Home Brew Mart

Hello again from Home Brew Mart. Everyone has started gearing up to brew those holiday beers so this newsletter will explore some recipes and ingredients that one might use.

First of all lets look at some typical spices. Ginger, orange peel, cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg are a few of the spices that are used in holiday ales. Generally speaking you want to add these spices at the end of the boil and turn off the heat allowing the spices to stew in the hot wort with the lid on for about ten minutes. Then remove the spices or strain them out. It often helps to put the spices in a cheesecloth bag. If the spices are ground don’t worry about removing them. Cinnamon is a pretty safe spice to use as it does not overpower a beer as readily as something like cloves. Generally you can use from 1-4 teaspoons of cinnamon but if used with allspice use less as allspice has cinnamon flavor as well. Allspice is a distinct spice, however, it tastes like clove, cinnamon and nutmeg rolled into one. This one can be used alone at 1-4 teaspoons as well. Nutmeg is pretty potent and I can only recommend it be used in � teaspoon increments. Whole cloves are another strong one and only a few will contribute lots of flavor. Nutmeg, clove, cinnamon can be used together to give that pumpkin pie spice to a beer. I always think that a beer should be subtle on the spices. Start small and increase the spices on subsequent batches. Vanilla is also used either whole or ground. Ginger should only be used if you like the taste of ginger. This sounds obvious but many people have made ginger beer recipes and come to tell me they were disappointed in the taste and then when asked if they like ginger respond not really. Remember you are going to have 5 gallons of the stuff so don’t make a chilli pepper mint vanilla cardamom bog myrtle pale ale unless you really like drinking a whole lot of the stuff. Almost all spices if kept in teaspoon quantities are a pleasing addition to a holiday beer, just keep your sanity when you start to choose the spices.

Here is a side note on pumpkin beers. I have been making a spiced Thanksgiving beer for 4 years and started by using a 10 lb. pumpkin baked in the oven then mashed with my grains. Then I realised that the pumpkin was contributing to problems with my mash run-off and clarity but not adding to the taste of the beer. I was spicing the beer with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove and that was what was giving the beer its flavor, not the pumpkin. If you think about it pumpkin does not have that much flavor by itself, it’s a squash! If you must use it gut it then bake it in the oven at 350 till soft then scoop out the meat and mash it with some 2-row. Don’t just boil it like many recipes tell you to do. It is not hops its squash!

Now for what you have all been waiting for the recipes!

Y2K Barley Wine

14 lbs. Pale malt extract

1 lb. Brown sugar

� 80 L Crystal

� 135-165 L L Crystal

� Special Roast

1 lb. Caramunich

2 oz. Chocolate Malt

2 oz. Chinnok hops Boil 60 minutes

1 oz. Centennial hops Boil 60 minutes

1 oz. Centennial hops last minute

2 oz. Mt. Hood hops last minute

California Ale Yeast

Imperial Stout

12 lbs. Pale Malt extract

� Roasted Barley

� Chocolate Malt

� Black Patent

� Special “B”

1 lb. 135-165 L Crystal Malt

2 oz. Nugget Boil 60 minutes

1 oz. Kent Golding last 10 minutes

1 oz. Kent Golding last minute

Irish Ale Yeast

California “Steem” Beer

8 lbs. Pale Malt Extract

1 lb. 60 L Crystal Malt

� Lb. 40 L Crystal Malt

1 � oz. Northern Brewer Boil 60 Minutes

� oz. Northern Brewer Boil 10 Minutes

1 oz. Northern Brewer Boil last minute

San Francisco Lager Yeast

Pumkinless Pumpkin Brew

4 lbs. Amber Malt Extract

4 lbs. Pale Malt Extract

� lb. 40 L Crystal Malt

� lb. Victory

1 oz. Willamette boil 60 Minutes

1 oz Willamette last 20 minutes

3 teaspoons Cinnamon stew 10 minutes no applied heat with lid on at end of boil

� teaspoon Nutmeg stew 10 minutes no applied heat with lid on at end of boil

6 whole cloves stew 10 minutes no applied heat with lid on at end of boil (strain out)

1 teaspoon allspice stew 10 minutes no applied heat with lid on at end of boil

English Ale Yeast

New Products include the Phils Phaucet adapter which we have had before but recently restocked. This adapts a chrome beer faucet to attach directly to your keg out fitting. The new carbonator cap is back and redesigned. This allows you to snap on your Co2 directly to a soda bottle to carbonate or preserve your beer. The counterphil is back at $49.95. This is a counterpressure bottle filler with a simple one lever operation.

We have not stopped carrying bulk malt it has been moved and we now dispense it through our 4 taps in the Southwest corner of the store by our book shelves. We still carry Alexander’s wheat malt, pale malt , amber malt and dark malt as well as orange blossom honey and local mountain flower honey.

Remember if your currently out of homebrew and you need beer we can supply you with � gallon and 1 gallon jugs, 5 gallon soda kegs and regular 15.5 gallon kegs of our beer BALLAST POINT. Currently on the bar in the back we are tasting Belgian White, Yellowtail Pale Ale, Copper Ale, and nitrogen dispensed Porter. Be on the look out for Navigator Barley Wine.

Ale-mail Ale-mail:

Hello Everyone my name is Yuseff and I am taking over the e-mail. I have been working for Home Brew Mart for six years ans have been brewing at home for seven years. I also brew for our brewery along with Pete.
First off, the Solana Beach store has officially closed down. We have spread ourselves a little thin over the last year and felt the need to consolidate our two stores. With Ballast Point Brewing Co. doing well and the San Diego store thriving we had little time to run a third business. We decided that running two businesses was enough and hope that the change will be for the better. With more time devoted to running the store properly I hope to see Home Brew Mart and Ballast Point continue to be the best in the business.

New Products

Here are the latest recipes:

Celebration IPA
Beat the Heat Wheat
Carol’s Alt Beer
Golden Amber

Celebration IPA
9.5 lbs Pale malt extract
.5 lbs Crystal malt 60 lovibond
.5 lbs Crystal malt 80 lovibond
.5 lbs Carapils/Dextrin
2 oz Galena Boil 1 hour
1 oz Centennial finish last 5 minutes
1 oz Cascade last minute
California Ale Yeast
Dry hop one ounce cascade after primary fermentation

Beat the Heat Wheat
7 lbs Wheat/Malt syrup
.25 lbs Carapils/Dextrin
.25 lbs Crystal malt 10 lovibond
1oz German Tradition boil 45 minutes
1 oz German Tradition last 5 minutes of boil
White Labs American Hefe Wheat Beer Yeast

Carol’s Alt Beer
8 lbs Pale malt syrup
.25 lbs Caramunich
.25 lbs dark Brit. Crystal Malt 135 lovibond
.25 lbs Carapils/Dextrin
1 lb Crystal Malt 60 lovibond
2 oz Chocolate Malt
1 oz Northern Brewer Boil 60 minutes
1 oz Norther Brewer Last Minute of Boil
White Labs German Ale Yeast

Golden Amber
4 lbs Pale Malt syrup
4 lbs Amber Malt Syrup
2 oz Cascade boil 60 minutes
1oz Cascade last minute of boil
California Ale Yeast or Your Choice

We have a couple new products:

Gnome Root Beer flavoring. This 4oz product makes ten gallons of great root beer and comes with full instructions. It works well with keg systems too! Remember that root beer flavor tends to permenantely taint lines or plastic so be careful with cross contaminating your beer stuff with root beer flavor, that is, dedicated root beer equipment. $7.95

Auto-Siphon starts the siphon for you. This product works like a big syringe, you suck up the beer then push down and a one way valve does the rest. $9.50

7.75 and 15.5 gal stainless keg conversions. These are old barrel style kegs that have been modified into kettles complete with 1/2″ ball valves for draining cooked wort. The 7.75 goes for $79.95 and the 15.5 goes for $89.95 with brass ball valves, add $20 for stainless valves. Perfect for outdoor cooking!

Finally a hand corker with the ease of a floor model. The Gilda corker has a aperature that evenly compresses the cork. $25.95

For all the Solana Beach customers and to remind the San Diego regulars our hours are
Monday-Friday 11:00-7:00 Saturday 10:00-5:00 Sunday 12:00-4:00

Call us at 619 295-2337 with any questions!

Thanks see ya next time
Yuseff

HOP TO IT!

This batch of brew judges was in no hurry

DEL MAR
tasters.gif (43301 bytes)

Beer drinkers wanted.

Experience a must.

Joe Richardson and Jim O’Brien were naturals.

Richardson works in a microbrewery. O’Brien owns a brewpub.

They were two of 38 judges at the Del Mar Fair’s Home Brew Contest yesterday. They were paid in beer. Maybe overpaid.

“One ounce of beer every minute for an hour will destroy you,” O’Brien said while in the midst of doing pretty much just that.

Richardson, who lives in La Mesa, and O’Brien, a Pacific Beach resident tasted 44 of the 709 entries. Some, they tasted twice. But they did it in 2 1/2 hours, not one.

The judging might have been faster, but for a lack of spitters.

‘We have the spitters, and we have the swallowers,” said the contest coordinator, Russ St. Jean. “It depends on how many swallowers we have as to how long we’ll be here.”

No one was in a hurry.
wine glasses.GIF (34657 bytes)

Even the contestants were patient. Some brought a few extra bottles of their brew.

Allen Craven, a Leucadia construction worker, entered a potent barley wine beer and one that was raspberry flavored. He belongs to a club that makes home brew in his garage.

