Update- "A Boy Named Pseudo-Sue" was brewed!

This past Friday night I brewed this beer.  Hit all my numbers but I can make improvements!

1. Rebuild my controller box to run two 110V heat sticks.
     a. add switch for pump
2. Drill holes to mount elements in 10Gal kettle.


What worked well.

1. the hot water pump
2. the false bottom on the 10Gal mash tun
3. the volume marked kettle
4. THE PLATE CHILLER



Overall, I am quite happy how the brew day went, minus one of the two didn't work.  I am amazed at how well the plate chiller worked and how I ever brewed without out.  Don't get me wrong, no-chill served me well for many years but the plate chiller removed the needed steps the following day!

A Boy Named Pseudo-Sue (American Pale Ale)

It has been a long time, mostly because I've been slowly changing my brew rig.  The last pieces are set to arrive today-ish and I hope to brew in the next week.

The Recipe is based of of the beer PseudoSue from Toppling Goliath Brewing:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23222/72170/

This is what I came up with:

10lb Pale
1  lb Flaked Barley
1  lb Honey Malt
4oz Citra @ 10min
2oz Citra @ 5min
Northwest Ale Yeast
4oz Citra Dry hop

Medium body profile
ABV: ~5.6%
IBUs: ~76
Color: 6.2 SRM

El Gaupo (the handsome one) Bavarian Hefeweizen

El Gaupo (the handsome one) Bavarian Hefeweizen

So I got a chance to brew last night to prep for our halloween party.....  Easy night- easy beer (total time- 4:00hr)


5.5lb Wheat malt
3.5lb Pale malt
0.5lb Biscuit malt

1oz Sazz Hops 

Mashed at 154 F

Petite Saison or Mother's Little Helper

So,

I have a tried and true beer that is always a hit with people and I make slight modifications of this beer every time e.g. all Citra hops or all Amarilo hops, even all Falconers Flight hops. The problem is that at 7% ABV one could not have quite a few.  In an attempt to change that, I have tweaked the recipe to be 4.0%.   Tasting notes to follow.



6lb Pale Malt
1.5lb Flaked Corn
3.2oz white wheat

Sterling hops at:  .25oz at 20 min
                            1oz at 5 min
                            1oz at 0 min

Belle Saison Yeast

We Don't Want the Irish Stout

We Don't Want the Irish Stout

Funny name for an easy drinking non-heavy Irish Stout that is not only easy to make but is great for black and tans.


Here is the recipe:

4.75lb Pale Malt
2lb Barley, Flaked
1lb Black Barley


2oz Goldings and a good Irish Yeast

The Outer Limits Pale Ale

 So it really seemed to be a hit..... Beer reviewed by the Journal club here (4.47 out of 5): http://home.uchicago.edu/arij/journalclub/ My Review:

Aroma: strong fruity/citrus hop aroma, fruity esters- really enjoy the mix of Citra and Amarillo hops.
Appearance: light amber, good head retention, clear.
Flavor: Moderate hop flavor that is smooth with little bite. American hops, citrusy.
Mouthfeel: light body with good carbonation. Overall smooth finish.
Overall Impression: A pale, refreshing and hoppy ale

  Would I brew again? YES!

Time for a post..........

So here I am........ It was early september and I realized outside of two beers that need aging (Belgium Dubbel- "Double Cross" and a Belgium Quad- "St. Dainius") I had no beers for our annual Halloween Party. I switched into high gear and brewed 3 beers in two days. The Outer Limits -Pale ale 4.7% and 60+ IBU's (hop bursted) Tangerine Speedo -Belgium Wit 4.5% and 20 IBU's 2 Our Father -Patersbier or known as a Belgium Single/Enkel this is the second version I didn't stop there- I was worried that the beers wouldn't be ready for Halloween. So I brewed two more "quick Beers" as in the yeast is very fast. So I brewed these two more: Pumpkin Smashed -Pumpkin ale with Belgium Yeast (Hybrid of the sure fast and very dry 3711 yeast) We Don't Want the Irish -Irish Dry Stout

Quad update

So, No picture yet but a quick sample of the Belgium Quad "St. Dainius". Wow, almost ready to rack this beer..... 1.012 and tastes fantastic! Will post more as this goes in and out of the keg.

