By MisterDrew on June 19th, 2010
From Brewer’s Best: Pleasant citrus notes come from the bitter orange and lemon peel. Fermented with premium Safale US-05 dry yeast (I used a liquid yeast from white labs), this beer finishes clean with lingering flavors of citrus and spice. Crisp and refreshing..
Straw | IBU’s: 18-20 | SG: 1.042 – 1.046 | ABV%: 4.0% – 5.0%
Malts:
3.3 lb. Pilsen LME
1.0 lb. Wheat DME
1.0 lb. Pilsen DME
8.0 oz. Carapils
Hops
1/2 oz. Palasade Bittering Hops
1/4 oz. Cascade Flavoring Hops
1/4 oz. Cascade Aroma Hops
Spice Pack
Bitter Orange peel and Lemon Peel 1 1/4 Tsp. Each (2 1/2 oz total)
06/07/2010
Brewed this kit up this evening. The smell in the house was absolutely wonderful. I realize the orange and lemon will subdue over time but man did this wort show promise. I have been reading that there are some homebrewer types that don’t secondary their beer and I thought I might do that with this brew and go straight from primary to bottling. This means that I will be keeping it in primary fermentation longer (say 3 weeks to a month) and then just go straight to the bottle to condition for 3 week and drink. I’ll be very interested to see how this turns. It is said that there is no real need for secondary unless you’re trying to really clear the beer or if you want to dry hop or spice the beer in the secondary fermentation. This beer won’t need either of them so I am going with the flow.
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By MisterDrew on June 18th, 2010
From Brewer’s Best: We use plenty of hops to accent this popular style. From the bittering to the flavoring to the aroma hops we created the perfect balance for this clean, crisp, pale ale.
Amber | IBU’s: 45 – 49 | OG: 1.061 – 1.065 | ABV%: 5.75% – 6.25%
Malts:
6.6 lb. Light LME
1.0 lb. Golden DME
1.0 lb. Crystal 40L
8 oz. Victory
Hops
2 oz. Cascade Bittering Hops
1 oz. Columbus Bittering Hops
1 oz. Cascade Aroma Hops
06/18/2010
Looking forward to this one. Over the past months I have grown to like the hoppier beers so i thought I would give an IPA kit a go. I plan on brewing it this weekend so we’ll see in a few weeks how it turns out.
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By Shad Kaske on May 7th, 2010
Got a wild hair up my you know what and decided to try my hand at a fruit beer. I know that I am a big poo-poo’er of fruiting the beer, so I’ll pause for a moment to let the screaming and gnashing of teeth subside …
Ok, we’re all better now right? I have often – ok frequently (aka always) – proclaimed “DON’T FRUIT THE BEER!”. Until one fateful Friday evening in March when I ran into one of the most intriguing beers I have ever tasted. You can place the blame squarely on the Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis, MN (Great Beer, Great Service, Great Food … Spectacular Atmosphere). My wife and I were in the Twin Cities for a weekend in March and the Town Hall Brewery was a couple blocks from our hotel. When I saw the Mango Mama IPA on the seasonal brew list and poo-poo’ed it. After sampling some of their other offerings, including the Masala Mama IPA I decided to give the mango concoction a go. Was I blown away … the flavor of the mango blended beautifully with the citrus of the American hops in a well balanced and delicious beer. It was slightly sweet but still well balanced against the hops. Since then I have been wanting more, but a 400 mile plus round trip for a growler is a bit of a stretch. So here is my version:
Kaskade Go ManGo IPA
Grain Bill
12 lbs – American 2-row
1 lb – Munich Malt
1 lb – Crystal 10L
.5 lb – Crystal 40L
Mash @ 149F for 90 min
Boil for 60 Minutes with the following hop schedule:
1oz – Columbus (14.2% AA) @ 60 minutes
1oz – Centenial (9.2% AA) @ 20 minutes
1oz – Simcoe (12.2% AA) @ 5 minutes
1oz – Cascade (7.5% AA) @ Flame out
Ferment @ 68F for 7-10 days with a larger starter of Wyeast American Ale 1056
Peel, disassemble and puree 7-8 mangos
Place mango puree into a second fermentation vessel and rack the beer onto the mango puree and let it sit @ 68F for 1-3 weeks. Tasting often for the right balance.
Rack to a keg and carbonate to 2.6 volumes of CO2 and serve at 40F.
Nice fermentation on this one and it’s been in the keg for about week and half. Carbonation is good and the IPA is very tasty. However it is missing the mango. When I went to the store to procure the produce it was not at all something that I wanted to put into my beer. So, I’ll try this one again when the mango’s are in better shape.