“Some guys get together and play golf,” Craven said. ‘We get together Tuesday nights and brew beer.”

Club members buy hops; barley and yeast at San Diego’s Home Brew Mart store.

Craven provides the water, right from the tap, and the stainless steel kegs and other beer-making equipment.

Craven’s friends call him brew master, and he lived up to the name. His barley wine beer placed first in its class.

The four main ingredients in beer– hops, grain, yeast and water–can be mixed and mashed and boiled into an almost endless variety of brews Craven said. And at the end of tile brewing day, he uses the water that cooled the boiling beer to do his laundry.

Richardson and O’Brien still sported clean shirts as they tasted the last of their beers. Neither had spilled any beer. But both admitted to a buzz.

“Not straight now,” O’Brien said. “Straightness is not an issue here.”

But O’Brien and Richardson were in good enough shape after the judging to sip their favorite beers while completing their paperwork.

“I haven’t really drunk that much,” Richardson said. “It’s just a little sip on each one, a little more of the ones you really like.”

He swirled the beer in his glass to raise a head, then sniffed, sipped and swallowed.

“It’s not like you’re getting drunk, but you do have to keep track in your mind which beers are which,” Richardson.

By Clark Brooks

STAFF WRITER

The San Diego Union-Tribune Monday, June 29th, 1998

Ale-mail 6/1/98

Dear Kind Reader,

Thank you for your patience in waiting for this long delayed e-mail. Now without further ado, some recipes.

SUMMER WHEAT

6# dry wheat malt extract

boil 1 hour with 1 oz Tettnanger (4.7%AA)

boil 5 min with 1 oz Tettnanger

Ferment with White Labs Hefeweizen Ale yeast

Prime with 1 cup corn sugar for a vigorous carbonation.

This is a crisp refreshing wheat beer. The dry wheat malt extract has a lighter color and dryer finish than the liquid. Its a little more expensive, but you are trying to get a result like Paulaner of Franziskaner the dry malt will work better.

SCOTCH ALE

11# pale malt extract

2 oz roasted barley

1# Scottish dark crystal

1/2# caramunich malt

1/2# 120L crystal

boil 1 hour with 2 oz Willamette (5.1%)

boil 10 min with 1/2 oz willamette

Ferment with White Labs Edinburgh Ale Yeast

This is a strong warming ale that you will want to let age well before drinking. It has huge maltiness and a typically low hop level. It will not have a “Scotch” flavor like Sam Adams Scotch ale. If you like that sort of thing use 2 oz of Peat smoked malt.

REAL ALE FEST

What a blast! Those of you who missed it, bummer. 24 cask conditioned dry hopped beers, bratwurst and sauerkraut pizza, and Pizza Port atmosphere, forget about it! My personal favorite beers (other than my own) were San Marcos Brewing Company’s ESB, Rock Bottom’s Whiskey Barrel Stout, and Pizza Port’s Ale Nino. I was grateful to recieve a second place People’s Choice award for the Firkin’ Hoppy I.P.A. made with 100% Puterbaugh Farms Willamette Hops (Diana Puterbaugh showed up and was giving away free hops and pickled hop shoots (very tasty!)). I also recieved a second place Brewr’s Choice award for the Cask conditioned version of the Ballast Point Copper Ale.

The complete awards were:

People’s Choice:

1st place Ale Nino-Pizza Port

2nd place Firkin’ Hoppy I.P.A.- Ballast Point

3rd place Old Boneyards Barleywine- Pizza Port

4th place Friar’s I.P.A.- San Diego Brewing Company (We’ll miss your brewing Charles!)

Brewer’s Choice

1st place Ale Nino-Pizza Port

2nd place Copper Ale-Ballast Point

Congratulations to Pizza Port (especially Vince, Tomme, Tom, and Gina) who put on a fabulous event.

Speaking of events….

GOLF TOURNAMENT

The San Diego Brewer’s Guild is putting on it’s first annual golf tounament at Tecolote Golf Course on Sunday June 14th. This event with feature a brewer serving beer at every hole!! Yes I know what you’re thinking. This sounds like a very dangerous event. I will be wearing a helmet.

Registration is at noon, there’s a putting contest at 12:30, and a shotgun start at 1:30PM. There is a $10,000 hole in one prize, a closest to the pin, and a longest drive contest. The winner of the tournament will recieve a one gallon jug from every brewery in San Diego. There will be lots of raffle prizes as well. Cost is $60 per person and tickets can be purchased at Home Brew Mart. Should be a blast!

BALLAST POINT NEWS

Start your 4th of July weekend with the Ballast Point Brewing Company

Bagpipe Band. We will be performing on Friday, July 3rd. I will send another e-mail giving a more detailed schedual before then.

Come see our car at the El Cajon Speedway stock car races! We are sponsoring the cars of Ball racing (we supply the beer for the pit crew).

Yell extra loud for Charlie in car number 68 (modified class). On Saturday he started in 20th position and finished 7th. Good job Charlie! Admission is only 7 bucks and there is lots of action (wrecks, burnouts, spinouts).

The beer selection at the speedway is lame, but head to Grandstand bar after the race for some Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale and Copper Ale.

The crew will be there!

Can you down a yard of Yellowtail? Go to O’Hungy’s in Old Town and find out! This famous spot is now pouring yards of Ballast Point Yellowtail.

No fair breathing!

Other new spots to have a pint of Ballast Point are TGI Friday’s in Mission Valley, the cool new Crow Bar on Kettner, and T’s cafe (now open for dinner) in Solana Beach. About mid June we’ll start pouring Yellowtail at the Fish Market downtown.

That’s about all for this edition!

Don’t get too sober!

Peter A’Hearn

Brewmaster

Ballast Point Brewing Co.

Hello All,

I survived the Strong Ale Festival! The event was a huge success. AleSmith walked away with the people’s choice and the brewer’s choice award for the J.P. Gray’s Wee Heavy–which was served on a beer engine. Over 250 people showed up throughout the evening despite the rainy weather. The kitchen made up a smoked bratwurst, red cabbage, sauerkraut pizza with a mustart suace on a wholegrain beer crust for the night which was awesome.

Lots of raffle prizes were given away and everyone had a good time. Bottom line is that it went well enough to start thinking about the next festival–real ale fest with beer engines in the Spring. Check out the Fest T-shirts as well.

Lots of updates and reviews in here this time. I reviewed the beers from the Strong Ale Fest. I also have started some new sections since I am now talking about a new brewery. In What’s Brewing I will mention new beers being brewed, brewhouse topics, ingredients, etc… I will also be doing an On Tap section that will highlight special beers on tap at the Port.

And since I am making changes, this is a fine time to give me any suggestions you might have on what you like/don’t like or how to make this newsletter better–other than having it come out more often. Next month I start my third year of the AlEmail. Thanks to all who have been here since the beginning and to all who have jumped on along the way.

I wish you all a merry christmas and bery happy and suds filled new year!

Cheers

Tom

CONTENTS:

STRONG ALE RESULTS
WHAT’S BREWING
SO CAL BEER PAGE
BEER DESCRIPTIONS
PUB UPDATES
ON TAP
WEB SITE
RECIPES
MEAD

STRONG ALE RESULTS

We collected over 150 votes from the Fest for our People’s Choice award and here is how it finished:

1st place AleSmith J.P.
Gray’s Wee Heavy

2nd place Stone Brewing Company Turbo Arrogant Bastard Ale

3rd place San Diego Breiwng Company Red Star Stout

Honorable Mention Ballast Point Navigator Barleywine

And then we took votes just from the brewers in attendence for a Brewer’s Coice award. The hands down favorite was:

AleSmith J.P. Gray’s Wee Heavy

The voting wasn’t even close for this one. It was a great beer. Tomme Arthur from Port Solana finished second with his Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout. If you weren’t there to see the trophies, we gave away Hercules action figures mounted on a wood base. Congrats to all the brewers and breweries that won!

I would also like to extend an enormous THANK YOU to eveyone who participated in the event and helped to make it a success and to all who showed up on a rainy night. I owe a huge THANKS to the staff at Port Carlsbad, especially the bartenders who did a great job of making the festival run smoothly. And a special thanks to White Labs Yeast for helping sponsor the event! To those who could not come–plan to be there next year!

WHAT’S BREWING

At Port Solana we are two beers into our trilogy of Belgians. The Grand Cru is now aging in secondary. It is a big, fruity beer with lots of raisin and banana notes. The alcohol is over 9% by volume giving it a nice warmth as it goes down. This beer will most likely age for a few weeks and go on tap mid-late January. In the meantime enjoy the Dubbel Overhead Abbey Ale on tap at both Ports.

The final beer in this run will be the Trippel Overhead. A light, golden trippel with plenty of candi sugar and alcohol. Brewer Tomme Arthur predicts this one will be over the top. It will be brewed in early January for release in late February or early March. I will keep you posted.

While the White Labs Trappist Ale Yeast is floating around, Skip at AleSmith decided to brew his gold medal Belgian Ale from the old P.B. Brewhouse. Look for that to be a late Winter release.

Up at Port Carlsbad we will be adding a Pale Ale to our regular rotation of beers. If all goes well, I will get to brew the inaugral batch using my own recipe. Brewdate should be in early January for release by the end of the month. Believe me, this you will hear more about as it happens!

SO CAL BEER PAGE

A great Southern California Beer and Brewing site! Check out:

http://members.aol.com/socalbeer

and

http://members.aol.com/scbeernews

The pages are packed with all kinds of info on beer, brewing, pubs, breweries, homebrewing, etc… He has event listings and all kinds of good info on the So Cal beer scene. This should be a regular stop for any beer-nut web surfer!

