Episode 1 of the Homebrew 101 files


I know! I know I mis-pronounced mesquite (it should be mes-keet). I had a bit of fun with Photoshop.

Gruit Ale Recipe

This my friends was an experiment, almost alchemical in undertaking. The idea behind it is to go a bit medieval in the brewing process that we know so well today. You see, before the widespread use of hops as the conservative of our brews european peoples used a slew of other herbs commonly called Gruit. Just like curry is not a spice, but a mix of spices (pepper, chili, cloves, coriander, cumin, paprika, ginger, turmeric, ...); In the same way Gruit was not a single additive to the brew but a mix of herbs, these herbs it is believed were:

• yarrow
• mugwort
• sweat gale
• Marsh rosemary
• ...
  

To make a long story short, the Church at the time thought that all of this was all a bit too pagan. These herbs were reportedly hallucinogenic and were often described as libido enhancing. The Church attempted (and succeeded) in controlling the rampant use of these herbs by becoming the single source of Gruit. Latter when Hops was discovered as a better preservative to a brew, the Church actually imposed laws (in Germany these laws are still place) on how a brew should be brewed.



So all of this to say that I attempted to re-create what those crazy pagans were drinking back then. It didn't work all that well. Below is my recipe, somehow my batch turned, I guess I didn't get the correct proportions of gruit. I will keep you posted on new experiments.

Fe-Fiada is Irish Gaelic for fairy fog.

Carolina with Sam Adams, in Boston!

Its me, Carolina, in Boston! I went there with 2 friends for 3 days it was fun. And yes I tried Samuel Adams beer!!! it was a good beer!
I support Sean in his homebrewing even if we do it in small 51/2 appartment rooms! LOL If everything goes well next year we should be in our own house! :-)

Belgian spiced Christmas Ale

I have been looking into how to make a Christmas ale. I have never had one. Researching these seasonal brews I have, however, found that quite a few breweries around the world do produce some versions of this ale. In the Montreal area I know of none.

I went to my local home brew shop, and talked about the recipe that I have been throwing around in my head. He gave me some great ideas, one of which was to use a Belgian Abbey Yeast. I have been playing around with adding in some sour mashed wort to the boil, question of giving it that extra Belgian micro biota feel. Is that a good idea?



Almost a month after bottling, the following comments were made concerning the brew:

Good carbonation
Very dark reddish color
Smell of vanilla is strong
A bit acidic (yeast selection issue)
Very strong alcohol
Spicy amazing taste




With this brew I really had a lot of fun making the label. I enjoy working on getting everything to fit into a 5cm x 5cm space. Plus it adds a bit of professionalism when comes time to serve it to friends, family and guests of the house.

Samhain Porter

My Goat Scrotum Porter has been renamed. I just finished making a label for it. A "Samhain fire" with the face of the green man in the background is what it is seen on the front, I am still working on the back. Don't know what Samhain is, follow the link and look it up. Same goes for the green man.