Tweaked Brown Ales

[masta]

I picked up two WE Baron's Premium Brown Ale kits that George had on sale recently and decided I needed to tweaked them a bit.

Just a reminder that modifying your kits could void the warranty.


I wanted to try two different yeasts and also increase the starting SG so I boiled 3 lbs of light DME for 1 hour total and added Irish Mossat 45 mins. The kits come with a small packet of Fuggelpellet hops that you are instructed to add to the primary. I added these to my wort after I shut the heat off and started to cool. Then divided the cooled wort/hops to the two batches before topping up with water to 23L and stirring well to aerate properly.

I picked up some Wyeast liquid yeast in the new 175 ml activator packs. These are nice since it contains plenty of yeast so you don't have to make a starter like the old 50 ml packs.


I bought two different yeasts to compare the difference in the final product. One batch got American Ale #1056 and the other got American Ale II #1272.

Edited by: masta

 

[sangwitch]

That looks awesome Masta! Like beer-flavored ice cream.

 

[masta]

Just checked and fermentation has taken off nicely and they smell great! Now I need to find some time to brew up the 3 remaining batches I have planned Red Ale, Maple Robust Porter, and Honey Pale Ale.

 

[Wade E]

Root beer float!

 

[Waldo]

Beer making is a lot more equipment intensive isn't it Masta?

 

[masta]

Using these WE kits isn't at all (except for a dedicated primary for beer) but brewing from extract or all grain requires more equipment.

 

[masta]

Transfered the two Brown Ales to glass tonight and the there was a big difference on the way the less looked in the primary. Left side is the American Ale #1056 and the right side is American Ale II#1272.

I didn't take a SG since I didn't feel like cleaning my thief again (worked on beer and wine batches together). It will be interesting to see the differences in the end.

 

[Wade E]

I didnt know you had to put beer in secondaries to. Do you have to age it much?

 

[masta]

Normally at least two weeks in the secondary for it to complete fermentation and clear before priming and bottling.

 

[Wade E]

Cool, another thing I have to try this year. I want to try making the Magic Hat kit as I really like that beer.

 

[masta]

Cool....your neighbors Maltose Express put together some great kits and I have both their books.

 

[Wade E]

Is that their kit?

 

[masta]

Maltose does a Magic Hat #9 clone...

 

[Wade E]

I did not know that the clone brews that they sell were their own. Cool!

 

[masta]

Bottled the two Brown Ales this past weekend and tasted both but without carbonation and being room temp couldn't really get a good feel for the difference if any due to the yeast used. I have a bunch of these plastic tubs and store empty beer bottles in them or full bottles until they are carbonated and go they get transferred into the cellar.


Three kits on the left waiting to be made (with their own special tweaking)and I hope to get one done this weekend if the weather cooperates.

I use 1" round labels to identify them and since it is on the cap there is no label to clean off the bottle.

Edited by: masta

 

[grapeman]

You have a few great ideas there Masta. I really like the round label ideas for the caps! Do you have a template for the labels? What size are they? The BB Red Ale on the left reminds me I have to start that one soon.

 

[NorthernWinos]

The little round labels are a nice idea, especially for the bottles we give away...

Up to now....We just used a magic marker on the cap...BA for Brown Ale, CP for Czech Pilsner, M for Mexican Cerveza, IS for Irish Stout and C for Cider....

It's time we made some more kits...we just made those inexpensive easy kits to try....now we like wine more, but the beer is always a hit in the summer.

 

[masta]

These are the labels I bought and I cut a full sheet in half when I print a batch so they are not wasted since there are 108 per sheet.
http://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/wl-ol5275.htmhttp://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/wl-ol1025.htm


I used MS Word to print thelabels and set up the format in the label options but couldn't fiqure out how to send the format so I used the print screen option to take a picture:

Edited by: masta

 

[AAASTINKIE]

masta, your link is to 1" labels that have 63 per sheet, the 3/4" labels are 108 per sheet, is the 3/4" labels the ones you use?

 

[grapeman]

I get the idea. I'll have to get some labels now. Thaks