BEER DESCRIPTIONS

I thought I would jot down some of my hazy memories from tasting all of the beers at the Strong Ale Fest.

AleSmith’s J.P. Gray’s Wee Heavy – Served on a beer engine from a traditional English Firkin (a type of keg used for real ale). This was a great beer. Easy to drink, not too sweet with a nice caramel flavor and a creamy finish. The only down side is that the keg was emptied.

Baja Brewing Co.’s Baja Belgian Trippel – This beer benefitted from its extended aging from this Summer. Clear and fruity, this light-bodied offering was almost too easy to drink. A warm alcohol flavor and a subtle maltiness lingered in the finish.

Ballast Point Brewing Co.’s Navigator Barleywine – The strongest beer at the fest. This beer still had tons of hop flavor in it. A nice caramel/brown sugar flavor was there to balance it out. Too bad you can’t get this in bottles, because this beer will age very well. Let’s hope they throw a keg or two aside for next year!

Del Mar Stuft Pizza & Brewery’s Belgian Holiday Ale – Made with White Labs Trappist Ale Yeast this beer had a big spicy-clove aroma and flavor. Lots of specialty malts–mostly Belgian, gave this beer a complex grain/malt flavor.

Hang Ten Brewing Co. brought two beers, both served on nitrogen:

Barneywhine – This light colored barleywine went down like cream from the nitrogen tapping. A definite alcohol warmth that will mellow with time. Subdued hops and very little crystal malt. A very interesting barleywine Toes Over

Imperial Stout – This beer was nearly a year old at tapping time. The nitrogen took the bite out of the roast flavors leaving the beer with a very chocolatety finish.

La Jolla Brewing Company’s Blitzen Holiday Ale – This is basically a double recipe version of their Red ale. I listed it as an old ale, but it has a nice roastiness that would be out of style. Not what I expected, but a very good strong ale.

Port Carlsbad’s Elfin Holiday Ale – I’ve been drinking this one for the last few weeks and it just keeps getting better. The spices mellowed perfectly so that neither the cinnamon or vanilla is overwhelming at all. Not too dark, with just a little mix of crystal malt for color.

Port Solana also brought up two beers:

Old Boneyards Barleywine – Hoppy and fruity. This was a nice middle of the road offering in comparison to the other barleywines at the fest. Unfortunately this was the last keg, but don’t worry, we’ll brew more. Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout – A big bad Imperial Stout. Sweet at first with a slight bitterness right at the end. British Chocolat and Roasted malts add deep color with a biting coffee-like flavor. And yes, it was named after the dog on the Simpson’s.

San Diego Brewing Co.’s Red Star Stout – Very different from the other two Imperial Stouts at the fest. A huge, hoppy, bittersweet flavor dominated this complex beer. Lots of roast character and plenty of color. Look for the Old 395 barleywine from SD Brew Co. in February!

Stone Brewing Co.’s Turbo Arrogant Bastard Ale – The extra maltiness in the Turbo version was enough to balance out the obscene amount of Chinook hops in the normal version. Wish this is the one that was available. Too bad they only had a five gallon keg at the fest!

PUB UPDATES

A couple of non-Strong Ale Fest related updates here.

Callahan’s Pub in Mira Mesa Mall is nearly finished with its renovations. The brewery is not up and running yet, but Charles at San Diego Brewing Co. is working hard to keep the house beers flowing. The best new feature is the addition of about 15 guest handles to the bar. No local offerings on tap, but a good selection of West Coast micros is there for the sampling–including Sierra Nevada Celebration. The place looks great and has certainly become much more beer-friendly. They still have wing nights on Wednesday as well.

Ballast Point Brewing Co. is brewing its new Yellow Tail Pale Ale today (Tuesday) for release in mid-late January. Salesman Mike Mellow already has 8 accounts lined up for the new beer so keep an eye out for it in the new year. In the meantime look for the Navigator Barleywine to be released soon to bars around town including the Port, Porter’s Pub and San Diego Brewing Co.

New brewer Andy Schwartz at Del Mar Stuft Pizza has his new IPA on-line and it is very good. A mix of Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops, this one has a great hop flavor without an overpowering bitterness. I tried his new stout at 3 days old and it is going to be good as well. Andy is a friendly guy so go down and try his beers and say hello.

Rumors floating around indicate that Baja Brewing Company is selling its brewing equipment, but keeping the restaurant open. If I hear something concrete I will pass it along.

ON TAP

A quick run-down on some of the seasonal and specialty offerings available at the two Ports:

Solana Beach:

Dubbel Overhead Abbey Ale – a great Belgain dubbel. Dark brown, fruity and 6.5% alcohol. Check out the rad surfing monk T-shirts from the release party.

Ale Nino – A seasonal fill-in for the 101 Nut Brown. This one is a little stronger, though slightly lighter in color.

Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout – One of the biggest Imperial Stouts I’ve ever had. Its thick and chewy and goes down smooth. With 10.5% alcohol by volume don’t drink too many pints.

Also on tap are: AleSmith’s Wee Heavy, Redhook’s Winterhook, Stone’s Arrogant Bastard Ale and the Elfin Holiday Ale from Port Carlsbad. Look for the Yulesmith from AleSmith coming soon–perhaps the finest beer I have drunk all year.

Carlsbad:

Elfin Holiday Ale – A nice copper-colored ale spiced with vanilla and cinnamon. The spices blend effortlessly with the beer making this one easy to drink.

Carlsbad has a great selection of holiday beers right now including:

Anchor X-mas, Pyramid’s Sno Cap, Full Sail’s Wassail, North Coast Brewing Co.’s Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Widmer Winternacht and the Dubbel Overhead Abbey Ale. Sierra Nevada Celebration jsut came back as well! Also Mendocino’s special Eye of the Hawk Ale will be coming to both Ports.

WEB SITE

Our web site is starting to come together. Check it out at: www.pizzaport.com Any comments or suggestions would be welcome! I am going to start posting back issues of my AlEmail on the web site.

RECIPE

I am passing along a beer and a mead recipe this week. The beer is a variant on my Pale Ale recipe. The mead is tasty combo of cranberries and blackberries.

This is designed to be like Sierra Nevada. As usual, I brewed this one as
an all grain. I will pass along the grain and an extract version.

Tom’s Pale Ale

9# Great Western 2-row
.75# 40L Crystal
.5# 60L Crystal
.25# Carapils

1 oz Chinook (pellets or flowers) pellets at 10.6% AA – Boil 1 hour
1 oz Cascade 15 minutes
1 oz Cascade Knock Out

California Ale Yeast

I mashed as close to 152F as I could. Pual and I made 1 barrel of this and tried several different yeasts including White Labs Burton Ale and British Ale both of which should work great in this beer.

Extract:

8# Pale Malt

.75# 40L Crystal
.5# 60L Crystal

1.25 oz Chinook pellets – 10.6% AA – boil
1 oz Cascade – 15 minutes
1 oz Cascade – Knock out

California Ale Yeast

MEAD

One note before I start the recipe, Port Carlsbad has the three Honeyrun Fruit Meads available: Cranberry, Blackberry and Cherry. The recipe below comes out much like the Cranberry one. Quite good. The tartness of the fruit balances the slightly sweet finish. A nice alternative to beer once in a while. I drank nearly a whole bottle of the Cranberry at the Port X-mas party.

This mead is a great fruity drink. A bit of a kool-aid character to it when it is young, but it has aged beautifully. The blackberries add a bit of color, though not too much flavor. Recipe is for 5 gallons.

Crackberry Mead (cran/black berry)

14 pounds Light Honey – Wildflower blends work well

2.5 pounds Cranberries
1 pound Blackberries

2 packs Cote Des Blancs Yeast

I boiled the honey for 5 minutes and then added the frozen fruit and let it
steep for 15 more. I tied the fruit up in a big steeping bag and left it
in a plastic bucket for a two-week primary. The fruit really kicks the
yeast into high gear. Transfer to secondary and age. Sparkaloid may be
used to help it clear. Finish should be off-dry.

Thats All Folks!
Tom

Hello All,

Here is my first official email from Pizza Port. This week I am
sending out all of the info for the Strong Ale Festival. I know this
email is huge, but there is a lot of good info here. All of the info was
taken from the press packet that I have been putting together. I’m also
including my latest brew recipe and a few other updates. Hope to see you
all at the Fest–to avoid any crowds, show up early.
And one homebrewing note here–the info on the America’s Finest City
competition is available down at the Linda Vista Home Brew Mart. The
organizers, Quaff, will also have a web page up and running. When I know
for sure that it is ready, I will pass along the address.
Cheers,
Tom

CONTENTS:

PIZZA PORT
PUB UPDATES
STRONG ALE FEST
BEERS AND BREWERIES
BASIC PROCESS
STYLES
HISTORY
ORGANIZERS
RECIPES

PIZZA PORT

This Thursday, Dec 11th Pizza Port Solana Beach will debut its new
Double Overhead Abbey Ale. It is a Belgian Style Dubbel brewed with many
Belgian grains, candi sugar and of course a Belgian style yeast strain
(from White Labs). The party will happen from 6-11pm. Get a limited
edition T-Shirt and Pint glass for $10 while the shirts last. The design
features a monk cathcing a wave–its a cool shirt. I’ll be there along
with head brewer Tomme Arthur, so we will see you there!

