Mint Double Chocolate Stout won 2nd Place in local brew competition

We seriously have the best neighbors!!! They are all very nice and fun to hang out with... not mention the fact that they let us have a mini farm in our backyard!!

Our next door neighbor Eric hosts the regular "brew day" where these 5 crazy guys get together to experiment and concoct the most delicious home brew beer!! In fact, they actually just WON 2nd place in our local brew competition for their Mint Double Chocolate Stout!!! I must say that it is a VERY unique and delicious beer. 

Way to go guys! Now its 5:00pm...I think Ill go enjoy one of those right now!!

Blackberry Pilsner!! Turned out Good!! :)

The beer is brewed, bottled and set and it tastes GREAT! We are super excitted. We heard that the longer it sets the better it will taste so since we have 55 bottles waiting on us we will have some that taste amazing because it is going to take us a while to drink all those!!

Beer Brew Continental Pilsner Phase 2

Well its been 9 days from Phase 1 and the beer is ready for bottling!!

BEFORE YOU START! Sterilize EVERYTHING!! Thoroughly clean ALL equipment with "One Step Cleanser"(or similar product, follow instructions on package). Dissolve 1 TBSP of One Step in 1 gallon of warm water, Wash bottles and equipment with the solution. Rinsing in not necessary with One Step. Seriously this is probably the MOST important step in home brewing. If you don't sanitize your equipment...ALL your equipment... then bacteria will grow and it will destroy your work. What a bummer to wait several months and then have nasty tasting wine...so CLEAN ALL YOUR STUFF!!

  

We took all the labels off of all the bottles a few days ago with some "Super Grunge Remover" then right before bottling we ran the bottles through the "sanatize" cycle on the dishwasher...then we put One Step through a funnel into each bottle... Bottles should be very clean! You can get some pretty neat bottle cleaning equipment, but that just isnt in the budget right now so we just used a funnel and poured One Step from bottle to bottle :)

(continued from Phase 1)

STEP 9: Siphon the beer (avoid disturbing the yeast sediment) into the strong bottles or a pressure barrel. CAUTION: use only returnable beer bottles. One trip/non-returnable bottles are not adequate to withstand conditioning pressure.

(We put some thin fabric over a funnel to help catch any extra sediment particles that might happen to come through the siphon. Once again, you can buy some pretty nifty filter kits, but we just used a funnel!)

Leave the Sediment Behind

STEP 10: Add 1/2 teaspoonful of light spraymalt per pint to each bottle or a max of 3 oz per 5 gallon pressure barrel. Sugar may be used instead. (We used corn sugar instead of Spraymalt...Once Again - FUNNEL!)

We have some awesome friends and thanks to Cory and Jaden we had a great little assembly line going!!

Syphon the beer into the prepared bottles (prepared with sugar or spraymalt)...or if you have a kegging system this would be the time to put the beer into your pressure barrel. 

STEP 11: Cap and seal the bottles securely and stand them in a warm place 65-70 degrees F for 2 days.

Cory, I dont think you will be able to cap all those bottles with your bare hands...Bottle Cappers work wonders!

STEP 12: Finally, move the bottles to a cool place for at least 21 days or until the beer is clear, before drinking.

Beer Brew Continental Pilsner Phase 1!!

Beer Brew!!! (Phase 1 of Continental Pilsner!!)

We have loved making wine here at home and are about to take on our first attempt at beer brewing...

Yes, we got a kit for this first try, but we are looking forward to making another round of beer from scratch....just not this time. Some of our friends in California even grow their own hops in the back yard and make the most amazing beer!! But for now we are starting with this kit :)

It is a Continental Pilsner and the brewing instructions are:

BEFORE YOU START! Sterilize EVERYTHING!!

Thoroughly clean ALL equipment with "One Step Cleanser"(or similar product, follow instructions on package). Dissolve 1 TBSP of One Step in 1 gallon of warm water, Wash bottles and equipment with the solution. Rinsing in not necessary with One Step. Seriously this is probably the MOST important step in home brewing. If you don't sanitize your equipment...ALL your equipment... then bacteria will grow and it will destroy your work. What a bummer to wait several months and then have nasty tasting wine...so CLEAN ALL YOUR STUFF!!

STEP 1: Place the two cans in hot water for 5 minutes to soften contents.

STEP 2: Open the two cans and poor the contents into a clean and sterilized fermenter (Use a sterile spatula to Get it ALL!)

STEP 3: Boil 6 pints of water and add to the fermenter

STEP 4: Mix thoroughly to ensure that the malt extract is completely dissolved.

STEP 5: Add 29 pints of cold water to bring the volume up to 5 UK Gallons. Stir and let stand until the temp reaches 65-70 degrees F

STEP 6: Sprinkle in the yeast supplied and stir

STEP 7: Cover the fermenter, put your airlock in place and place in a warm area (65-70 degrees F) and leave to ferment (NOTE: Beer ferments much more aggressively than wine so make sure you put a towel around the base of your fermentor ...or put it somewhere that won't matter too much if it overflows)

STEP 8: Fermentation will be complete when bubbles cease to rise (7-8 days) or if you use a hydrometer, when the gravity remains constant at a figure below 1014.

CONTINUED WITH STEPS 9-12 in about a week!

STEP 9: Siphon the beer (avoid disturbing the yeast sediment) into the strong bottles or a pressure barrel. CAUTION: use only returnable beer bottles. One trip/non-returnable bottles are not adequate to withstand conditioning pressure.

STEP 10: Add 1/2 teaspoonful of light spraymalt per pint to each bottle or a max of 3 oz per 5 gallon pressure barrel. Sugar may be used instead.

STEP 11: Cap and seal the bottles securely and stand them in a warm place 65-70 degrees F for 2 days.

STEP 12: Finally, move the bottles to a cool place for at least 21 days or until the beer is clear, before drinking.

Supplies for Home Brew Beer

Supplies for Home Brew BEER:

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Make sure you have all the necessary supplies BEFORE you start!! Check your local Brew store for the necessary supplies...shipping can really add up on some of the larger items!

• One Step Cleanser
• Beer Kit or Beer Ingredients
• 6 Gallon Pail (One)
• Large Stainless Steel Pot (to boil water)
• Rubber Stopper &; Air Lock - we have several extra Air Locks just in case 1 breaks, they are super cheap and can really make or break your brew!
• Thermometer
• Siphon Hose
• Racking Tube
• Large Spoon (long enough that it can reach into the bottom of your bucket)
• Bottle Filler
• Bottles (ask friends and family to start collecting bottles, or check your local brew store for their old bottles...they usually sell them alot cheaper than the new ones!)
• Super Grunge Remover (or similar item) this will be necessary if you are using recycled bottles that you need to get the sticky icky labels off!
• Bottle Caps and a Capper (not necessary if you are using a keg)

The easiest option would be to buy a home brew kit but that isnt always the least expensive option. Check garage sales and craigslist for wine kits and carboys. We got our kit at a garage sale for $10. Then if a few items are missing they are relatively inexpensive to replace instead of spending hundreds of dollars upfront for a home brew kit. We slowly collected our supplies over about a years time and then when we finally had all the equipment then we took off, be patient and save money :)