Author Archives: Andy Farke

Fake Tire Amber Ale 1.2

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One of my favorite beers from last year was my Fake Tire Amber Ale (a clone of Fat Tire). The first batch was so good that I brewed it again! The second batch was largely the same as the first, except I used pelletized hops instead of whole hops. The unfortunate effect was that the beer was slightly more bitter. Thus, I decided to further refine my pelletized recipe for this brew session. Following advice elsewhere, I reduced the overall hops amounts by 10 percent, to compensate for the greater surface area (and contribution of bitterness) from the pellets versus the whole cones. I also changed the yeast, from Wyeast 1272 (American Ale II) to White Labs WLP051 (California V Ale), based on what was available at my local homebrew supply shop.

The result is:

Fake Tire Amber Ale 1.2

  • 5 pounds plain extra-light DME
  • 0.5 lb Munich light malt
  • 0.5 lb Carapils malt
  • 0.5 lb biscuit malt
  • 0.5 lb crystal malt (20° Lovibond)
  • 0.5 lb crystal malt (40° Lovibond)
  • 1.0 oz chocolate malt
  • 0.9 oz. Cascade hops (60 minutes boil)
  • 0.9 oz. Mt. Hood hops (5 minutes boil)
  • 1 tsp. Irish moss (15 minutes boil)
  • White Labs WLP051 Yeast (California V Ale)

Steps

  • I heated 3.5 gallons of tap water to 154° F, and steeped the grains for 45 minutes. Then, I sparged the grains with 0.5 gallons of tap water at 154°.
  • After bringing the mixture to a boil, I turned off the heat and added the malt. I brought it back to a boil, and threw in the Cascade hops.
  • After boiling for 45 minutes, I added 1 tsp. of Spanish moss.
  • After boiling for another 12 minutes (for 57 minutes total boil), I added the Mt. Hood hops.
  • After 3 more minutes (60 minutes total of boiling), I cooled the wort with my chiller, added cold tap water to a total of 4.5 gallons, and pitched the yeast. Pitching temperature was 76° F, and starting gravity was measured at 1.052 (gravity is recalculated to what it would be at 60° F).
Steeping the grains for Fake Tire Amber Ale 1.2

    Coopers Stout

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    Continuing my series of quick-and-dirty brew kits, I brewed up a Coopers Stout last weekend (apparently different from the Coopers Irish Stout that I brewed last year).

    The procedure was pretty much the same as the Muntons nut brown ale kit I did recently. Boil 2 pounds of dry amber malt extract in ~0.75 gallons of water, take off the boil and stir in the can of hopped liquid malt extract. This time, to avoid the problems of trying to get it to cool down fast enough for yeast pitching, I put a lid on the brew pot and stuck it in the fridge for a few hours. That evening (Saturday, September 22), I dumped the cooled wort in the primary fermenter, and topped up to 5 gallons of water. The pitching temperature was 80 degrees, and the starting gravity was 1.042 (at pitching temp). This time, I just pitched the yeast that came with the kit, and put the lid on the fermenter.

    The fermentation was vigorous! Within a day it was spilling out the fermenter. . .because I had this same issue last year with the Irish stout kit, I wonder if it is not something inherent to the yeast strain. In any case, a week went by and the gravity was down to 1.016 at 60 degrees. So, time to bottle!

    I transferred the beer into my bottling bucket, and stirred in 3/4 cup of priming sugar that had been boiled in 2 cups of water. The end result was 7 22-oz. bottles, 7 18-oz. bottles, and 33-12 oz. bottles. Not bad at all! And the taste is pretty good, too (guess the vigorous fermentation isn’t a bad thing in the end). Estimated a.b.v. is 3.7%.

    Andy’s Orange Wheat Ale Bottled

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    Yesterday (March 24), I bottled up the orange wheat beer, skipping a secondary fermentation stage. The beer had fermented for 11 days and reached a final gravity of 1.013. With a starting gravity of 1.042, the ABV is 3.9%. Because my sources suggest a higher amount of carbonation for the American Wheat style, I used 1 cup + 2 tbs. of corn sugar boiled in 2 cups of water for the primer. I ended up with 35 12-oz. bottles, 7 16-oz. bottles, and 2 22-oz. bottles.

    The beer has much of what I’d expect for a wheat ale and the strain of yeast that I used. The appearance is pretty cloudy, and when tasted at room temperature there is a distinct banana finish, with no clove or citrus flavor apparent. When I cool the beer down, however, the banana is much diminished and a distinct citrus note pokes through. The color is perhaps a little darker than I anticipated, but this may be due to the fact that I used liquid rather than dry malt extract. In any case, I think this is going to be a nice warm-weather beer!

    Claremont Summer Ale Bottled

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    Tonight I bottled the Claremont Summer Ale (with the able assistance of brew pal Brian). The final gravity (after 8 days in the secondary) was 1.014, unchanged from when I transferred it from the primary. Given the starting gravity of 1.052, the estimated ABV is 5.0%. The flavor of the uncarbonated beer is remarkably clean, with a slightly nutty finish; the color is golden. This is going to be a real gem once it matures, I think!

    I carbonated with 3/4 cup of corn sugar (plus a few tablespoons). The total bottle yield was 28 12-oz. bottles, 5 16 oz-bottles, and 4 22-oz. bottles.