Every Wednesday is Wing and Cheese Stix night at the Port. Only
$.15 each for wings or stix. Come by this Wednesday and check out the
great selection of guest beers including: AleSmith’s Wee Heavy, Ballast
Point’s Copper Ale, Stone’s Pale Ale and Arrogant Bastard Ale, and
Anchor’s Old foghorn Barlewine!

Local Draft Pick for Monday, December 15th is from the La Jolla
Brewing Co. brewed at the new Mission Brewery facility. $2 pints and $6
pitchers during the game–Denver at San Francisco, should be a great one!!!

PUB UPDATES

Del Mar Stuft Pizza has a new head Brewer, Andy Schwartz. He
previously worked in Colorado where he won a gold medal for his stout. He
has only been there a few weeks, but expect a big turn around in many of
the beers at Stuft Pizza. Their holiday ale, a Belgian Strong is on tap
right now as well.

AleSmith will be seving a keg of its fantastic Yulesmith through a
beer engine this Thursday, Dec. 11th at O’Brians in Clairemont. This is a
great chance to try a great beer on a hand pump at a reasonable price!

STRONG ALE FEST

1st Annual San Diego Strong Ale Festival

What: The 1st Annual San Diego Strong Ale Festival. A unique collection
of local strong ales on tap in one location for one night. Many of the
beers we will be serving are not available outside of the brewpub in which
they were made. Every beer featured will contain at least 8% alcohol by
volume. Taster glasses will be poured in 4 oz samples.

When: Thursday, December 18th from 5:00 pm until 11:00 pm. Media hour
from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm with special tasting and brewery tour. Raffle to
be held at 9:00 pm. Anouncement of people’s choice awards at 10:00 pm.

Where: Pizza Port Carlsbad at 571 Carlsbad Village Drive in Downtown
Carlsbad. the restaurant is one half mile West of I-5 at Roosevelt Street.
Phone (760) 720-7007.

Why: To drink great beer and to promote awareness and understanding of
hand-crafted beers in San Diego. Wintertime brings with it a taste for
stronger, more aggressive beers. This festival will highlight these
special, locally produced seasonal beers. As people learn more about what
they are consuming, they understand the different tastes and styles. Beer
appreciation means thinking about and enjoying what you are drinking rather
than just chugging a cheap domestic.

Who: Beer enthusiasts everywhere!

San Diego Beer Scene:

There are 19 microbreweries and brewpubs in San Diego County producing over
150 different beers. Only ten years ago San Diego was without a local beer
producer. San Diego breweries have won three medals at the Great American
Beer Festival in Denver, including two Golds. Bottled beer is available
from four different local breweries around town. San Diego’s brewing
community is bolstered by a strong and active homebrewing community. There
are over a half dozen homebrew supply shops providing avid brewers with
their ingredients. San Diego is also home to more than 7 home wine and
beer making clubs. The brewers and homebrewers all help contribute to an
active brewing scene that includes competitions, beer festivals, tastings,
and pub crawls.
This festival was endorsed by the San Diego Brewers Guild. The guild is a
professional organization for brewers in San Diego. It meets once a month
to discuss activities and ways to promote locally produced beer.

BEERS AND BREWERIES

Beers and Breweries Participating

All participating breweries are listed in alphabetical order. Included is
address and phone number and whether the brewery is in a pub restaurant or
just a microbrewery. Each beer is listed in bold along with the
traditional style, alcohol by volume and the brewer or contact for each
brewery.

1. AleSmith Brewing Company Microbrewery
9368 Cabot Drive (619) 549-9888
Beer: J.P. Gray’s Wee Heavy Style: Scotch Ale
Alcohol: 8.25%
Brewer/Contact: Skip Virgilio

2. Baja Brewing Company Brewpub
203 5th Avenue (619) 231-6667
Beer: Baja Belgian Trippel Style: Belgian Trippel Ale
Alcohol: 9.4%
Brewer/Contact: Jim Owens

3. Ballast Point Brewing Company Microbrewery
5401 Linda Vista Road Suite 406 (619) 298-2337
Beer: Navigator Barleywine Style: Barleywine Ale
Alcohol: 10.5%
Brewer/Contact: Peter A’Hearn

4. Del Mar Stuft Pizza and Brewery Brewpub
12340 Carmel Country Road (619) 481-7883 or (760) 414-5705
Beer: Belgian Holiday Ale Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Alcohol: 8.0%
Brewer/Contact: Greg Distefano

5. Hang Ten Brewing Company Brewpub
310 5th Avenue (619) 232-6336
Beers: Barneywhine Style: Barleywine Ale
Alcohol: 9.5%
Toes Over Stout Style: Imperial
Stout Alcohol: 9.2%
Brewer/Contact: Paul Segura

6. La Jolla Brewing Company Brewpub
7536 Fay Avenue (619) 456-2739
Beer: Blitzen Holiday Ale Style: Old Ale
Alcohol: 8.0%
Brewer/Contact: Dr. John Atwater

7. Pizza Port/Carlsbad Brewery Brewpub
571 Carlsbad Village Drive (760) 720-7007
Beer: Elfin Holiday Ale Style: Herb and Spice Beer
Alcohol: 8.0%
Brewer/Contact: Vince Marsaglia

8. Pizza Port/Solana Beach Brewery Brewpub
135 North Highway 101 (619) 481-7332
Beers: Old Boneyards Barleywine Style: Barleywine Ale
Alcohol: 9.7%
Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol: 10.2%
Brewer/Contact: Tomme Arthur

9. San Diego Brewing Company Brewpub
10450 Friars Road (619) 284-2739
Beer: Red Star Stout Style: Imperial
Stout Alcohol: 8.4%
Brewer/Contact: Charles Hudak

10. Stone Brewing Company Microbrewery
155 Mata Way (760) 471-4999
Beer: Turbo Arrogant Bastard Ale Style: None
Alcohol: 8.5%
Brewer/Contact: Steve Wagner

BASIC PROCESS

The Brewing Process

The basic ingredients in beer are malted barley, hops, yeast and water.
This sheet will give you a quick look at how these different ingredients
come together to make a standard beer.

Malting

Raw barley kernels are malted by allowing them to soak in water. This
activates natural enzymes within the barley that start to convert starch to
sugar which the growing plant uses as food. The grain is then kilned or
dried at a low temperature to preserve these enzymes.

Mashing

The malted barley is cracked to expose the starchy inside. The cracked
grain is then soaked in warm water for one hour. This process, known as
mashing, reactivates the natural enzymes to convert all of the starch in
the barley into sugar, some fermentable, some not. The sweet water, or
wort is then drained from the grain. Additional water is rinsed, or
sparged over the grain to collect any residual sugar. The wort runoff is
collected in the boiling kettle.

Boiling

The wort (pronounced wert) is boiled for one hour. During this time hops
are added. Hops contribute the bitterness as well as flavor and aroma to
beer. Hops that are boiled with the wort for the full hour add in
bittering resins to the beer. Hops added at the end of the boil contribute
volatile flavor and aroma oils. It is because beer was boiled that it was
often safer to drink than well water throughout much of history.

Pitching

The wort is cooled down to room temperature after the boil. Once cooled,
the yeast is pitched into the beer and fementation begins. During
fermentation the yeast metabolize the simple sugars into alcohol. As a
product of this reaction the yeast release carbon dioxide and esters, which
are unique fruity flavors given off by different yeast strains. The yeast
eat up only certain sugars, leaving others behind to create the body of the
beer. The natural sweetness of the malt is balanced out by the bitterness
of the hops.

Serving

After fermentation the beer is allowed to age for two weeks before it is
ready to serve. Some beers require more time, some less depending on
alcohol and the strength of various flavors. Once the beer is aged it is
carbonated and ready to serve. Malt has become beer!

Ales and Lagers

All of the beers in this festival fall into the broad category of ales. An
ale is any beer fermented at room temperature (60-77 degrees) as opposed to
lager beers which are fermented at cold temperatures between 45 and 55
degrees. Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, Wheat Beers, Nut Browns and Honey
Beers are all examples of common ales. These beers have a full, rich
characteristic balanced with a slight fruitiness from the yeast
fermentation. We have seven different styles of ales represented in the
festival.

STYLES

Beer Styles

We have seven traditional beer styles represented in the festival. We have
three beers each in the Barleywine and Imperial Stout categories. Below is
a description of the common characteristics of each style.

Barleywine
This is not a wine, but rather a beer brewed to wine strength. It
is traditionally the strongest style of beer with alcohol contents ranging
from 8% to as high as 12%. The color will be tawny to deep amber, almost
brown. As with many of the strong ales, barleywines are aged for long
periods to allow the beer to mature just like a wine. The flavor is vinous
and rich. British versions will allow the sweet malt and fruity
characteristics to dominate while the American style has a pronounced hop
bitterness and aroma. The finish should be smooth and warming.

Belgian Ale
The Belgian Ale category is divided into 7 sub-styles. Most of the
beers are marked by a strong yeast fruitiness that can give off hints of
banana and nutmeg. Belgian breweries often use a unique house yeast strain
to create very different flavor profiles for beers that fall within the
same category. We have two sub-styles of Belgian ales represented in the
festival.

Trippel
This is a strong golden colored ale with little hop character. A
spicy, alcoholic aroma will come through over a subtle fruitiness. Rock
candy sugar is used to add fermentable sugars in place of additional malted
barley. This leaves the beer high in alcohol and warming without being too
thick or full bodied.

