Most of the beer I've made has pretty much followed the directions on the can of malt extracts. But after having several problems with Coopers brand of extract (I think it was the yeast that came with the extract. If you want to us Coopers by all means do it, but buy some fresh yeast. [I've tried the fresh yeast and it still got stuck, I'm never buying it again] ) I've decided it would be more fun to go with my own stuff, but this is a recent development so I don't have a huge list yet. I've never had trouble with Munton's or John Bull

Amber Ale

John Bull Amber hopped 3.52 lb.
Munton's plain amber 1 lb.
1 oz. Liberty hops pellets for finishing. .
Danstar Windsor yeast.

Mix malt into 1 gallon of water and boil for 30 minutes. The last 15 minutes add hops. Add to fermenter for 3 gallons. OG 1.042 FG 1.016
It came out pretty good. It was a little sweet for my taste. Next time I think I will add another pound of dry malt and add some boiling hops.

Amber Ale II

John Bull Amber hopped 3.52 lb.
Munton's plain amber 1 lb.
Munton's plain light 1 lb.
1 oz. Galena hops pellets for boiling. .
Danstar Nottingham yeast.

Mix malt into 1 gallon of water and boil for 45 minutes. The last 35 minutes add hops. Add to fermenter for 3 gallons. OG 1.054 FG 1.010
This was damned good. It was a very respectable amber. Next time I think I will add some finishing hops as well like I did in Amber Ale I as well as the boiling hops.

Imitation "Hazed and Infused"

John Bull Light Hopped 3.52lbs
Munton's Plain Extra Light (dry) 1 lb.
Columbus hops pellets 1 oz boiling 14.8%
Liberty hops pellets 1 oz finishing 4.1%
Danstar Windsor yeast
Crystal Malt 1lbs 20L
Steep crystal Malt in 1 1/2 Gallons water until boil. Strain out grain and add Malt. Return to boil and add Columbus for 30 min. Then add Liberty for 10 min. Sparge the hops, fill for 3 gal, let cool and pitch yeast. OG 1.055 FG 1.018
This was my first attempt at using grains and I didn't use a grain bag. Oopps. It won't happen again. I was attempting to recreated "Hazed and Infused" by Rockies Brewing Company because I believed the waitress at Old Chicago that I couldn't buy it anywhere but there. She was only partially correct. It is available in quality liqueur stores everywhere. Try it you will like it. It came out a nice medium brown color with a STRONG hop flavor. I got way to much head with this batch. Chris down at What's Brewing, my local homebrew store, told me it wasn't quite done fermenting. She told that while a Final Gravity of 1.018 was okay with darker malts it was way to high for the light stuff I was using. Oops. Next time I do what she says and wait until it's under 1.010. Tastes great though. I just had to buy a bigger mug (32 oz)to contain the head.

Brewer's Best Robust Porter

Munton's Plain Amber Malt Extract (liquid) 6.6lbs
Crystal Malt 8 oz
Chocolate Malt 4 oz
Black patent Malt 4 oz
Cluster Hops 1 oz
Willamette Hops 1/2 oz
Danstar Windsor yeast
Steep grains in 1 1/2 Gallons water until boil. Strain out with a strainer and add Malt. Return to boil and add Cluster for 55 min. The add Willamette for 5 min. Sparge hops let cool and pitch the yeast.
This was a kit my wife got me for Christmas. Came with everything including grain bag, bottle caps and priming sugar. I should have tried this before starting out on my own with the grains. But it didn't occur to me that a kit would be available. Now I know. I for some reason didn't take Specific Gravity readings. The kit literature promised OG 1.050-1.055 FG 1.012-1.015. I'll take their word for it, like I have a choice.

Light Body Beer

Munton's extra light 3.3lbs liquid
Munton's hopped light 1lbs dry
Perle hops 2 oz 7.6%
Liberty 1 oz 4.1%
Darnstar windsor
crystal malt 1lbs 20L
Steep grains in 10 pts of water to boiling, strain, add malt and Perle for 35 minutes. Add Liberty for 10 minutes and sparge. Fill for 3 gallons and pitch yeast at appropriate temp. Fermentation required 2 weeks. OG 1.055 FG 1.014
I was trying my hazed and infused recipe again, but the brew store was low on supplies (more came in the following Monday but I didn't have time to come back). The Munton's extra light and Perle hops were the rusult of this. I didn't notice that the Munton's extra light wasn't hopped so I didn't add anymore. The Perle was half the acidity of the Columbus so I used two ounces to compensate. Over all not a bad beer. Bitterness and body was about normal for a store bought beer, but the flavor was very good.

