6 lbs. Wildflower Honey ($7.95)
3 lbs. Orange Blossom Honey
2 lbs. Raspberries ($12.00)
2.5 oz. Styrian Goldings Hops; 1.5 for bittering and 1 for finishing ($3.80)
7 g. Red Star Champagne Yeast ($.85)
1 tsp. Acid Blend ($1.25)
1 tsp. Gypsum ($.95)
2 tsp. Yeast Nutrient ($.55)
I c. Dextrose for bottling

Boiled 5 lbs. of honey with 1H gallons of Joffrey’s filtered water: began boiling at 1:02 pm. Reduced heat in increments to setting 3 by 1:15 pm. Began skimming scum (honey smells great!). Added boiling hops at 1:23 pm (20 min. into boil/simmer). Raised heat to 5, then to 7 at 1:44 pm. Added finishing hops at 1:52 pm (50 min into boil), raised heat back to high. Turned heat off at 2:00 pm and added yeast nutrient, gypsum, and acid blend. Removed boiling hops immediately, and then finishing hops ten minutes later (2:10). Wort sat for 2 hours (while I went for the raspberries), then I brought temperature back to 190°. Added freshly-crushed raspberries and the last pound of honey at 4:55 and took off heat. Racked into 2H gallons of cold water. Pitched yeast at 80°. After three weeks added a G lb more honey, orange blossom and a couple of blackberries. After seven days added 2lbs more honey and water.

Green Taste: Wow! Fruity, hoppy, and sweet. This one will be great!

March 5: Beautiful (almost Kool-Aid like) raspberry color. The taste was bitter, like unsweetened raspberries mixed with hops. I think with some age this one will be fine. The fizz is like champagne (natural, I guess, from having used champagne yeast).

Comments: This one was a bit haphazard. I wasn’t expecting to include the raspberries—they only became available when the wort was already finished. I did not rehydrate the yeast, just because I’m lazy, but I am not worried about that at all. I would have liked the original gravity to have been a bit higher—next time I will add less water, or more honey. I remain optimistic.

February 26, 1995: The yeast doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I checked inside and there was a bunch of scum on the top, indicative of yeast labor. Perhaps it just needs a bit longer?

February 27, 1995: There is an acrid smell issuing from the fermenter. I hope this is not a bad sign…. I did use the same water that I used for #1—could be bad water. Perhaps with the addition of the gypsum and the yeast nutrient the harmful effects of the water will be negated? Yea, right.

March 5: Racked to a secondary. The yeast is still slowly working. The CO2 coming off the wort was overpowering. The wort seems fine (no spoilage), so I will let it continue fermenting.

March 14: Hoping to be able to re-rack soon; I need to get another carboy. There is still no activity coming from the airlock, but I know the yeast has done something. Perhaps I’ll take a gravity reading when I re-rack.

March 21: Added about 2 lbs. more honey and 2 cups of water. Pasteurized the honey before adding. This has made the yeast become active again. Everything seems to be going well. The color has changed to a darker red, almost burgundy.

O.G.: 1.050

Ingredients: $27.35

[Note: It was dry and tasty. It also had the raspberry overtones, but had to age longer than an ale. Most of the batch was thrown away by Tara Starr Pyne cause I left it in her storage unit too long.]

1.6 kg Brewmaker India Pale Ale extract ($13.50)
5 cups Munton & Fison amber dried malt extract ($10.50)
1 oz. English Kent Golding Hop pellets; half for bittering and half for finishing ($1.95)
11.5 g. EDME active dried yeast (reconstituted)
I c. Dextrose for bottling

Using filtered water from Joffrey’s, I brought one gallon to a boil: began boiling at 12:30 pm. Added 2 cups of malt at 12:40 and added the rest in increments until all was dissolved. Bittering hops added at 12:52 (excellent aroma!). Reduced heat a bit at 1:00 (boiling too high, but still has that great, hoppy aroma). Added finishing hops at 1:10. At 1:15 removed from heat and sparged into glass carboy containing 3.5 gallons of Joffrey’s water (good thing I sparged too—the pellets turned into a huge mess!). Looks cloudy and gross in the carboy. Pitched yeast before I took the wort temperature (idiot); the temperature was probably around 80°F. I racked the wort to a second fermenter on 2-25, after I discovered its sour taste. The gravity was 1.015, still too high to bottle. On 2-26, the gravity is still 1.015. Fuck it! I’m going to bottle. Added I cup dextrose to “beer” and bottled. _C’est la vie_, we shall see.

Green taste: bitter, well, slightly bitter—caramelly—could be good.