Belgian Strong Ale
This is a broad category that encompasses beers of many colors.
The common thread between them is a warming alcoholic flavor and a light to
medium body. Belgian Strongs are allowed more hop bitterness than a
Trippel, while hop flavor and aroma will usually be very low. The overall
impression is a big, fruity, warming beer without too much body and a good
malt character.

Imperial Stout
This is a sub-style of the Stout category. Stouts in general use
unmalted roasted barley to develop a dark, coffee-like character. Imperial
stouts are darker, richer and often more fruity than a normal stout. The
high alcohol content blends with the predominant roast character to give
this beer a unique flavor among stouts. The style originated due to the
popularity of British Porters and Stouts in Czarist Russia where they were
drunk as a Winter warmer. To survive the long trip by sea, brewers made
the beers with more alcohol and extra hops. Alcohol and hop oils both act
as natural preservatives to keep the beer fresh. The stouts gained favor
in the Imperial court of the Czar which lent the name to the style of
stout.

Old Ale
This style is a lower alcohol cousin to the Barleywine. Old Ale
will have less alcohol warmth and fewer wine-like flavors than a
barleywine. The beers are often dark in color, ranging from amber to dark
brown. Hop flavors and bitterness are low leaving a malty finish. With an
alcohol range of 6% to 9%, some lower alcohol barleywines are better suited
as Old Ales.

Scotch Ale
This is a sweet, malty strong ale. The flavor will have big notes
of caramel and malt with virtually no hop flavor or aroma. The Scottish
use the name “Wee Heavy” to denote the strongest of Scotch Ales, usually 7%
to 10% alcohol by volume. These beers will have low hopping rates which
leave the beer with very little bitterness. Hops were first used in the
U.K. in England and were initially resisted in Scotland as being an
“English” ingredient.

Herb and Spice Beer
These beers use herbs or spices to flavor the beer in place of or
in addition hops. Practically any cooking herb or spice can be used in
beer. Holiday versions usually include some of the following: cinnamon,
allspice, nutmeg, cloves, orange peel, honey and vanilla. Each beer will
be different and accent different spices.

Traditional Serving Methods

In keeping with traditional British serving methods, two of the
beers at the festival, AleSmith’s Wee Heavy and Ballast Points Barleywine,
will be served on beer engines. Rather than pushing the beer to the tap
with compressed gas, beer engines pull the beer from the keg by hand. As
the beer is drawn from the keg it is forced through a screen which break
the carbon-dioxide in the beer out of solution. this leaves the beer with
a rich, creamy head and less carbonation. The lower carbonation level
allows more flavor from the beer to come through. It also lets enjoy
drinking the beer without feeling gassy or bloated.
Serving beer with a nitrogen and carbon-dioxide mixture like
Guinness mimics this effect with modern compressed gas. Both beer engines
and nitrogen tapped beers produce a cascade of foam in the glass when first
poured.

HISTORY

Pizza Port – Tasty Grub and Grog

Pizza Port was established in 1987 when siblings Vince and Gina
Marsaglia started making hearty pizzas. We were excited when people would
make a point to tell us it was the very best pizza they’ve ever had. Our
customers and employees have always been truly genuine people that helped
build this place from constructive ideas and pure loyalty. While the
restaurant was taking off, Vince and Gina started brewing beer as a hobby.
As they began brewing more than they could leisurely drink, they really
wanted to share some of the incredible brews that they created with
customers. So the decision was made to cram a 7 barrel (217 gallons)
brewery in the small unused square footage that was available. The
planning, licensing and permits took 2 years and the actual build out took
3 months!

We celebrated our first handcrafted beer sold on the premises in
October of 1992, when Solana Beach Brewery was added to our name. Now we
also get really excited when people travel miles just to taste their
favorite brew. It’s hard to believe its been 10 years of sharing good
times with everyone that walks through our doors. This has proven to be
our infinite reward for a true labor of love.

Pizza Port’s ten year anniversary was celebrated by opening a second
location in Carlsbad. By this time we confirmed that only a true love of
beer could tell the blood, sweat and tears story of how it all progressed
to this. It has been exciting to offer different styles of our own beer on
tap and experiment a little more with recipes that push the envelope on
hopping and alcohol strength. We have also been able to serve more guest
beers to ry some of the other great beers that are out there. And yes, we
serve the same great pizzas at both locations.

We are continually exploring new styles and planning events to help
promote and educate the growing number of beer enthusiasts that visit Pizza
Port. Every month brings a new calendar of beer events and specials
including pint nights, wing nights, cheap pitchers and release parties for
new beers. We also organize an annual pub crawl through San Diego. We
load up a bus with thirsty beer enthusiasts and sample San Diego’s finest
brews. The Strong Ale Festival furthers our commitment to bring increased
awareness and enjoyment of quality beer. There is no excuse to drink bad
beer!

ORGANIZERS

Festival Organizers

The Festival was the brain child of Tomme Arthur and Tom Nickel. While
milling grain one afternoon they began to talk about all of the great
seasonal ales that were going to be available in San Diego this Winter. It
was quickly agreed that it would be great to try and get them all together
for one fantastic evening of beer tasting. The Strong Ale Festival was
born!

Tomme Arthur is the head brewer of the Solana Beach Brewery at Pizza Port.
Tomme, a San Diego native, started brewing beer at home four years ago.
He was formerly the assistant brewer at Cervecerias, La Cruda Brewery
downtown in the Gaslamp Quarter. While there, he and head brewer Troy
Hojel won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver for
their Makanudo Porter. Tomme became the brewer at Pizza Port in June of
1997 and at 24 he is the youngest head brewer in town. Since then he has
created several new seasonal ales at the Port including Ale Nino Autumn
Ale, Dubbel Overhead Abbey Ale and Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout
(which will be on tap at the Strong Ale Festival). Tomme has a passion for
brewing Belgian Ales so look for new Belgian beers on tap next year.

Tom Nickel works alongside Tomme Arthur at Pizza Port. Also a San Diego
native, Tom began brewing beer with friends over 6 years ago at the age of
19 (It is perfectly legal to brew your own beer even if you are not 21!).
After graduating from Yale University in 1994, he worked for several years
at Home Brew Mart in San Diego. During his time there he taught countless
people how to brew their own delicious beer at home. Tom is now organizing
a way to get some of Pizza Port’s great beer into bottles. In the Spring
he will also take on cellaring duties for cask conditioned ales to be
served out of two traditional British beer engines at the Port. When not
brewing beer at work or home, Tom keeps busy by making mead, a traditional
wine made from fermented honey instead of grape juice.

RECIPES

I finally did the all-grain class and I am passing along the recipe
from it. I wanted something like Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale. Its a
big, deep amber beer with plenty of malt character and hop aroma. It is
technically an IPA style beer, though in a contest it would be judged as
being too dark.

Tom’s Grandfaloon Ale

10# Great Western 2-Row
1.5# 80L Crystal
1# Caramunich

1.25 oz Chinook Flowers – 13.5%AA – boil
1 oz Cascade – 15 minutes
1 oz Centennial – Finish

White Labs California Ale Yeast

I mashed at 151F for one hour with a standard one hour boil. I may yet
dry-hop this beer depending on what it tastes like into secondary. If I do
I will let you know. I would most likely use .5 oz each of cascade and
centennial.
If you are wondering about the name, read some Kurt Vonnegut–especially
Cat’s Cradle. If I can find a relevant passage for next week that defines
it, I’ll write it in.

Extract Version:

9# Pale Malt Extract

1# Caramunich
1# 80L Crystal

1.5 oz Chinook Pellets – 10.6% – Boil
1 oz Cascade – 15 minutes
1 oz Centennial – Finish

White Labs California Ale Yeast

Thats all for now!
Tom

Hello All,

Just some short updates this week. I just got back from a five day trip up to the Bay Area (see pub updates for more details). Stopped by a few pubs and drank some wonderful homemade wines along the way. I will be starting my new job on Thursday at Pizza Port. I am going to continue to send out emails from there with most of the same content, though the Port will probably be my lead item instead of Ballast Point.

If anyone does not want to receive email from me and Home Brew Mart, just let me know and I will take you off the list. Otherwise I will simply assume that you enjoy my ramblings and want to stick with it. No big news this week, though the date is now set for the all-grain class. Something to consider for your next batch–the America’s Finest City homebrew competition is coming up the first week of March. This is San Diego’s premier Compton and is an excellent chance to get feedback from qualified judges on your brews. Start thinking about what to enter and when to brew it.

Some beers need time, others will be better brewed after the new year. There will be a web address for the competition that I will pass out once it is up and running. Hope all those holiday ales are getting ready to go. This week I will bottle last year’s champagne mead for New Years to give it 5 weeks to carbonate. I’ll let you know how it goes. Next week I will include my annual champagne recipes.

Cheers,

Tom

CONTENTS:

BALLAST POINT
STRONG BEER FESTIVAL
ALL GRAIN CLASS
CIDER RUN
PUB UPDATES

BALLAST POINT

There will be a Ballast Point Bagpipe Night this Friday, November 21st. Our roving band of bagpipers will be visiting O’Briens in Clairemont Mesa, Porter’s Pub at the UCSD student center, Round Table also at UCSD, Pizza Port in Solana Beach and Jay’s in Cardiff accompanied by beer specials wherever they play!

New Accounts include Cilantro’s in Del Mar, Round Table in Solana Beach and Mountain Mike’s Pizza in Clairemont.

O’Breins has local beer nights every Thursday with $2.50 pints including Ballast Point and Alesmith’s 8.25% alcohol Wee Heavy!

