Pumpkin Ale

We have fallen behind on our brewing and I wish this ale had been ready for Thanksgiving, but better late than never.  I hope that this beer, with some minor changes, will become a seasonal brew for us for years to come (sorry Rob).  This year we decided upon a Pumpkin Ale that would be a sort of session beer to drink all day long over a holiday.  At 4% alcohol I think that goal was achieved.  While no actual pumpkins were harmed in the making of this beer, a mixture of allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon were used to create a pumpkin flavor.  The use of Willamette and German Hallertauer hops were a pretty good compliment to the spices, but the Double Hump twist was the use of home roasted pumpkin seeds used during fermentation. 

Oktoberfest

Probably my favorite beer style so I didn't want to get this one wrong.  We went with a traditional recipe without any frills or special ingredients.  The hard part was that a traditional Marzen  (Munich style Oktoberfest beer) is a lager and this is our first lager.  55 degree fermentation, really long primary fermentation times, diacetyl rests, and the lagering process were all a new experience for us.  We were up for the challenge and the only thing to probably fix would be to just lager longer and start earlier so that the beer is actually ready by October.  Pilsner, Munich, and Crystal malt were used with Hallertauer and Tettnanger hops in this beer to create an OG of 1.052 and it has 21 IBUs.

Amber with Spearmint

I don't know why I was obsessed with using spearmint in a beer, but I was and this is the result.  I am also a fan of amber ales and was disappointed with our first amber attempt, so I combined my need for a better amber ale with the need to put spearmint in a beer.  We also had to move our brewing location due to unforeseen  difficulties, so this is the first beer brewed at the new location.  I also want to thank my friend Rob (not the one in our little beer club) for donating a refrigerator so that I now have complete control over fermentation temperatures.  I will let you know how I think that effected the beer in my tasting comment.  Finally I experimented with large amounts of steeping grains.  I steeped 4.5 lbs of Honey, Crystal 30, and Cara-Pils grains.  This beer used Galena and Liberty hops, Spearmint in the secondary fermentor, had an OG of 1.046, and 22 IBUs. 

Here are some pictures of the new brewery.

Belgian Wit

After the Asian Wit we thought we would try our hands at a traditional Belgian Wit style ale using hallertauer hops, coriander seeds, and bitter orange peel.  The Beer had an OG of 1.060 and about 16 IBUs.  The experiment with this brew was to almost over carbonate the beer to see what the effects would be. 

I don't currently have any pictures, but with a couple bottles left I will take some next time I drink this beer and then post them.

Asian Wit

     After brewing two kit beers we decided that it was time to create our own recipe.  Amy tasked me with finding a way to utilize lemongrass and Thai basil.  Dogfish Head's Namaste was a good start for me but I didn't want a copy so I started searching for Belgian wit recipes that I could tinker with.  What I finally came up with was a Belgian wit using Hallertauer hops and lemongrass in the boil, Thai Basil as a "dry hop" in the 2nd fermentor, an OG of 1.065, and around 20 IBUs that I call our Asian Wit.  For our first custom recipe I must say I think it turned out well.

American Amber

     Our second beer was an American amber kit.  We wanted to try and fix a lot of the issues in brewing our first batch and not worry about making our own recipe, but we did get a glass carboy and racked the beer to a second fermentor.  This beer used Brewers Gold and Willamette hops, had an OG of 1.050, and 30 IBUs.   Sorry I forgot to take pictures of this one, but it came out a lot better than the first batch.

Double Hump Brewery's First Beer: English Pale Ale

     The first attempt at brewing was with a kit that we purchased at our local home brew shop.  We thought that starting small would be a good tactic, but in hindsight I think we should have found a recipe and bought fresh ingredients rather than go with the stuff in the box.  Here are some pictures of our first time. 

    











We Brewed an English pale ale using Kent Goldings, German, and Cascade hops with an OG of 1.035 and 50 IBUs.  Lots of things were done wrong, but in the end getting to drink beer that you made was fun.  If you were lucky, or unlucky, enough to try this first concoction then leave a comment of what you thought.

Creation of a Home Brewery

In June of 2011 six friends decided to start a home brewery.  I have decided to document that endeavor as we attempt to make some unique beers.