February 25: Tasted beer again—terrible! The wort was very sour and malodorous. I talked to Victoria and she assured me that it just needs to ferment a couple of more days.

Comments: The yeast began to work around 3:00 pm on 2-18. I was worried that it would not work, but it seems to be starting nicely. After a week the yeast is still going, though I can see it is petering out. I’ll probably be able to bottle this weekend.

February 26: Checked the gravity again: it is still the same, as is the smell and taste. I’m beginning to really worry now. I might bottle anyway, let it sit for a couple of weeks, and then give it a try. I can always toss it after it sits for a while. The sourness could be the result of (1) improper sanitation (doubtful, though, I did not do anything different this time and the first batches came out all right); (2) Joffrey’s water in the milk cartons (also doubtful because I sanitized the cartons and the water was boiling before I put it into the cartons); (3) bad yeast, or I pitched the yeast while the wort was too hot.

Feb 27: I’m beginning to think that the water that I brought home from Joffrey’s is just bad water. I hope this is not the case because I made #2 with it. That’s a bunch of money down the toilet if this is the case. Ironic, the water was free.

March 1: The guy at the other homebrew store said that most likely the sour smell and taste is indicative of a bacterial infection. I’m still going to wait for the beer to “mature” a couple of weeks and then taste. If it’s still bad then I’ll just dump it and use the bottles for #3, or maybe #2 if it is salvageable.

March 1: Totally wasted. There was an obvious bacterial infection, evident by the scum around the top of the bottles. The final reason is the carboy. I figure the water was fine because #2 seems good. The carboy must have had some bad stuff in it that I didn’t adequately clear out. C’est la vie; I shall, perhaps, try this recipe again, perhaps not.

O.G.: 1.039
F.G.: 1.015

Final Output: 37 12oz bottles (@ $.07 a bottle) and 5 16oz bottles. Total cost: $28.54 ($.68 a bottle).

4 lbs. Mountmellick Irish Stout Malt Extract ($10.00 for dented can)
3 cups Munton & Fison amber dried malt extract
G lb. Flaked Barley ($1.95 for 1 lb bag)
J lb. Black Patent Malt ($1.75 for 1 lb)
1 oz. Fuggles; H for boiling and H for flavoring ($1.25)
4 oz. Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa
H lb. Joffrey’s Estate Java toddy
1 package wYeast #1084 Irish Stout
I cup Dextrose for bottling

Made toddy the night before and allowed to steep overnight in the refrigerator (tastes excellent). Began steeping grains at 10:20 am at 160°. The grains smell great: chocolate and toasty. Kept a close eye on temperature: maintained an average of 157° for 45 minutes. Mashed the grains into bucket and poured a gallon of 170° water on top of the grains to finish mash. Returned wort to pot to begin the boil. Added malt extract just before boil (170°): wort began boiling at 11:52 am. Added dried malt extract after 10 minutes into boil (12:02). (Very feisty wort ‚Äî it won‚Äôt be happy until it boils over and destroys my kitchen). Added boiling hops after 15 minutes (12:12), and added cocoa and finishing hops after 50 minutes (12:42). Turned heat off after an hour (12:52), removed pot from heat, and poured in toddy. Poured into carboy on top of 3 gallons of cold water (I used store-bought, spring water this time), pitched yeast at 77°, and aerated well.

Comments: With the expected failure of beer #1, I took extra precautions with this one. I sanitized the hell out of everything and I used spring water from the store. The carboy soaked in bleach overnight — as did everything else really. The color is black and thick, though not as thick as I would have liked, evident by the gravity. Stupid me pitched the yeast before taking a gravity — I don’t know if this will have any deleterious effects, I hope not. That’s really the only mess up — so far. I’m not going to say whether or not I think this one will turn out well—that seems to be bad beer karma — but I will say it was fun to brew and I remain optimistic.

February 28: Well the yeast is up and away in less than 24 hours. The little beasties are having a blast. This beer also does not have the odor of a smelly cheeser.

March 1, 1995: The yeast has settled down — in only one day — and I removed the overflow hose and put the airlock in. There is none of that sour smell that I had with #1; I’m taking that as a good sign.

March 5: Ready to bottle. It smells great and looks nice and black. There is no pungent aroma like #1 (well, I have a cold, so I don’t really smell anything). I’m a bit disappointed in the final gravity (only 4% alcohol).

O.G.: 1.040
F.G.: 1.010

Final Output: Purchased bottle caps ($1.95), carboy ($9.95), brush ($1.95), extra air lock ($1.95); total ingredients: $30.75 or ($ .07 a bottle for 45) $.74 a bottle.