STRONG BEER FESTIVAL

1st Annual San Diego Strong Beer Festival

This festival will bring together San Diego’s best strong beers for one night of beer tasting heaven. It will take place at Pizza Port in Carlsbad (See Brewing Scene for address and phone number) on Thursday, December 18th from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. All eleven beers are over 8% alcohol by volume and will be served in a 4 oz commerative taster glass for $1.00. There will be information available on all of the beers including starting gravity, strength, and ingredients. In addition to the fantastic beer selection there will be a raffle and as always great pizza from the Port.

Beer List:

Ale Smith Brewing Co. J.P. Gray’s Wee Heavy (Scotch Ale)
Baja Brewing Co. Baja Belgian Trippel
Ballast Point Brewing Co. Navigator Barley Wine
Del Mar Stuft Pizza Belgian Holiday Ale (Belgian
Strong Ale)
Hang Ten Brewing Co. Barney Whine (Barley Wine)
Toes Over Stout
(Imperial Stout)
La Jolla Brewing Co. Blitzen Holiday Ale
Pizza Port Solana Beach Old Boneyards Barley Wine
Santa’s Little
Helper Imperial Stout
Pizza Port Carlsbad Elfin Holiday Ale
San Diego Brewing Co. Red Star Stout (Imperial Stout)

That totals 3 Barley Wines, 3 Imperial Stouts, 2 Belgian Ales, 2 Holiday
Ales and a Scotch Ale!
See you there.

ALL GRAIN CLASS

The all-grain class is on for Sunday, December 7th from 12-4 pm at the Linda Vista store. The class cost is $20 and includes a certificate for your first batch of grain. In the class I will be brewing a batch using our insulated cooler mash system. I will also cover the different grains we stock, recipe formulation, and equipment needs. Its all the knowledge you need to brew your own all grain beer! Please RSVP by email.

CIDER RUN

The cider may not happen this Friday since it looks like the cider guy will be out of town. I will be heading to Julian soon myself, so if he can’t bring it down, I will pick up fresh juice at the end of the month. If you are interested, let me know and I will call or email you when I what is going on.

PUB UPDATES

La Jolla Brewing Co. has its Big Rock Bock on tap right now. Its a very good beer, though a bit hoppy in my mind for a bock. There is also a very smokey scotch ale on tap–a must for smoked beer fans. And as usual the Nitrogen tapped porter is very enjoyable. LJBC has some of the most interesting specials of San Diego’s brewpubs; look for Shark meat tacos and Ostrich burgers.

Callahans Pub in Mira Mesa is still under renovation–though the restaurant is open, the brewery is not. Do not fear, however. Charles at San Diego Brewing Co. (its sister pub-same owners) is handling the brewing duties in the meantime. Look for the Old 395 Barley Wine in the Spring.

I tried the Ale-Nino Autumn at Pizza Port last week–quite good. It is a deep amber beer with a wonderful hint of Chocolate malt that gives it a slight roast character. The Old Boneyards Barleywine is delicious, though not for the timd. My pizza for the evening was the star of the show–pesto, chicken and feta with mozzarella. Amazing.

Hello All,

Not too many brewing updates this week. I hope everyone enjoyed last weeks rather long email. Probably more than anybody wanted to know about all those White Lab strains!

On a different note, this is going to be one of my last emails. I am leaving Home Brew Mart in early November (don’t worry, nothing bad has happened, its just time to move on). The home brew mart/ballast point updates will most likely continue under the guidance of our Master Brewer, Peter A’Hearn. Not sure what I’m doing yet, so if anybody has a good job offer–let me know. I may well continue to send out updates and beer info on my own using this same list. Before that happens I will let all of you know.

I am glad that so many of you have enjoyed reading this, it has been fun to create and write it. Thanks again for all of the feedback and support over the last two years.

Cheers,

Tom

CONTENTS:

BALLAST POINT
NEW HOURS IN SOLANA BEACH
NITRO TAP SPECIAL
CIDER RUN
PUB UPDATES
CLASSES
RECIPE

BALLAST POINT

The big news: Ballast Point Barleywine in the fermentor! We got about 10 barrels of run off which should leave us with nearly 8 barrels of barleywine to age till Winter. The beer is already lined up for the Strong Beer Festival and should be on tap at several local bars not to mention the Ballast Point Tasting Room.

Other tasting bar notes: the Special is back on tap (Its the Nitrogen dispensed version of the copper). So now you can taste three different serving styles for the Copper: Regular, Nitrogen, and on the Beer Engine (dry-hopped).

NEW HOURS IN SOLANA BEACH

Starting this weekend the Solana Beach store will be closed on Sunday and Monday. Regular hours will stay the same, 11-7 Tuesday through Friday and 10-5 on Saturday. The Linda Vista will remain open seven days a week, 11-7 M-F, 10-5 Sat and 12-4 Sun. (And don’t blame me, this happened before I decided to leave.)

NITRO TAP SPECIAL

We are overstocked on Nitrogen taps and we are cutting them from their regular price of $125 down $99. This special will run through Christmas or until we run out, whichever comes first.

CIDER RUN

The Julian Cider Run is set for Friday, November 21st. I will have the Cider brought down to our cold room from Farmer’s Market in Julian. Again there will be a sign up sheet at the Linda Vista store this weekend. The juice will be $6 per gallon and you can sign up for as much or as little as you want. Even just drinking the raw juice is great–just drink it quickly before it ferments. I am going to try and type up a cider cheat-sheet this time to answer some basic questions about the process of making hard cider.

PUB UPDATES

I have a few other notes on the new Hang Ten brew pub downtown. The brewer is the same, though I heard they are trying several new recipes. And, they open at 4 PM so don’t go there looking for lunch.

San Diego Brewing Co. will have cask beer night with the Admiral Baker’s Bitter next Tuesday, Nov. 4th. Read Peter Rowe’s GABF reviews in today’s Union-Tribune Food Section.

CLASSES

I will be doing my last (though not THE last ) beginning brewing class on Sunday, Nov. 9th from 10-11:45 am at the Linda Vista store. The class is FREE so just show up. I may be leaving, but I will still be teaching a mead making class some time in the next month. I will keep everyone updated and tell you as soon as I have a date.

No date is set for the all-grain class though one will be taught by the end of the year. Yuseff may teach it, or I might come back and do it. Either way, this class is happening soon.

RECIPE

I am posting one of, if not my oldest surviving good recipe:

The Dark Stuff That Pretty Much Rules

This is a big, rich dark beer that is neither porter nor stout. It sort of defies categories, or better yet, it laughs at them. I first made this years ago in my friend’s mom’s kitchen when the world of all-grain was still new and Home Brew Mart just opened. There were so many wonderful grains to add that we just figured we would throw in a whole bunch of them.

Many of our early beers were just referred to as “the dark stuff”. But when this recipe came around, it was more than just dark stuff. The result has been refined, but the outcome is always the same. It is always dark and it always rules.

And just in case you were wondering I don’t name my beers very often, but when I do its usually something really dumb, like this.

Recipe:

10# Great Western
1# Caramunich
.5# Dark Carastan
.5# Dark British Crystal 135-165L
.5# Biscuit Malt
.5# British Chocolate
.25# Black Patent

1 oz Chinook – Boil
.5oz Each of Kent Golding and Cascade – 15 minutes
.75 oz Each of Kent Golding and Cascade – Finish

California Ale Yeast

Mash at a moderate to low temperature, say 151, for an hour. Back when I always used pellets, though now I bitter more often with flowers–either one will work. Pellets will give off a bit more bitterness. Watch the alcohol content on this one, its potent.

For Extract Brewers:

I would not suggest steeping three pounds of grain. So if you want to do this, do a mini mash with the specialty grains and 1.5# of the 2-row for 45 minutes. And start with 8# of pale malt extract as your base. I would also bump up the bittering hops just slightly to 1.25 oz Chinook pellets.

That’s All Folks – for now

Tom

Greetings All,

No email last week since I was home sick. This week’s email is the promised run-down on White Labs yeast strains. I’ve got lots of other updates as well and even a recipe for a spiced christmas beer. I am going to be having another cider run in November most likely on Friday the 14th. I will have a sign up sheet at the Linda Vista store by this weekend. Thats all for now.

Enjoy.

Cheers

Tom

CONTENTS:

BALLAST POINT
NEW MILL
WHITE LABS YEAST
PUB UPDATES
STRONG BEER FESTIVAL
RECIPES

BALLAST POINT

Our cask-conditioned Copper Ale is now on tap through the beer engine. Each cask is dry hopped (extra hops added in the keg) and naturally carbonated with brown sugar. These casks are then hand pulled from the keg to give a smooth creamy head and a wonderfully hoppy finish.

Our half gallon and gallon jugs are back in stock so you can pick up a jug of your favorite Ballast Point beer to go! Bring in a jug from another brewery and we will happily trade you for one of ours. Refill prices are $7.00 for a half-gallon and only $11.00 for the full gallon! T-Shirts and Hats are back as well so get your BPBC gear or put it on your Christmas list!

If you want to reserve a keg for a Halloween, please call in advance at 298-2337 so that we can have it ready to go for you. Kegs are available in 5 and 15 gallon sizes. The 5 gallon kegs serve about 55 – 12oz beers and cost $40. The 15 gallon kegs serve about 165 – 12 oz beers and cost $105. Kegs are available in either Copper Ale or Belgian White.