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4oz of hops = about a gallon of hop crud
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Hops waiting their turn for a bath in boiling wort
By Shad Kaske on May 4th, 2010
Kaskade Cream Ale tre
(3rd Iteration of my Cream Ale Recipe)
BJCP Style Guidelines Category 6 – Light Hybrid Beer
6A – Cream Ale is an ale version of the American style lager. Produced by ale brewers to compete with lager brewers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Basically this is a clean, well-attenuated, flavorful American lawnmower beer. This is simply one of my favorite spring and summer beers, it’s popular with beer geeks and the casual beer drinker alike.
My recipe for this style:
8lb – Rahr American 2-row
2lb – Flaked Maize
Mash @ 149 for 75-90 minutes with 1.1 quarts of water per pound of grain
Five Star Mash 5.2 to keep the mash pH in check
90 Minute boil to help drive off DMS (cooked corn flavor)
Hop with 1 oz of Cascade pellet hops @ 7.5% Alpha Acids
First Wort hopped for full hop utilization
Ferment @ 66F for 2-3 weeks until fully fermented and drops clear
Wyeast American Ale 1056 with 2 quart yeast starter
Carbonate to 2.7 volumes of CO2
By Shad Kaske on May 4th, 2010
Here is a little inside information on how I make beers from time to time and also the funny name of this particular brew. Last week I decided that Sunday would be a 2 brew day because I am out of home brew and need to stock up. So, a fellow brewer and friend and I were at our local home brew supply location (Thanks to all the fine folks at Taylor’s Pantry in Sioux Falls, SD for stocking ingredients for our needs!) and I did not have my recipe book with me. I have a couple of my favorite recipes committed to memory and grab the bits I need blindfolded. However, American Rye is not one of those recipes. I really wanted to do another rye beer and Taylor’s happened to have a 10lb bag of malted rye in stock. That being said, I picked up the rye, some wheat, couple ounces of hops and yeast and came up with the recipe that follows – On the Fly, thus the silly name.
I have a bit of a sorted relationship with rye. In the previous two attempts I have had significant issues with my mash sticking while trying to run off the wort. Basically what happens is the grain bed compacts so tightly in the mash tun that all wort flow is stopped. The main reason for this is that rye, unlike barley, does not have a hard outer husk to help keep the inside of the grains from clumping together. Thus the rye, under the right conditions, completely gums up the works. The last two times I attempted a rye the lautering process took upwards of 2 hours (normally a 20-30 minute process on my system). The resulting beer was good, but I am not a patient. While the beers turned out very tasty, the second one had the general viscosity of 40 weight motor oil.
So, on to this go with the rye. I decided to run off the wort very slowly to try and avoid compacting the grain bed. I am happy to report that this work wonderfully!
Kaskade On the Fly Rye
5lb – American 2-row
3lb – Malted Rye
1lb – Flaked Rye
1lb – White Wheat
Mashed @ 152F for 60 min
1 tbs – Five Star Mash 5.2 Stabilizer in the mash water
60 minute boil
1 oz – Glacier hop pellets
.5 oz – Liberty hop pellets
Both added to the first wort in the boil kettle
.5 oz – Liberty hop pellets
1/4 teaspoon – Super Irish Moss
@ 10 minutes
Chilled wort to 64F and pitched a 2 quart starter of Wyeast American Ale 1056
By MisterDrew on April 30th, 2010
From Brewer’s Best: Amber in color with a nice blend of Munich malt and crystal grains. Medium-bodied, malty and finished with a distinct hop fl avor. This kit includes a lager yeast that will also perform well if fermented at ale temperatures.
Amber | IBU’s: 22-25 | OG: 1.052- 1.056 | ABV%: 5.25% – 5.75%
Malts:
6.6 lb. Munich LME
1.0 lb. Amber DME
8 oz. Crystal 60L
8 oz. Crystal 20L
Hops
1 oz. Willamette Bittering Hops
1 oz. Willamette Aroma Hops
04/17/2010
Brewed the wort this evening. The process was relatively uneventful. I found a new and improved way to remove the trub from the wort before moving into primary fermentation which I was very happy about.
04/28/2010
Moved to secondary. Smelled great, like a tasty Octoberfest brew should. Taste was also great, as to be expected. Couple weeks and I’ll bottle and store for a few months. This will be an interesting test for me. I can’t wait to see how aging the beer goes.
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By MisterDrew on April 19th, 2010
From Brewer’s Best: Kölsch is a crisp, clean, easy-drinking ale. It has a straw-yellow hue similar to a pilsner, but is less hoppy, a bit sweeter and uses pale malts and a small amount of wheat. The lager-like characteristics this ale is famous for are achieved by using a liquid Kölsch yeast.
Pale Gold | IBU’s: 25-28 | OG: 1.042 – 1.046 | ABV%: 4.25% – 4.75%
Malts:
3.3 lb. Pilsen LME
2.0 lb. Wheat DME
12 oz. Carapils Dextrine
Hops
2 oz. Willamette Bittering Hops
1 oz. Willamette Aroma Hops
03/21/2010
Brewed the wort this evening. The process was relatively uneventful.