St. Dainius (The Quad)

So here the deal- I wanted to try to make a Belgium quad (similar to Westvletern 12). I used a super easy recipe and 4 pds of candi Syrup (2 pds of Dark and 2 pds of amber). I figured if the monks made their syrup so should I- the method I used was a little DME and base (slacking Lime)added to the sugar. http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/2013/09/making-belgian-candi-sugar.html I did modify the method a little- I dislike the hard candy. So once I got the temp back down to 290F I SLOWLY added 1 Cup of water and transferred the candi syrup to two preheated mason jars. The amber came out very fruity- I got lots of cherry, plum, flowery, stone fruits. The Dark about 75 SRM- gave lots of toasted marshmallow, coffee and some chocolate. Tasting the wort (1.089 SG)was amazing!

Dubble Cross

I do enjoy Belgium doubbels but sometimes it is hard to find good examples. Rewind a few years ago while celebrating Valentines Day in Historic Savannah GA with my wife- we found a great craft bar with good food that had a couple of dubbels on tap. Both were US made, I would rather not say which breweries, and both were *in my opinion* poor examples. Both were thin and one had way too many spice additions, when I think of a dubbel- Chimay, Westmale, Ommegang, etc. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. After much research and several tries at making my own Dark Candy sugar- I think I found the closest way, thanks http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.com/2013/09/making-belgian-candi-sugar.html My hope to to try and make several Dubbels using various methods: Up first- Doubble Cross, no candy sugar was harmed in this beer. Pils, pale, caramunich and special B malts only. I hope to check it tonight and move it to secondary. The Yeasties will then munch on some Belgium Enkel (single) till my next whack at the dubbel. My hope is to develope a recipe that is simple(Pils/Pale and candy sugar) and good. Uncarbed tasting notes: Aroma- Light honey, flowery, hints of alcohol and plums App- dark golden color Flavor- SMOOTH, fruity with very little hop bite (uncarbed beer), hint of alcohol, slight earthy. Mouthfeel- Gonna wait till I carb this up. 1.060-1.004 in two weeks! 7.1%

Rye IPA

A few years back I ran across a bottle of Sky High Rye, from Arcadia Ales. The addition of Rye made the beer outstanding, so here was my take on it. I brewed this for my dad's best friend "Jack". Although they didn't like it- I really liked it and so did my homebrew club. I used 2pds of rye malt in 5gal batch.

Funky Baby Monk-E

A Belgium Tripel that I brewed when I told your gonna be a Dad! I based my recipe on Dragonmead Final Absolution Overall at nine months this beer tasted incredible and at 8.7%, very deceptive.

Let me introduce myself.....

My name is Daniel and I created Blind Monk Brewing shortly after a trip to Belgium in 1999. It was an eye opening experience in which I was transformed from a BMC drinker to a handcrafted beer drinker. I remember walking into one of my first Cathedrals in Belgium and being completely blown away by it's beauty and having been in a square the day before in brussels drinking a trappist beer thinking "If I could make something like this I would have to call it Blind Monk Brewing". In this blog, I hope to showcase what I am serving and what's gonna be brewed next with some reviews of commercials beers folded in the mix. My brewing history starts with my dad's best friend who brewed on occasion when I was a child and even watched a few times. At the age of 25 the seed of homebrewing beer finally started to take hold- I started to do a lot of reading about the subject because it was very difficult to find the Belgium beers I fell in love with in the United States. With a name for my brewery in hand for several years, I finally, in 2004 I brewed my first beer- a Canadian lager as an extract kit. Shortly after, I started brewing partial grain (3 times) and quickly moved to all grain brewing. I quickly moved to making Belgium beers after the Canadian lager, a Belgium Blond followed by a saison. The night I came up with the name Blind Monk Brewing, I was joking with a former college mentor..... Saying they make it look so easy that even a Blind Monk could brew beer. The following day marveling over the Cathedrals of Brugge..... Well you read that part I posted above! Happy Brewing,