NEW MILL

We now have a new Schmidling hand mill at the Linda Vista store. This is the same mill that some of you are familiar with at the Solana Beach store. This will help aleviate waiting to mill small amounts of grain. Check it out next time you are in the store.

WHITE LABS YEAST

Background:

White Labs is a full service laboratory specializing in pitchable quantities of pure brewers’ yeast. We currently supply pure liquid yeast cultures to major breweries, brewpubs, BOPs and homebrew stores.
White Labs was started in 1993 by Chris White, Ph.D., when he realized working with craft breweries and brewers’ yeast was more enjoyable than working with research institutions and industrial yeast. Applying a combination of yeast genetics and sterile high cell density yeast propagation techniques, Chris was able to grow and concentrate large volumes of yeast cultures.

Why Pitchable Liquid Yeast?

Liquid yeasts produce consistent, predictable flavors in your beer. Often times, beer styles will require a particular yeast, or a particular type of yeast. Belgian Ales and Wheat beers are just two examples of beers that are defined by their yeast flavors. Dry yeasts are usually blended and do not offer homebrewers control over the finished product the way pure liquid cultures do. White Labs yeast are ready to pitch into your beer, just like dry yeast. They require no additional activation like Wyeast packets.

Liquid yeasts also offer the possibility of being repitched. Because these are pure cultures you can save the slurry from the bottom of your fermentor and reuse it in your next batch. The best way to do this is to save about 8 oz of slurry and keep it refrigerated in a sanitized beer bottle with an airlock. The slurry is good for about two weeks at a time. After that you should do a starter for it to make sure the yeast is fresh and active. So if you are looking to really perfect that favorite recipe, try it with a liquid yeast and taste the difference. There is a strain well suited to almost every style. We even have style suitability charts posted at the store!

Yeast Descriptions:

Standard Available Yeast Strains (Year Round)

WLP001 – California Ale Yeast: Our best selling strain. This yeast is famous for its clean flavors, balance and ability to be used in almost any style ale. Attenuation is 73-80% Flocculation is Medium. Optimum fermentation temperature is 68-73 degrees.

WLP002 – English Ale Yeast: A classic ESB strain from one of England’s largest breweries. This yeast is best suited for English style ales including milds, bitters, porters, and English style stouts. Attenuation is 63-70% which leaves behind some residual sweetness not found in our California Ale Yeast. Flocculation is Very High. Optimum fermentation temperature is 65-68 degrees.

WLP004 – Irish Stout Yeast: This is the yeast from one of the oldest stout producing breweries in the world. It produces a slight hint of diacetyl, balanced by a light fruitiness. Great for Irish ales, stouts, porters, browns, reds and a very interesting pale ale. Attenuation is 69-74%. Flocculation is Medium to High. Optimum fermentation temperature is 65-68 degrees.

WLP008 – East Coast/Alt Ale Yeast: Our “Brewer Patriot” strain can be used to reproduce many of the American versions of classic beer styles. Similar neutral character of WLP001, but less attenuation, less accentuation of hop bitterness, increased flocculation, and a little tartness. Very clean and low esters. Great yeast for golden, blonde, honey, and German alt style ales. Attenuation is 70-75%. Flocculation is Medium to High. Optimum fermentation temperature is 68-73 degrees.

WLP300 – Hefeweizen Ale Yeast: This infamous German yeast is a strain used in the production of traditional, authentic wheat beers. It produces the banana and clove nose traditionally associated with German wheat beers. Attenuation is 72-76% Flocculation is low which leaves the desired cloudy look of traditional German wheat beers. Optimum fermentation temperature is 68-72 degrees.

WLP810 – San Francisco Lager Yeast: This yeast used is used to produce the “California Common” style beer. A unique lager strain which has the ability to ferment up to 65 degrees while retaining lager characteristics. Attenuation is 65-70% Flocculation is High. Optimum fermentation temperature is 58-65 degrees. Can also be fermented down to 50 degrees for production of marzens, pilsners and other style lagers .

Seasonal Yeast Strains (Availability Varies)

WLP005 – British Ale Yeast: Used by several of our breweries, this yeast is a little more attenuative than WLP002. Like most English strains, this yeast produces malty beers. Excellent for all English style ales including bitter, pale ale, porter, and brown ale. Attenuation is 67-74%. Flocculation is High. Optimum fermentation temperature is 65-70 degrees. (Won 2 Gold Medals at the GABF)

WLP320 – American Hefeweizen Ale Yeast: This yeast is used to produce the Oregon style. American Hefeweizen. Unlike WLP030, this yeast does not produce the banana and clove notes. It produces some sulfur, but is otherwise a clean fermenting yeast which does not Flocculate well, producing a cloudy beer. Attenuation is 70-75% Flocculation is Low. Optimum fermentation is 65-69 degrees.

WLP400 – Belgian Wit Ale Yeast: Slightly phenolic and tart, this is the yeast used to produce Wit in Belgium. Attenuation is 74-78% Flocculation is Low to Medium. Optimm fermentation temperature is 67-74 degrees. (Same yeast we use at Ballast Point for our Belgian White!)

WLP500 – Trappist Ale Yeast: From one of the six Trappist breweries remaining in the world, this yeast produces the distinctive fruitiness and plum characteristics. Excellent yeast for high gravity beers, Belgian ales, dubbels and trippels. Attenuation is 73-78% Flocculation is Medium. Fermentation should be held below 65 degrees for best results. (Great for spiced holiday beers!)

WLP800 – Pilsner Lager Yeast: Classic pilsner strain from the premier Pilsner producer in the Czech Republic. Somewhat dry with a malty finish, this yeast is best suited for European pilsner production. Attenuation is 72-77% Flocculation is Medium to High. Optimum fermentation temperature is 50-55 degrees.

WLP830 – German Lager Yeast: This yeast is one of the most widely used lager yeast in the world. Very malty and clean, great for all German lagers, pilsner, oktoberfest, and marzen. Attenuation is 74-79%. Flocculation is Medium. Optimum fermentation temperature is 50-55 degrees.
And brand new:

WLP023 – Burton Ale Yeast: From the famous brewing town of Burton upon Trent, England, this yeast is packed with character. It provides delicious subtle fruity flavors like green apple, clover honey and pear. Great for all English styles, IPA’s bitters, pales. Excellent in porters and stouts. Attenuation is 69-75%. Flocculation is Medium. Optimum fermentation temperature is 68-73 degrees.
Technical Information:

Dissolved Oxygen in Brewers Wort

The level of dissolved oxygen in brewers’ wort is critical for proper fermentation. Many fermentation problems (long lag times, stuck fermentation, and off-flavors in finished beer) can be attributed to low oxygen levels in wort.

Low oxygenation-Low growth! This is mainly due to the inability of yeast to manufacture sterols and unsaturated fatty acids when oxygen is not present. In air-depleted wort, yeast will reproduce to approximately half the number of total cells possible. This has vast implications on fermentation profile, length, and resulting beer flavor. Flocculation rate is also reduced with lower oxygen wort.
Optimum amount of air-

Optimum oxygen levels desired in wort is 5-10 ppm. High gravity beers require higher levels of oxygen, because O2 is less soluble in high gravity worts. Any wort above 18 Plato requires double the normal oxygenation levels.
In the way of praise for White Labs Yeast:

“The results (on WLP001) were very positive, so much so I am now using the yeast for all my own ales. On the basis of our tests, the different versions did differ in nontrivial ways, and WLP001 had the best overall marks for both flavor and functional characteristics.” George Fix, Ph.D. Author of Principles of Brewing Science

And if you flip through the latest Zymurgy you will notice that three of the Gold Medal Recipes from the Great American Beer Festival used White Labs yeast including our own Jim Weiner who used the British Ale yeast in his robust porter.

Home Brew Mart’s take on it:

My personal favorite right now is the Burton Ale yeast for anything British. I just used it on a Scottish ale and it produced a wonderful butterscotch flavor that blends perfectly with the malty flavor of the beer. Paul is a big fan of the Irish Ale in Pale Ales and Yuseff stands by the California Ale Yeast for just about everything. If you can brew in some cooler temperatures this Winter try the San Francisco Lager. With a bit of age, this yeast makes great beers. And to help mock those lager beers at Ale temperatures try the East Coast Ale yeast. Its clean finish makes it great to achieve a smooth finish.
Visit White Labs on the Web at:

www.whitelab.com

PUB UPDATES

Tuesday, November 4th will be cask ale night at San Diego Brewing Company featuring their Admiral Baker Bitter. This is the original bitter recipe before they toned down the bitterness and renamed Admiral Baker’s Best. Look for the dry-hopped, hand-drawn cask to kick by 9 pm. Get there early. Look for an Imperial Stout at the Brew Co. this Winter that should also be on tap at Callahans (which just finsihed massive renovations)

Pizza Port Solana Beach has a new Autumn Ale on tap. Its a dark, malty brown brew that sounds like a hybrid between an Octoberfest and an English Brown Ale. The O.G. was 1.062 so it packs some punch. Brewer Tomme Arthur used all English hops–Challenger and East Kent Goldings. Check out the “special” yeast strain he used from a former brew pub. The Carlsbad Brewery will be doing a spiced Christmas ale while Solana Beach will be debuting an Imperial Stout of their own.

San Diego’s newest brewpub is Hang Ten Downtown. This is the new name for the old Hops! locations across from the Old Spaghetti Factory. New look, new beers, new yeast strain. The pub opens tonight so go check it out.

