Brewer's Best Robust Porter

Date: 1-26-08
Brewing Music: Pearl Jam - Live On Two Legs
Brewing Beverage: Dos Equis Amber Stay thirsty, my friends.

I moved the Pilsner into the secondary tonight.

Next, I started a Porter from a make-shift brewer's best kit. It smells great as it's boiling right now. Taking the advice of someone who commented here, I'm going to order a kit from Austin Home Brew online and see how it works out. Also, I've made arrangements to attend as brew-off in early March so I can see how people have set up their all-grain systems. A little sampling won't be too bad either.

All malt, very dark and bitter. A great dark ale combining crystal and chocolate malts for a great tasting brew full of flavor and body.

Starting Specific Gravity: 1.050
Planned Fermentation: One week primary, one week secondary

6.6 lbs. Plain Amber Malt Extract
8 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt
4 oz. Crushed Black Patent Malt
4 oz. Crushed Chocolate Malt
1 oz. Clustering Hops (bittering)
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops(finishing)
1 package of Nottingham Dry Brewing Yeast

Purchase Kit Here

Brewer's Best Continental Pilsner

Date: 1-19-08
Brewing Music: Flogging Molly - Swagger
Brewing Beverage: 2 Below Winter Ale by New Belgium Brewery

Tonight I started my third, and what I think will be my last, Brewer's Best recipe kit. The Continental Pilsner.

I am hoping to start making my own recipes for my next few brews then moving on to more advanced techniques. I want to do this so I can get an entry into an Arizona home brewing competition. Being a new brewer, any feedback I can get from the judges in this competition will be great info. So, I need to create a few new brews for entry between now and the deadline of March 11.



For now, I decided on the Pilsner to make sure I had a wider range of experience when it comes to the Brewer's Best kits.

Pale color with full malt flavor. This beer can be enjoyed anytime to quench your thirst. A light beer with the infamous aroma and character achieved by using the Czech Saaz hop.

Starting Specific Gravity: 1.046
Planned Fermentation: One week primary, one week secondary (It worked for the stout, so why not try again?)

3.3 lbs. Plain Light Malt Extract
2 lbs. Plain Light Dry Malt Extract
12 oz. Crushed Carapils Malt
1 oz. Perle Hops (bittering)
1 oz. Saaz Hops (finishing)
1 package of Nottingham Dry Brewing Yeast

Purchase Kit Here

Brewer's Best Russian Imperial Stout

The Russian Imperial Stout was excellent. It's the first beer I made that I felt more than confident handing out to people to get their opinion on. A 20-year brewing veteran gave it a positive review. It's dark, strong, and delicious. And I think I owe it all to a mistake.

I was originally planning on fermenting the beer for only a week. However, I got sick and was unable to bottle it. So, it sat in a secondary fermentation bucket for an additional week. This, along with the fact that my fermentation lock clogged and caused the lid of bucket to blow off, made me worry that my beer might be ruined. I was completely wrong. By the time bottling finally happened, the stuff was smelling up my apartment- and not in a bad way. It was fantastic. If I could change anything, I might look for a slightly more bitter type of hops. Or simply more of them.

This full-bodied dark brew has an intense roast flavor with a huge malt influence. The slight hop bitterness is offset by a touch of sweetness from the grains.

Alcohol by Volume: 7.5%
Final Specific Gravity: 1.030
Fermentation Temperature: 70°F
Primary Fermentation Time: 7 days
Secondary Fermentation: 7 days

6.6 lbs. Plain Dark Malt Extract
2 lbs. Plain Dark Dry Malt Extract
8 oz. Crushed Roasted Barley
8 oz. Crushed Black Patent
1 lb. Crushed Crystal Malt
1 oz. Yakima Magnum Hops (Bittering)
1 package of Nottingham Dry Brewing Yeast

Purchase Kit Here

Brewer's Best Red Ale

The Brewer's Best Red Ale kit was my first try at recipe brewing. Instead of boiling a pre-mixed can and tossing it into the fermenter, recipe brewing actually involves making your own wort. The directions were easy to follow and what resulted was fantastic. Well, it tasted good, unlike my previous attempts at brewing. The only negative from this batch was that half of the batch was drank prematurely by an eager house guest. But, I felt like I was on to something. For the first time, what was in my glass actually tasted like a beer I would go out and buy.

Here's the specifics on the red ale:

A medium-bodied brew with a nice red hue. This recipe is as smooth as it gets with nice balance of caramel crystal malts and a touch of dark grain.

Alcohol by Volume: 4.5%
Final Specific Gravity: 1.009
Frementation Temperature: 74°F
Primary Frementation Time: 7 days
Secondary Fermentation: None

3.3 lbs. Plain Light Malt Extract
2 lbs. Plain Light Dry Malt Extract
12 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt
2 oz. Willamette Hops (Half for bittering, half for finishing)
1 package of Nottingham Dry Brewing Yeast

Purchase Kit Here

The Canned Malt Kits

My first three attempts at brewing were done using canned malt kits. I understand many brewers start wth this method and never make it past this point. Personally, I don't blame them. I don't know if it was just the fact that I was a new brewer, but these kits were horrible. I made the Irish Stout, The Great Ale, then an IPA. All three were equally disgusting. I think I still have about 30 bottles of these sitting in a garage somewhere. They had no flavor, or at least no desirable flavor. They left me feeling like I was cheated out of $20 and the small amount of time it took to boil and throw into the fermentation bucket. Instead of going into more detail, I can summarize the canned malt kits with a single image.

My Equipment

This is my first set of brewing equipment. It was purchased at What Ale's Ya in Glendale, Az. An apartment warming gift from my dad.

The True Brew Complete Kit



1 - 6.5 Gallon Plastic Primary Fermenting Bucket with Lid and Drilled Stopper
1 - 6.5 Gallon Plastic Bottling Bucket with Plastic Spigot
1 - 3 Piece Airlock
1 - Springless Bottle Filler
1 - Hydrometer
1 - 3/8" Racking Cane
1 - 5' x 5/16" Siphon Hose
1 - Bottle Brush
1 - Double Lever Capper