03/30/2010
Moved to secondary. Taste is heavy on the hops side but that will mellow with time. I can tell it’s good already!
04/11/2010
Bottled this tasty beverage today. 2-3 weeks to carb. Can’t wait to taste this one fully carbed.. It’s hoppy goodness!
04/17/2010
So I couldn’t wait. I popped one of these open this evening to give it a whirl. While it isn’t fully carbonated quite yet the taste was great! The Uber Hoppiness that was there has mellowed some and left it a nicely balanced brew. I’m betting next weekend I can start session drinking these bad boys 
By MisterDrew on April 19th, 2010
Found Here.
Malts
3 Pounds Extra Light DME
3 Pounds Light Wheat DME
1 Pound Caramel 60L (steeped for 45 minutes at 150′-165′)
Hops
1oz Cascade for bittering (60 minutes)
.5oz Saaz for flavor (20 minutes)
.5 oz Tettnang for aroma (end of boil)
Yeast
Wyeast German Ale
Extras
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 minutes)
3/4 cup Lactose @ 15 minutes
2 oz real vanilla extract (added to primary)
Priming
1 cup Lactose
4oz vanilla
1.5 cups Light DME
03/14/2010
Brewed this beverage this afternoon. I used real vanilla beans rather than extract and in doing so I chose to use half of the package in the boil and the other half in primary. OG came out a little high at 1.058. From lookin around it should end somewhere near 1.014ish so 5-6% alcohol at the end of the day.
03/20/2010
Racked this brew to secondary this evening. SG sitting at 1.018ish might be a little early to call this it’s FG but we’ll see. Another entry in two weeks when it’s time to bottle.
04/05/2010
Bottled this evening. Will try one in a couple weeks.
04/17/2010
Over the past couple weeks I’ve popped one open here and there to test the carbonation and flavor. It’s not fully carbonated yet and seems to be carbonating quite slowly at that. The flavor on this one is out of this world. It’s heavy hop flavored with a hint of vanilla on the back side. I have a feeling I’ll brew this one a few times a year for certain. I’ll be interested in how the hoppiness mellows over the coming weeks.
By MisterDrew on April 19th, 2010
From Brewer’s Best: Our Scottish Ale is full of caramel malts, both in the extract and specialty grains. Chocolate malt, roasted barley and a touch of smoked malt bring this full-bodied malty ale to completion. (Instructions)
Amber Brown | IBU’s: 21-25 | OG: 1.034 – 1.038 | ABV%: 3.25%-3.5%
Malts:
3.3 lb. Amber LME
1 lb. Amber DME
4 oz. Crystal 60L
4 oz. Smoked
4 oz. Chocolate
1 oz. Roasted Barley
Hops
.5 oz. Bittering
.5 oz. Aroma
02/27/2010
Started the process for this beer tonight. After the boil it had an Original Gravity (OG) of 1.034 which is in specifications based on the instructions. It’s a darker beer than I anticipated but I’m a fan of the darker ales so we’ll see how it plays out. 7 days out from secondary fermentation / clarifying. This beer will be ready to drink before my first batch of wine is even in bottles.
03/07/2010
Racked to secondary.
03/14/2010
After some discussions with some gentlemen at the LHBS it appears that this brew really won’t start to shine for 6-8 weeks. I plan on bottling it next weekend and will sit on the majority of them for the long haul. I’ll probably be popping one a week (after carbination) and update this page with some reviews but the majority of the beer will be aged appropriately.
03/20/2010
Bottled this brew today. Got 49 bottles out of the kit. Another update in a couple weeks when I pop the top of the first one (post carbonation if I did everythin correctly.).
04/17/2010
I’ve had a few of these over the past weeks and thought I would touch base. This one carbonated great. Head retention is awesome. The problem I see with this brew, and bear in mind that it was my first so I don’t feel badly about it, is I think I may have burned the wort by not stirring enough in the boil. It has an odd aftertaste that I can only atribute to the fact that I had burned residue in the brew pot after the boil was complete. The batches following this one I was more diligent about keeping tabs on the boil as it went and they have turned out much better. I’ll have to see if this taste mellows over time or if I’m just going to have to drink it regardless.
By MisterDrew on April 18th, 2010
From Winexpert: Vintners Reserve Zinfandel/Cabernet is a medium bodied, deep red wine with initial raspberry and licorice notes giving way to a blackberry, currant and pepper character that finishes with firm tannins and light, spicy oak. Rich, but not clumsy, it’s an excellent foil for red meat, strong cheeses or even dark chocolate. (Product Sheet)
Sweetness: Dry | Body: Medium | Oak Intensity: Medium
03/21/2010
Must is now in Primary. Will begin checking SG to see if fermentation is complete in 10 days.
04/11/2010
Racked this to primary. SG sitting at .9996
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