After 12 months in the barrel and over 8 months of conditioning in the keg, the saison from the 2014-2015 Austin ZEALOTS Barrel Project is tasting wonderful. Sour, light, and crisp, this past years’ barreled saison came out surprisingly well. A continuation of the barreling series, this post is the follow-up of mostly my personal … Continue reading
Almost three months since brew day, the California Common is nearly gone. Having saved the San Francisco lager yeast from the SMaSH Blonde I served at the Zealots summer picnic, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make a California Common for the fall season. While sadly I’m almost out of this fantastic … Continue reading
After 3 weeks of fermentation and 1 month of lagering, the Session Helles is wonderful and incredibly refreshing. Intended to grow lager yeast for future batches, this small batch re-brew of a session-style Munich Helles came out great. A review and recipe below. Cheers, and happy brewing! Review Pouring into a teacup, the Session Helles … Continue reading
After 2 weeks of fermentation, 5 days of dry hopping, and 2 months of keg conditioning, the Farmhouse IPA is tasting great. Beginning in late spring with the onset of hot Texas weather, I was inspired to make a hop-forward saison-like beer for the summertime. Detailed in the brew day post, anticipating ultra-high attenuation of … Continue reading
Six weeks since brew day, the Craft A Brew Brown Ale has finished fermentation, bottle-conditioned, and is now ready to drink. After racking from the primary, I yielded 9 bottles and some tasty hydrometer samples. Overall, I’m quite pleased with this one-gallon brown ale extract kit, and from this, hope to play with one-gallon batches … Continue reading
While brewing on the 2014 summer solstice, I cracked open last years big brew, the 2013 summer solstice blonde barleywine. SMaSH-y in recipe, the idea was to design a beer to taste the malt and fermentation characteristics from Maris Otter and Wyeast 1098 British Ale when brewed at a high gravity. The resulting brew was … Continue reading
Two years running, I’ve made a point of brewing on the summer and winter solstices. Beginning in 2012, I started this tradition by brewing on the eve of the Mayan Apocalypse, a strong ale/winter warmer of sorts, to ease the coming abyss. Although the apocalypse doesn’t seem to have come, I’ve continued brewing big beers … Continue reading
One month since brew day, the Falconer’s Flight APA, an American-style pale ale using Falconer’s Flight hop blend, has finished fermentation, kegged, and is tasting nice. This APA came out great, with the late hopping of the Falconer’s Flight really pronounced. A review and recipe below. Cheers and happy brewing! Review Pouring into a tulip … Continue reading
Six weeks since brew day, the Passion Fruit American Wheat, an American-style wheat beer brewed with passion fruit, is finished and tasting great. It’s very refreshing, and just in time, since 90+ degree weather has hit Texas. A review and recipe below. Cheers, and happy brewing! Review Pouring into a tulip glass, the Passion Fruit American … Continue reading
April is always a busy month in graduate school. Fellowship reports, exams, papers, taxes all due. Couple that with regular work (research, lab maintenance etc.), and things get busy quick. I’m keeping my spirits bright, and using brewing as a stress-free creative outlet! In lieu of formal blog posts (due to school, sad face), I’d … Continue reading
The Apartment Homebrewer 