• Amarillo APA

  • An American pale ale recipe originally from Mark Garwatoski. Uses all late addition hops (yes, I know there's no 60 minute hop addition... trust the recipe).

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  • Beso de Chihuahua

  • My venerable cinnamon honey ale, one of the first recipes I ever created as an extract brewer and therefore one of the first recipes I converted to all grain. The cinnamon is delicate and easily overpowered by too much hops so tread lightly if you tweak this recipe.
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  • Blind Squirrel

  • Every now and then even a blind squirrel finds a nut. I was looking for a new recipe to put on top of a 2nd generation Pacman yeast cake. I didn't have a good American Amber yet, so I threw this one together as my strike water was heating. There's a nice malt backbone to this with some really interesting contrasts from the cascade and liberty hops. Oh, I also wanted to get rid of all the extra cascade I had on hand, heh.

    I'm still tweaking this, and once I've got it dialed in I'll post the promash .rec file along with this. In the interim, be aware that the recipe linked above calls for California Ale yeast (WLP001) but I used pacman. If you can't find pacman, try the WLP001 but ferment it at the bottom of the range.

  • California Creamin'

  • Cream ales are similar to a CAP (Classic American Pilsner). They are light bodied, crisp and clean with a slight sweetness imparted by flaked maize. This cream ale uses a french hop for flavor and aroma that has a very faint ephemeral apricot note. It's a big hit among non beer snobs and people who don't have much experience with more "sophisticated" beers. It's also an incredibly refreshing summertime beer. Just be careful because with the low mash temperature and the high percentage of flaked maize this beer finishes very low and dry and can come in surprisingly high in ABV (my last batch was near 7%).
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  • Cheap Bastard Gold_medalGold_medalSilver_medalSilver_medalBronze_medal

  • A 60 shilling Scottish light ale that has done me well. I originally stole the recipe from Jamil Zainasheff. This is an extremely light "lawnmower" style of beer with a low alcohol content (just shy of 3%) that is a great thirst quencher. Be doubly anal about sanitation on this one, the slightest flaw will show up quickly.

    I've gotten 2 gold medals, 2 silver and a bronze so far from this recipe and it qualified me for the MCAB in 2006.
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  • Cheeky Bastard Gold_medalGold_medalSilver_medalSilver_medal

  • A 70 shilling (heavy) version of my Scottish ale. A slightly heavier and slightly higher ABV version of my Cheap Bastard recipe.

    This won the DOZE club competition and as a prize I got to brew it with the Brewmaster (Morgan) at EJ Phair. We brewed an 18-1/2 barrel batch and it went over really well with the customers.

    I also took a first place with this in the 2006 1st round NHC Regionals (Western Region) and a silver in MCAB IX (2007) with a batch fermented with pacman yeast. When using the PacMan, I fermented it very low, 59-60 F and it turned out extremely smooth. This is a very interesting and smooth variation on the recipe that I can highly recommend if you have some PacMan available.

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  • Fiddler's Fart Silver_medalSilver_medalBronze_medal

  • An English pale ale, or a best bitter to be precise. This is a very clean EPA that is slightly balanced toward the bitter end of the scale. It is mid gold in color with a clean tight white head. Dry hop this with 1/2 oz East Kent Goldings to really make this beer shine.

    This was a bronze medal winner for me at the 2006 Transatlantic showdown. It also received a silver at the 2006 World Cup and a silver at the 2006 GCBA Celebrewtion.
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  • Good Night Irene

  • This is a baltic porter recipe with a slight twist. Baltic porters are normally made with lager yeast and lagered cold for extended periods. This version uses San Francisco lager yeast, a yeast more famous for "steam" beers that ferments relatively warm for a lager yeast. It benefits from an extended cold conditioning period after primary fermentation. It's rich and malty and best saved for cold nights in front of a warm fire with a dog at your feet.
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  • Junkyard Dog

  • An American style brown ale that uses only first wort and late hops (again, I know there's no 60 minute bittering hops... trust me). This uses liberty and amarillo hops liberally to make a malty, slightly sweet and intensely hop forward brown ale.

