HOMEBREW: Snowday Stout

It has been a long and bitterly cold winter. However, the Brewski Brothers have been keeping warm by brewing and indulging ourselves in some of the finest beers in the world. Since most of Columbus is shutdown today due to inclimate weather, it is only fitting that we introduce a new homebrew: Snowday Stout. Brewed with Maker's Mark bourbon, french press espresso, organic maple and agave syrups, this oak-aged black beauty will be one to savor for many snowdays to come.

We're back... and with a little homebrew

Well, it's been way too long of a hiatus. My lazy ass hasn't posted anything in over a year. And Rob... well dude's been lazier than me. On the bright side, our collective laziness has inspired many great homebrews and left plenty of time to drink some of the best beer there is to offer. So, about this homebrew. Well, like most we offer, it's a little different. This poor little beer is doomed to be tormented. We start with the basic concept of a Belgian-style tripel, but with some lemon and orange peel added as well as copious amounts of honey. All the other Belgian beers will mock it for its eccentricity.

To make matters worse for this beer, it is doomed to be tormented on the playground, for its name rhymes with a part of female (or male i suppose) anatomy. No, her name isn't Dolores... What we have here is "Gipple Tripel". Gipple, Gipple bo bipple, me mi mo.... you get the rest.

Like any poor teen, though, the awkwardness of puberty declines, and when this beauty is fully mature she will be dazzling. Updates are sure to come, but for now she's still in primary fermentation. After that will come secondary where she'll be dry-hopped and have more honey added.

Now, while brewing this beer, Rob and I had the pleasuring of sampling a rare beer in Hoptimum from Sierra Nevada. A double IPA that uses all whole cone hops and comes in at a huge 100 IBUs and 10.4% ABV. The beer pours a clear amber/orange with a frothy white head. The aroma is not as overwhelming as I had anticipated. Lots of resiny hops, mango, slight citrus, and some pine. The flavor is very aggressive with a very initial bitterness that really lingers and doesn't leave much room for a malt backbone. The hops are very astringent with only a slight sweetness coming through. The beer isn't quite balanced, but it certainly doesn't lose any points for this, as Sierra Nevada wants this to be a hop forward and aggressive beer. Two thumbs up, very nice, great success!

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Hooray!!!  It's once again football season.  It's that magical time of the year where I can't wait to watch my favorite teams and cheer them on to victory.... or wait 'til three weeks into the season to find myself already cursing the coaching and overpaid athletes that ruin my weekend because they suck and cause me undue stress because I am too avid of a fan.

Well anyway... more often than not I find myself having a few drinks while watching the game.  But I don't like to be burdened down with high gravity, complex beers.  There's a time and a place for them and, in my opinion, during a football game is not one of those times.  I need a good session beer that is not lacking flavor, but isn't going to make me quit after drinking one or two of them.

Here's Dead Guy Ale from Rogue.  A delightfully refreshing Maibock.  The beer pours a slightly hazy, light amber color with a very creamy, yellowish head.  The aroma is caramel and grassy with a tinge of yeast to it.  The flavor is a lot of sweet malt with some orange, a slight fruitiness, and an excellent dry, hoppy finish.  I'm not really sure this is much like a German Maibock, but it is still a refreshing, delicious beer that I tend to find myself grabbing just before the game.  Give it a try.

HOMEBREW: Dayman

So here we are finding ourselves in August. The air is thick, the temperature hot, and the sun is bright. In our ode to the sun, we Brewski Brothers have come up with our summertime ale. We present to you Dayman. A super hopped up, light ale that focuses on the fantastic aromas and flavors of American hops while contributing little in the way of bittering. The name is an homage to our favorite show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Dayman is fighter of the Nightman... Champion of the sun... and if you have a few too many, you may also think you are a master of karate and friendship. A quick brew to make, so enjoy.





1.) In 3 gallons of water, steep 1/2 lb of carapils, 1/2 lb belgian munich, and 1/2 lb 2 row pale ale between 155-160 degrees F for 30 min with 1 tsp of gypsum.
2.) Bing to a boil and add 3.3 lbs of pilsen LME, 1 lb of pilsen DME, 1lb of wheat DME, 1 lb of extra light DME, 1/2 oz of palisade hops (6.7%), 1/2 oz cascade (7.5%), and then start 60 minute boil.
3.) With 15 minutes left, add 1 oz amarillo (7.5%), 1 1/4 oz bitter orange peel, 1 1/4 oz lemon peel, 1/2 oz sweet orange peel, and 1 tsp irish moss.
4.) With 10 minutes left, add 1 oz centennial (9.7%).
5.) With 5 minutes left, add 1 oz cascade (6.3%) and 1 oz simcoe (12.7%).
6.) Shut off heat after 60 minutes and chill wort to 70 degrees F and then pitch White Labs WLP 008 East Coast Ale yeast.
7.) After one week, rack to a secondary fermenter and dry hop with 1/2 oz simcoe (12.7%).
8.) Five days later, dry hop with 1/2 oz of simcoe (12.7%).
9.) Bottle the next day with 1 1/4 cup DME. The beer will be ready in 2 weeks.

Homebrew: The Waffler

The Brewski Brothers are proud to present to you one of our latest brews. Bored with simply brewing according to guidelines, we decided to see what would happen if we hopped the hell out of Belgian-style Trippel. Patience will be a virtue when it comes to this brew, but when our finished product was finally bottled we were left with quite a tasty delight. We were left with a very fruity, citrusy, and dry Belgian-style trippel. The beer turned out to be delightfully bitter, dry, and citrusy. The only thing we might add to this brew is more finishing hops and more dry hopping. Once again, feel free to add or take away anything from this recipe to suit your liking.