Looking for a good spot for Octoberfest beers? Try Kaiserhof in Ocean Beach. They always have a nice selection of German beers on tap. Bring in your own liter mug during happy hour and get it filled for only $4.75! Note: Kaiserhof does not serve liter mugs unless you bring in your own.

Looking for a good watering hole? Stop by Porter’s Pub on the UCSD campus in the price center. They feature a $2 pint every day of the week–all day long! This is another good spot for seasonal beers. check out pints of the Anchor Foghorn for only $3.50. Also look for the Port’s Autumn Ale!

STRONG BEER FESTIVAL

The 1st Annual San Diego County Strong Beer Festival will be happening Thursday, December 18th at the Carlsbad Pizza Port from 6:00pm till 10:00 pm. We have nearly 10 beers confirmed including two Imperial Stouts, three Barleywines and two Belgain Ales. Tasting glass will cost $1 and 4 oz samples of the brews will also be $1. Commerative T-shirts will be available and there will be a raffle featuring items from the participating breweries. Pizza Port will have its regular complement of beers (and sodas and water for any designated drivers) and pizzas. Make plans to be there!

RECIPES

I made a Partial Mash ESB several weeks ago and it turned out very well, so I’m passing along the recipe. It drinks like a hoppy version of Bass. Its similar in its grain bill to my last English Pale Ale recipe, but the hops are way different.

Sara’s VIP ESB:

6.5# Pale Malt Extract

Mini-Mash
2# Great Western 2-Row
.5# Caramunich
.5# Caravienne
.25# Special Roast

1 oz Chinook Pellets – 12%AA – Boil 1 hour
1 oz Cascade – Finish
.5 oz Chinook – Finish

White Labs Burton Ale Yeast

To pull off the mini-mash steep the grains at 152F for 45 minutes in 1 gallon of water and then rinse the grains until you’ve collected 1.5 gallons total. Add your extract and the rest stays the same. For complete mini-mash instructions just ur web site or ask for a copy at either store.
Tom’s Kitchen Sink Christmas Beer

You can throw just about anything into this one and make it come out right. I switch it up every year so here are some options on how to make that special brew for the season. These are all suggestions. Do not try to add all of these ingredients together, please. Just use this as a template and create your own unique brew!

8# Pale Malt Extract

1# Honey OR 12 oz Pure Maple Syrup OR .5 gallons Raw Apple Cider OR 1 pound Dark Belgian Candi Sugar OR 1 medium pot of strong coffee OR some kind of fruit, 2# Cranberries works really well — any one at the end of boil–DO NOT BOIL! Just let whatever you add steep for a few minutes until it is fully dissolved in your beer.
Steep:

.5# Caramunich
.5# Dark Carastan
.5# Special B

1.5 oz hops from the back of the fridge – ??AA% — Boil 1 hour (Around 7-9 HBUs) No finishing hops needed. Maybe try some Crystal or Challenger or Chinook if you must though.

For Spices:
Add some of the following about 3 minutes before the end of the boil:

1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Allspice
.25 tsp Cloves
.25 tsp Nutmeg
2 oz Ginger
2 tbsp Mulling Spices
.5 tsp Cardamom
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 stick Brewers Licorice
Small dash of Spruce Essence
1 oz Coriander
.5 oz Orange or Tangerine Peel
1 tsp anise
1 vanilla bean or whatever else you can come up with!

California Ale Yeast is always a good default on this one. The Trappist yeast works well with the Maple syrup, sugar or honey along with cinnamon, nutmeg, etc…

The English Ale leaves it fruity and malty and the British or Irish would work well in any coffee beer.
I’ve never lagered this one, but that might be interesting…..

Thats all folks!

Hello Brewers,

The busy brewing season is upon us. The weather is cooling off at long last and it is time to dust off the brewing equipment. Lots of updates this week. Next week I am going to do a special focus on liquid yeast with White Labs pitchable yeasts. It will include yeast descriptions, statistics and recipes.

The new Zymurgy special issue is out. The focus this year is on hops and it looks great! And latest word on the new George Fix book is that it will be available on Nov. 1st. Until then,

Cheers,

Tom

CONTENTS:

BALLAST POINT

FOR SALE

FREE WYEAST

NEW GRAIN

PUB UPDATES

RECIPES

BALLAST POINT

The beer engine has arrived! We currently have our Porter hooked up to it. Soon we hope to have our cask-conditioned Copper Ale on draught. The beer engine is a traditional British method of serving beer. It ‘pulls’ the beer out of the keg instead of it being forced out with CO2. This gives the beer a lower carbonation level and nice big soap-bubble head. The cask Copper will be dry-hopped and naturally carbonated. Look for at next time you are at the brewery!

Barleywine fans rejoice! We will be doing a special seasonal batch of our popular barleywine style ale. So keep on the lookout this Winter for Ballast Point Navigator Barleywine at your favorite watering hole, and at the December 18th Strong Ale Festival. Because of the limited batch size we will only be selling kegs to our draught accounts, sorry. Tasters will still be available to quench those thirsty pallets.

FOR SALE

We have a 20# CO2 cylinder with a brand new hydro-test date on it and CO2 already filled into it. It is selling for $90 on its own or for $170 with a complete kegging system. The tank is at the Linda Vista store. If you are interested you can pick it up there.

Also on the selling block is another keg fridge, this one very different from the last one. This is a medium size, older fridge that is approximately 24″ by 24″ and 4 1/2′ high. It comes with three pin-lock kegs, fittings, 3 taps mounted through the side with drip tray, CO2 cylinder and a built in dolly to roll it around. The price is $350 and the fridge is up at the Solana Beach store. If you have any questions or want to look at it call the store at 794-2739. Yuseff is the one who mainly works there, so you can just talk to him.

Next week I will be getting the model number for GE dorm-size fridge that nicely fits two ball-lock kegs and a 5# CO2 tank in it with no alterations! The fridge sells new for around $325. It is one of the best dorm size keg fridges I’ve ever seen (and believe me, I’ve seen quite a few of them).

Just one note while I’m on the kegging kick:

We now have a keg fridge conversion kit for turning regular fridges into commercial kegorators.

It includes:

CO2 Tank

Regulator

Sanke Beer Tap

4″ Shank and Beer Faucet Tap

Stainless Steel Drip tray

Cleaning Brush

Faucet Wrench

Draught hosing and Clamps

The whole kit is only $225. Just add the fridge!

FREE WYEAST

We have some Wyeast that is 3 or more months old. We are now giving this away free with any purchase over $20 until its all gone! New Wyeasts will continue to be available for $4.95 each.

NEW GRAIN

We now have the new Caramel Wheat Malt. I don’t know the lovibond rating on it yet, but I’d guess moderate at about 60 or so. My favorite idea for this grain so far is to make a dunkel-weizen with wheat malt, roasted wheat and cara-wheat. I think it would also work well in a porter. This is probably a better bet than malted wheat when using wheat as a steeping grain for head retention since it is fully converted and has no starch in it. Have fun experimenting with it. I’ll let you know when I get around to brewing with it.

PUB UPDATES

No medals were won this year at the Great American Beer Festival by our local breweries. Although HBM customer Jim Weiner of La Jolla repeated as a medalist in the AHA national competition winning a gold in the porter category! Congrats Jim. Look for his winning recipe in this month’s issue of Zymurgy. Congrats also to White Labs yeast which was used on three gold-medal beers, including Jim’s porter!

Alesmith will be sending a keg of their ESB to the Real Ale festival in Chicago next month on Nov. 8th. If you’re lucky enough to go, be sure and check it out.

Much Ado about Pizza Port!

New Brewer Tomme Arthur is shaking things up at Pizza Port. He will be making slight changes to many of the beers over the next few months. For starters he is now using generous portions of the British Hugh Baird crystal malts and specialty grains. He is also introducing new beers that will include some Belgian offerings by the end of the year. And here is something to look forward to: Troy Hojel, former brewer at the La Cruda Brewery downtown, is coming down from No. Cal to brew a special batch of their Gold Medal Porter at Pizza Port next month. So make sure to get up to the Port and check it all out.

On another note:

The boneyards barleywine will debut this Sunday at Pizza Port. Make sure to get your pint before it is all gone! Tomme is also looking to hire an assistant brewer. The work is probably part-time for around $6/hour (I’m guessing). If you are interested call him at the brewery at 481-7332 or drop off a resume.

Hops! downtown is closed, but will reopen as a brewpub. The rumors I’ve got say David Cohen bought the bar and equipment and is intending to reopen with a more casual atmosphere that will include some pool tables.

If anyone is intending to go wine tasting in Temecula let me recommend a stop at Mount Palomar winery. Very solid effort all through the tasting list. The port is quite good and the sherry is dessert wine heaven.

RECIPES

This last class I brewed an English style Pale Ale with the new Burton Ale yeast from White Labs. The yeast is very similar to what Bass uses on its Pale Ale. the yeast has a nice butterscotch maltiness to it that blends wonderfully with the mild fuggle aroma. I used golden brown sugar for some color and to help dry the beer out. Challenger and Fuggle are both traditional British hops. Challenger is a British descendent of Northern Brewer while Fuggle is the ancestor of the American Willamette.

English Pale Ale

7# Pale Malt Extract

.5# Golden Brown Sugar – 15 minutes

.5# British Crystal 70L

.5# Dark Carastan 37L

2 oz Special Roast 50L

1.5 oz Challenger Pellets 7.9%AA Boil

.5 oz Fuggle – 15 minutes

1 oz Fuggle – Finish

White Labs Burton Ale Yeast (or try their British Ale yeast)

That’s all folks,

Tom