Someone mentioned beer and it got me thinking. I haven't homebrewed in two months.... I'm an extract homebrewer. I don't see the need to go to all grain simply because it takes more time, more equipment, and doesn't yield markedly better beer IMO. However, if I was making a living at it, all grain is much, much cheaper to produce en masse.
That said, any favorite recipes out there? I'm an IPA and Pale ale man myself, and living in Portland, Oregon, I can say I've been drinking microbrews almost exclusively for over 10+ years now. Not to be a beer snob...but, okay, I'm a beersnob.
Most of the stuff out of Milwaukie is affectionately referred to as panther piss in my area. Don't get me wrong, there's still of ton of this crap sold in this area, but something like 68% of the money spent on beer in this area goes to the microbrewers.
One of my favorite recipes is this one. If you like hoppy beers, you'll like this one. If you ever visited a McMenamin's in the PNW, this is a close cousin to Hammerhead Pale Ale.
12 oz English Crystal Malt
7lbs Light Malt Extract
Steep grains in cheesecloth bag in about 2 gallons of cold water and heat until it reaches 180-190F. Stir and work grain sock well to insure good malt flavoring, once temp achieved, remove sock of grain. Pour in extract, bring to boil, remove from heat repeatedly to keep the frothy foam from making one great big sticky mess on your stove. Once it settles down and just boils, start a 1 hour timer and add your hops.
Hop schedule (60 minute boil)
1/2 oz Columbus Hops (60min left)
1/2 oz Cascade Hops (30min left)
1/4 oz Columbus Hops (10min left)
1/4 oz Cascade Hops (5min left)
Pour hot Wort into your bucket that has some ice and cold tap water (or distilled) in the bucket. You don't want to melt your bucket's bottom. Strain out your hops and top off your bucket with cold water to a full 5 gallons. I pour this water through the hops to remove more of the residual sugar out of them and keep the risk of contamination lower. Fermenter buckets are 6 gallon food grade poly types. This leaves about 2" for the foam to form at the top. Do not overfill or it'll make a mess while fermenting. Hops are a good antiseptic for your beer, they keep bacteria at bay and also provide that bitter flavor. Whip up your wort to aerate it by using a large santized spoon or similar. Some go so far as using an airstone and aquarium pump to aerate. Should be 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit when done. If much above this, put a lid on it and let it cool or else it could kill your yeast.
Wyeast or White Labs liquid yeast.
This recipe, I like two or three different strains, so I'll mention more than one. However, you only pitch one kind, not mulitples. You can use dry yeasts, and they work fine, but liquid yeasts usually provide a little better flavor. I always keep a dry yeast pack on hand in case my fermentation does not start within 24 hours, I can get it going with dry yeast as an emergency measure. Only had to do this once.
British Ale yeast - dry british ale, pretty traditional style
London Ale yeast - british ale style with a little more malty finish
California Ale yeast - another good middle of the road ale yeast.
Edinburg - maltier finish IIRC, don't use it much
Put the air trap on it, set it someplace tepid. I'm in the PNW, 65 degrees F is normal in my beer spot in my house pretty much year round with the exception of the hot summer months.
About a week later (60s bubble interval), transfer to carboy.
Leave in carboy until clear or bubbles reach 90s intervals.
Now, ready to bottle.
Add 1 cup corn sugar to a pint of water and boil. This sanitizes the sugar.
Pour into a sanitized plastic fermenter bucket and rack (siphon) your beer in.
This gives the yeast a little more sugar to carbonate your beer in your bottles.
Fill up your bottles leaving about 1" of airspace between the beer and the cap. Wait about a two weeks, keeping the beer in about the same temperature realm as it fermented. And then chill, pop, and....relax, have a homebrew. If it's not carbonated enough, you'll need to wait a few more days for it to completely carbonate. If it has not fully carbonated by 1 month, something went wrong, probably a sanitation issue, or you did not mix in the sugar enough.
Sanitation is key, beyond that, it's like making a Betty Crocker cake. If you can follow a recipe, you can make your own beer. I went into procedural detail for those that have never done it. I can usually just write the recipe down in a few lines and go from there because no matter what you brew, the process is effectively the same every time. The variation comes in the ingredients and the timing of when you add them, not much more than that. I've brewed over 100 batches in the past 10 years or so and found it to be a pretty satisfying hobby. You'll save money, but you'll probably drink more beer too, so no promises.
It can be a lot like reloading firearms. You start out thinking it's for economy, then you end up shooting a lot more...because you can.