1.) Steep 1 lb 20 L crystal malt, 3 oz Belgian Munich malt, 3 oz carapils malt, and 8 oz marris otter malt at 155 degrees F for 30 minutes with 1 tsp gypsum.

2.) Add 8 lbs light DME, 3 lbs extra light DME, 1 lb light Belgian candy sugar and then bring to a boil.

3.) Add 1 oz Nugget hops (13.7%), 1 oz Magnum (14.4%), 1 oz Warrior (15.8%) and start a 60 minute boil.

4.) At 30 minutes, add 1 oz Chinook hops (11.4%), 1 oz Willamette (4.6%), and 1 oz Simcoe (11.9%).

5. At 15 minutes, add 1 tsp Irish moss and 1/2 oz sweet orange peel.

6.) At 5 minutes, add 1 oz Cascade (6.3%), 1 oz Chinook (11.4%), and 1 oz Amarillo (8.6%).

7.) Shut off heat and cool wort to below 70 degrees F. Pitch Trappist Ale yeast from White Labs WLP 500

8.) Ferment at 68-70 degrees F for 2 weeks and then rack to secondary and dry hop with 1 oz Amarillo (8.6%).

9.) 9 days later, dry hop with 1 oz sterling hops (6.0%)

10.) 5 days later, dry hp with 1/2 oz Willamette (4.6%) and 1 oz Chinook (11.4%).

11.) Leave in secondary for another month. Then, bottle with 6 oz of priming sugar and a hop tea created with 1 oz Mt. Hood (5.2%) filtered with 1 cup of water.

12.) The beer will be ready in two weeks, but will get much better with age.

Dogfish Head Sah'Tea

Dogfish Head is esoteric to say the least. "Off centered ales for off centered people." And they aren't kidding. Dogfish Head offers everything from chocolate beers, to the world's strongest fruit beer, to exotic wood aging, to the most imperial of all imperial IPAs, etc, etc, etc. Aside from the novelty of the beers they brew, they're also really, really good.



That being said. Dogfish Head has got me hooked. I will buy anything that they put on the market. They could put out a beer called "Dogshit Head... brewed with real dog shit", and I would most certainly still buy it. Here enters a new brew from Dogfish called Sah'Tea. According to Dogfish's website this is a beer that is brewed with rye, caramelized with hot river rocks, and fermented with a German Weizen yeast. On top of this, the beer has juniper berries added to it as well as a "tea" of black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper.



Out of the champagne bottle, the beer pours a slightly hazy golden color with a small, very fizzy head that disappeared as soon as it had appeared. As complex as the recipe for this beer sounds, the aroma this beer offers is just as complex. I picked up a lot of cinnamon and ginger as well as some tea notes, spice, fruit, and clove-like notes. The flavor is very similar, but is also has a slight sweetness to it with a citrusy quality that is most likely due to the juniper berries. The finish on the beer is very long and is a lot of tea as well as cloves that is due to the German Weizen yeast. With all the flavors this beer offers, it's still really drinkable. I don't know how it's 9% ABV.



I liked this beer. I'm also glad I shared it with a friend. A full 750 mL of this beer would be a bit much. I probably won't buy it again because of the price tag of $11.99, but it is surely worth trying. While it is not my favorite from Dogfish Head, it is still one that satisfied. I say buy it for the sake of trying it and broadening your beer experience.

Ivan Drago Russian Imperial Stout Recipe

Here at BB headquarters we do our fair share of beer drinking. We also do more than our fair share of brewing. Way back in August we brewed this monster of a beer (check the post). We knew we had a winner on our hands with this one... and we were right. We entered Ivan Drago in Elevator's homebrew contest in January and came away with 3rd prize. Ivan Drago is a mammoth beer with a strong coffee and malt aroma and a very thick, robust coffee flavor with a hint of maple syrup, molasses, and roasted malt. Being the generous souls that we are, we can't keep this beer to ourselves. So, here is the recipe courtesy of the Brewski Brothers. The beer turns out great as is, but feel free to add or take away anything at your discretion... and be sure how to let us know how it turns out!

1.) Steep 1lb 60L crystal malt, 1/2 lb roasted barely, and 1lb black patent malt at 160 degrees F for 20 minutes in 4 gallons of water

2.) Remove grain bag and bring water to a boil. Shut off the heat and add 9.9lbs of plain dark liquid malt extract and 3lbs plain dark DME.

3.) Stir while adding extract and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, add 1oz Columbus hops (12.2%) and start 80 minute boil.

4.) With 57 minutes left, add 5oz of corn sugar. With 34 minutes left in boil, add 1oz of cluster hops (7.9%).

5.) At the end of the boil, shut off the heat and stir the contents to create a whirlpool. Cool wort to below 80 degrees F, transfer to carboy, aerate, and pitch White Labs California Ale Yeast WLP 001.

6.) Ferment at 68-72 degrees F for 2 weeks.

7.) Rack beer to a secondary and add 1oz of french oak chips soaked in bourbon, 1oz plain, sanitized french oak chips, and one cup of organic grade B maple syrup (boiled in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes).

8.) Keep in secondary for 4 weeks. During final week, add two packs of hydrated ale yeast and 1/2 pound of fresh ground coffee beans cold pressed in 2 cups of water for 24 hours.

9.) Bottle with 1 1/4 cups of DME. The beer will be ready to drink in two weeks, but will get better with more time.