23 May 2008

Papa's got a brand new brew!

What began back in Goochland County VA as the Bathtub Brewery has gone through many iterations, produced much to be proud of and a few over which we still hang our head in shame. Halcyon days, friends, full of wonder, extremes of temperature and plenteous brew. Having shared many partners (but never owing money all around town) in this endeavor, I have resurrected eight years of fine brewing tradition in the northernmost corner of the Shenandoah Valley. Our brewery, as our beer, is as yet unnamed but big plans are in the works including kegs, taps and occasional cross-border trips with trunks full of contraband and ringers - with weight - at the ready.
To wit, some pictures, our recipe and a call for creative nomenclature (both beer and brewery)


Ingredients (3 Gallon batch)
3.75 lbs Coopers Wheat Malt Extract

1/2 lb Crystal Malt
1/2 lb Pilsen Malt


2 oz. US Saaz Hops (boil), 2 tsp Grains of Paradise (1 boil, 1 finishing)

1 packet Nottingham Ale Yeast (pictured above), 3 Gal. Water



Saturday, May 17
Proceedings

Steep Crystal/Pilsen malt in 2 gal. water, bringing to a slow boil
Remove grains at boil and add Malt Extract, 2 oz US Saaz Hops, 1 tsp Grains of Paradise
Boil 60 minutes
Remove hops, boil 10 minutes
Add 1 tsp Grains of Paradise
Boil 5 minutes, remove grains
Cool Wort
Add to Carboy, top off with cold water.
Pitch yeast.
Wait.

Sunday, May 18

Enjoy the sweet aroma and delightful experience of happily bubble wort, soon to be beer.
Updates forthcoming after bottling.
Cheers!
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2 comments:

Mark aka "Perm" said...

Nice! I'm curious about the mix of ingredients...English ale yeast, wheat malt, Saaz hops, and grains of paradise. Sort of a Burton (not Tim) take on a wheat-Saison combo. Very intriguing, sir! I bet it's delicious, too. I'll be scheming of good names (both for it and your larger operation).
I'm also interested in the kegging enterprise. It's something I've pondered for down the road, but it still seems confusing to me with the whole carbon-gas thing. I'm looking for a good primer and a guide through the swampy quagmire of kegging-supplies-catalog inventories. I'd love it if you came and gave me notes. Now that I've got the venue I wanted.

24 May 2008 at 12:41
TheGhost said...

Wade kegged his last batch a few months ago and seems to have had good results. His primary advice - don't use whole leaf hops without a hop bag. Apparently the pour from the keg is sllooowww.

We came close to kegging in Goochland before realizing that the best part of homebrewing was sharing, and that no one was coming all the way out to the Gooch to help us drink all that beer.

I think it's relatively inexpensive ($200 or so?) to get set up if you buy used cornelius kegs. Papazian talks about kegging in "the bible". Good man though he may be, I can't 100% attest at the moment to whether or not he's thorough.

27 May 2008 at 11:31

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