Beer

 

I have been brewing my own beer since 2000. 

 

I have brewed the following styles of beer:

American pale ale

American amber ale

American India pale ale (IPA)

American amber ale

American brown ale

English pale ale

Northern English brown ale

Bavarian weizen

Bavarian dunkelweizen

Robust porter

Scottish ale (export 80/-)

Dry stout

Sweet stout

Oatmeal stout

Foreign extra stout

Belgian dubbel

Belgian pale ale

Belgian dark strong ale

Belgian tripel

American wheat

Extra special bitters (ESB)

Belgian dark strong ale

Oktoberfest/Marzen

 

I primarily brew ales due to our climate although I have made a lager.

 

In October 2005, my Belgian tripel won a gold medal at the Hogtown Brew-Off while my Belgian pale ale won a bronze medal.

 

In March 2005, my beers won four ribbons at the Big Bend Brew Off (BBBO): 2nd place for sweet stout, 3rd place for oatmeal stout, 3rd place for American amber and 3rd place for porter. 

 

In January 2004, one of my Belgian dubbels won second prize in the strong Belgian ale category at the BBBO and one of my Belgian pale ales took third place in the Belgian and French ales category.  

 

Another Belgian dubbel I brewed placed second in the strong Belgian ale category at the 2002 BBBO.

 

One of my sweet stouts earned a score of 43 out of 50 possible points (a grade of "Excellent") at the 2003 Sunshine Challenge. 

 

In August 2006, I served as a judge in the Sam Adams LongShot Homebrew Contest.

 

I brew in 5-gallon batches.

 

I am an all-grain brewer, producing all of my wort from grains without any liquid or dry malt extract.  Previously, I had been brewing with malt extract and specialty grains.

 

I have also made wines, ciders and a mead.

 

I no longer bottle my beer.  I bottled the first 46 batches.  Starting with batch #47, I have been kegging my beer in 5-gallon Cornelius-style soda kegs. 

 

It takes about 2.5-3 weeks from brew day until homebrewed beer is ready to be consumed.  Brew day requires about 6 hours (or so) for preparation, mashing, sparging, boiling, racking, oxygenating, pitching yeast and clean-up.  Then, about a week is needed for primary fermentation.  The secondary fermentation (where little to no fermentation actually takes place – the purpose of this step is to allow the yeast to settle and the beer to clear) requires about a week or so.  At that point, the beer could be bottled, but I just rack it into a keg.  Carbonation in a bottle requires 2 to 3 weeks but a keg can be force-carbonated which allows the beer to be ready to drink in only 2 or 3 days.

 

I purchase all necessary equipment, supplies and ingredients from the local homebrew store, The Homebrew Den, here in Tallahassee, Florida.  Be sure to tell John, the owner, that I sent you.