    This is probably one of my favorite recipes and is always a big hit when I take it to a DOZE function. It uses WLP010 Anniversary yeast to accent the maltiness. WLP010 is one of my absolute favorite yeasts, but alas I don't think it's going to be available much longer. If you can't get WLP010 try WLP005 (British Ale) with this instead, and keep the temp at the low end of the range to minimize ester formation.
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  • Maple Wood Smoked Brown Ale

  • Originally brewed as a kit from Matt Beck's homebrew shop and my first smoked ale ever. This is a southern style English brown ale with a small amount of smoked malt added for some extra flavor. The smoke is subtle and this beer benefits greatly from a few months aging. It will be rough out of the gate but after a few months this will magically transform into a smooth easy drinking session beer.

    I received an honorable mention at the 2006 Boston Homebrew Competition for this beer. It's been a good introduction to the crazy world of smoked beers.
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  • Monkey Fist

  • A darker than normal (although not quite a dunkelweissen) wheat beer with heavy banana overtones, a malty backbone with a crisp clean finish. This is an excellent summertime beer and is best served young. This beer doesn't age well. Ferment this in the low 70's to really accentuate the banana esters of the yeast strain. This isn't a good competition recipe (too malty and dark for the style) but it's an incredibly good lawnmower beer.

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  • Mr. Porter's Lullaby Silver_medalSilver_medalBronze_medal

  • Brown porters are one of my favorite beers (along with brown ales). This is a carefully balanced brown porter that places equal emphasis on roast, coffee and chocolate flavors across the profile. It is a slightly sweet version but not overly so. It uses a tiny bit of dark molasses for a little bit of flavor and you can substitute black treacle for this molasses. I add the molasses 20 minutes from the end of the boil, the closer to the end of the boil you add it the more aromatics it will retain.

    I've gotten a silver and a bronze for this beer so far. I've also tried tweaking it with a bit of munich malt to up the malt profile but I prefer it without. I offer this as my favorite porter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do... it's a staple of my home beer supply.
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  • Old Brown Shoe

  • English style brown ales are, along with brown porters, my favorite beer to drink. This is my northern style English brown ale, my house "nut brown". This is also a staple of my home beer supply and one of the most frequently brewed of my recipes.
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  • Old Stumpy

  • Dry stouts are to brewers like a white sauce is to a chef... every brewer should be able to just whip one out without even thinking about it. The best dry stouts (in my opinion) are simple affairs and have just pale malt, roasted barley and flaked barley. This is my dry stout. It, like me, is simple and to the point. California ale yeast is used to keep the profile dry and attenuated fully without a lot of fruitiness or strange flavors that other yeasts throw. This stout is about as direct and to the point as a punch to the nose... albeit a lot more pleasant.
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  • Spotted Dog Gold_medalSilver_medalBronze_medal

  • One of the first craft beers I fell in love with was Anchor Steam. This is my homage to Fritz Maytag's wonderful creation. It's a bit more complex and flavorful (in my opinion) but is a straight up california common with attitude. This, like a few other recipes, uses all late addition hops for a really rich and flavorful Northern Brewer hop presence. Please don't email me to tell me there are no 60 minute hops. Brew it like I wrote it, you'll love it. I guarantee it or your your money back.

    I took a first place in the 2006 1st round NHC regionals (Western Region) with this recipe submitted as a Northern German Altbier and a silver in AFC (QUAFF) in 2006 as a California Common.
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  • Tailchaser Stout Silver_medalSilver_medalSilver_medalBronze_medal

  • Everyone that loves oatmeal stouts raise their hands. Ah, that's what I thought, I knew there were a bunch of you. This is another medal winner for me with 3 silver medals under it's belt so far. This is a slightly less sweet version of an oatmeal stout since I prefer less sweet to my beers. An initial malty sweetness fades to a balanced bitter finish with a smooth texture and a slight alcohol warmth.

    Many people have told me this beer is a dead ringer for Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, which I can easily agree with. It's not an intentional clone, but the S.S. Oatmeal Stout is, afterall, one of my favorite beers and I consider it the pinnacle of the style so when I worked on this recipe I probably was very much influenced by it as to what a "proper" oatmeal stout should be. I guarantee this beer will curl your toes and make you go "mmmmmmmm, ahhhhhh".

    I took a third place in the 2006 1st round NHC regionals (Western region) with this.
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