in it this month. It's called "The Session", where "Beer bloggers 'gather' to drink beer based on a single theme." This months theme is "How did it all start for you?". Boak and Bailey's UK Beer Blog are the hosts for this month, and they ask "At what point did you realise you were a beer lover/geek/enthusiast? What beer(s) triggered the conversion? Did someone help you along your way, or did you come to it yourself? In short; how did you get into good beer?"

Well, I don't think that there was an epiphany beer that got me started, but rather a series of them. I would buy a six or twelve pack of beer from the local liquor store, and I would look for something different other than the staple Budwieser, Coors or Miller beers that everybody else in line at the checkout counter had. I bought German beers, Irish beers, Canadian beers, Craft Brewery beers, or anything else that looked interesting. Some I didn't like, some I loved. But there was still this feeling that I was missing something.

My uncle has been brewing his own beer for years, and I've tried many of them. Again, there were some that I didn't care for too much, while others I wished I could have more of, but I never thought about brewing my own. That was until I was contacted by one of my high school classmates. She was trying to organize our 20 year class reunion and asked me to help. One of the people who became part of the planning committee brewed his own beer, and I started asking questions. A few months after the reunion, I visited my uncle and asked him if he could show me how to brew. He took me to the local homebrew shop, bought the ingredients needed to brew a couple of batches, and showed me the basics. He then sent me home with the ingredients for the other batch. I bought some equipment that I needed to brew, followed the procedures that he showed me, and came up with a nice beer that I brewed myself. I was hooked, homebrewing became my hobby.

I started with ingredient kits, and then started experimenting with recipes that I found online. And, I've found that I like a wider range of beer styles than I even knew existed. I joined the South Shore Brew Club last year to learn more about brewing, and started this blog. I bought more equipment. And now, I'm planning on converting my basement into a brew pub. That will take a while, but as I learned from brewing beer, good things take time. Homebrewing is my hobby, and the fun is in the process. The reward is the finished product that I get to enjoy as long as it lasts, which for some, isn't long enough. The great thing about brewing is that I can make the beer I enjoy so much again, and again, and again.

My wife has been hounding me to make some blueberry beer, so I'm relenting to her for this batch. I told her to look up some recipes, print them out, and I'll pick one. She found a few at brewery.org. I've seen the site before, but never really explored it. It looks like there is a lot of good information on there. The recipe I settled on was an easy one, simply titled "Blueberry Ale".

Since the Witches Brew, the homebrew shop I get my ingredients from, didn't have Northern Brewer hops, I used Phoenix hops instead. I also increased the blueberries to 2.8 lbs, up from 2 lbs. The author of the recipe said that there wasn't much blueberry flavor, and the brand of blueberries that the local grocery store carries weighed in at 15 oz each, so I chose to use three bags. The yeast I used is the Muntons brewers yeast that I've used in the past. I actually bought a package of Safale US-04 yeast to use, but decided that the Muntons was too close to the expiration date. I'll use the Safale yeast in another batch in the near future.

So, the ingredients I used are:

7 lbs.	Amber LME
1 1/2 lbs.	Crystal malt
2 oz.	Phoenix hops
1 oz.	Fuggles hops
2.8 lbs.	Fresh Frozen Blueberries
1 packet	Muntons Brewing Yeast

The procedure the author of the recipe used is similar to what I've been doing, he said to steep the crystal malt while bringing to a boil. I've been using that method with most of the batches I've done, and this one will be no different. However, I have heard that doing so brings out some unwanted flavors. I may have to try a different method, but for now, I'll follow along with the recipe. After bringing to a boil with the grains floating in a grain bag, I removed them, added the LME and Phoenix hops, boiled for 60 minutes, and then shut the burner off and added the Fuggles hops. I let it steep with the Fuggles for 15 minutes before placing the kettle in an ice bath. Here is where I deviate from the recipe: it says "Sparge into ice, mix. Rack to 7-gallon carboy." I'm not sure what he meant by sparge into ice, but I cooled the wort in an ice bath like usual. Racking into the carboy isn't something I've done in the past, and maybe I should have, just to reduce the amount of sediment from the hop pellets. I simply poured into the carboy as I usually do. Of course, I don't have a 7 gallon carboy, but rather a 6 1/2 gallon, which is close enough.

The recipe said to add the blueberries at the peak of fermentation, which I will do. But it didn't say whether they thawed them before adding. I'm going to assume that they were and thaw mine. In fact, I think I'll leave the berries sit next to the carboy in the package so that when I do add them, they don't alter the temperature too much. The SG was 1.065, and I'll recheck after adding the blueberries.

The recipe also said to rack to a secondary carboy after a week. I think that will be a good idea since I have quite a bit of sediment from the hops, and will have even more with the blueberries. I'll update the gravity readings at each step.

In the meantime, happy brewing!

Update (4.29.08 5:41pm): I added the blueberries this evening because the krausen appeared to have been much higher sometime between last night and now. After adding the blueberries, I checked the gravity. The hydrometer was impossible to read because the wort (beer?) seemed to be carbonated, and produced a head. The best I could guess is about 1.060 or so. I should have done a before and after reading, but being that was hard to read, I doubt that I could have been too accurate. I'll update again when I rack to the secondary.

Update (5.5.08 9:11 pm): I racked into the secondary this evening, and the gravity was 1.016. Seems that the yeast is doing it's job, I'll update again when I bottle.

Update (5.15.08 9:18 pm): I bottled this batch tonight after leaving it the secondary for 10 days. The FG came in at 1.012, for a calculated ABV of 6.96%