Light Bodied II

3.52 lbs. John Bull Light
1 lbs. Munton's light dry
2 oz. Centinal 10.0%
1 oz. Liberty 4.1%
1 lbs Crystal malt 10L
1 pk Nottingham Darnstar
Steep grains in 10 pts of water to boiling, strain, and add malt with Centinal Hops and boil for 50 min. Add Liberty for 10 min. sparge and fill fermentor to 3 gal. pitch yeast.
OG 1.045 FG 1.008

It was supposed to be Amber

3.52 lbs John Bull Amber
3.52 lbs Coopers Premium Amber
1 lbs Munton's hopped light
1 oz Columbus 16.1%
1 oz Fuggle (leaf0 4.2%
1 pk Danstar Notttingham
Add malt to 10 pts of water and bring to a boil, add Columbus hops, and boil for 35 min. Add Fuggle and boil 10 min. Strain and fill fermentor for 5 gal.
The Fuggle leaf actually made straining easier. Less gunk and the leaf acted as a filter too. It is sweet, the malt wasn't hopped and I didn't use enough additional hops. I was aiming for an Amber but ended up with something a lot darker. I think I will continue my bias and blame Coopers for this as well. I just got no luck with this brand. Okay it's just different, thats all. Not a bad flavor, just not what I was looking at making.
OG 1.045 FG 1.010

A Simple Amber 15Jan06

7.04 lbs (2 cans) John Bull Amber Hopped
1 1/2oz Target 10.6%
1 pk Danstar windsor
A nice simple recipe, no fuss no muss. Boil 5 quarts of water with 7.04lbs of Malt extract and 1 1/2oz Target for 45 min. Cool and pitch yeast. I've been using the cold, filtered water from my fridge to cool the wort faster. Less waiting until pitch time. It took two weeks to ferment and settle out, but my basement is a little cool this time of year. Nice color on this one. The first bottle I tried was a little rough. It might need some aging.
OG 1.052 FG 1.017

Honey ale 15Mar06

3.52 lbs John Bull Light Hopped
2 lbs Honey
1 pkg Nottingham yeast
This was a small batch. Only 3 1/2 gallons total. I boiled 1/2 the water then added malt and honey together. Topped with water from the fridge for 3 1/2 gallons.
OG 1.052 FG 1.010

Summit Amber 01Apr07

3 lbs Muntons Amber dry unhopped
1 lb Muntons light Dry unhopped.
2 oz Summit hops leaf 18.1% (yes that number is correct)
1 pkg Danstar Windsor
This was incredible. The summit hops is fantastic! If your local beer store doesn't have it make them get it! Boiled 2 gal. water with 1 1/2 oz of hops for 50 min and then added the last 1/2 oz of hops for 10 min. I then added 2 gals cold water. pitched yeast and let sit for 3 weeks. I moved across country recently (the reason I haven't been posting) and my fermentation times have increased. I can't explain it, maybe temperature or humidity differences. I've started using a secondary fermenter just to get the wort off the yeast as the local beer store guy recommended. I use a glass carboy for this.
OG 1.045 FG 1.010

Summit II 7Jul07

6 lbs Muntons Amber dry
1 lbs American crystal malt 40L
2 oz summit leaf 18.1%
Steep grains until boil and filter out. Add malt and 2/3 hops and boil 50 min. Add remaining hops for an addition 10 min. Cool and pitch yeast. Made 5 gals. It was so good I had to try it again. Even better than the first.
OG 1.042 FG 1.010

Kitted wheat 14Jul07

My neighbor was interested and we made a wheat from a kit, nothing special. Stout 10Nov07

6.6 lbs John Bull Liquid Malt unhopped
1 lbs British Crystal malt 80L
1/2 lb Black Patent Malt 500L
1/2 lb Roasted Barley 500L
2 oz Northern Brewer leaf 6.2%
1 pk Nottingham yeast
Steep grains until boil and sift out. Add malt and 2/3 hops, boil 50 min, add remaining hops,5 min. Cool and pitch yeast.
This one sat in the secondary fermenter almost a month. As a result it took longer to carbonate. excellent flavor! OG 1.050 FG 1.016

Dry Hopped Dark 14apr08

Muntons 6lbs Plain Amber
1 pk Danstar Nottingham
2 oz Roasted Barely
2 oz Black Patent
2 oz Summit Leaf 16.5%
I added 1 0z hops to the boil. Later added 1/3 oz for last 15 min. And tossed 2/3 oz into the fermenter. What a pain in the ass. I can not recommend dry hopping for a 5 gallon batch. It plugged my air lock blowing it off the fermenter. It plugged my siphon hose when I transferred to the bottling bucket. I lost quite a bit of beer because of the deposits on the bottom of the fermenter. I won't be trying this again until I go larger scale. Over all not a bad flavor. Barely and Black patent added on a whim, I had it lying around.
OG 1.050 FG 1.014

Amber 14Aug08

6 lbs Munton's Amber
1 lbs Munton's light
1 lbs Crystal Malt 80L
1 oz Hallertau Leaf 8.6%
1 pk safale 2-04
The hops and yeast were new. The hops shortage is a pain. They didn't have my normal yeast and this was recommended. It did ok, but seemed to take a little longer.
OF 1.050 FG 1.014

Stout 30 Aug 08

6 lbs Munton's Dark
1 lbs Munton's light
1 lbs Crystal 80L
1/3 lbs Black Patent
1/3 Roasted Barley
2 oz Pearle 8.8%
1 oz 4.6% Vanguard
Safale us-05
Nothing new here but the yeast and hops. I definitely prefer Nottingham yeast for stouts but again they were out.
OG 1.055 FG 1.016

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