I don't rebrew a lot of beers and I don't try to perfect any style. I tend to run through multiple styles just to use a yeast 3 or 4 times before I pour it down the drain. I want to amend that. I'm hoping that you'll share a house ale/lager that you have in bottle or on tap at least once a year. Maybe this is something you have around the house year round. I'm hoping to see some links to the recipes section, but if not, please feel free to share house recipes below.
For me, I can't pass up JZ's Kolsch or Dry Stout. I run the Wyeast Kolsch and Irish strain all year long and these two are just soo good! Kölsch II (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain) OG = 1.049 (12.3 °P) FG = 1.010 (2.6 °P) IBU = 28 SRM = 3 ABV = 5.2% Ingredients 9.5 lb. (4.3 kg) Durst Continental Pilsner malt (2 °L) or similar 0.5 lb. (227 g) Great Western Wheat Malt (3 °L) 5 AAU Hallertau pellet hops (1.25 oz./35 g at 4% alpha acids) (60 min.) 2 AAU Hallertau pellet hops (0.5 oz./14 g at 4% alpha acids) (15 min.) White Labs WLP029 (German Ale/Kölsch) or Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch) yeast Irish Dry Stout 5 gallons all grain OG0- 1.046 FG- 1.012 IBU - 32 abv 4.4% 6.0 lb Maris Otter Pale (UK) Any Mash 38 3 °L 2.0 lb Flaked Barley Any 32 2 °L 1.0 lb Roasted Barley (US) Any Mash 33 300 °L 0.5 lb Chocolate (US) Any Mash 29 350 °L Hops Amount Hop Time Use Form AA 1.75 oz Golding (UK) 60 min Boil Pellet 5.5%
I have a number of house ales as defined ("you have in bottle or on tap at least once a year"); Centennial IPA: I brew this twice a year; it is one of my wife's favorites. Sticke Alt: I brew this once a year; my wife would prefer I brewed this twice a year. Oatmeal Stout: I brew this at least twice a year; for the past few years I have brewed this three times a year. Dubble: I brew this once a year English Biter Ale: I brew this once a year Kolsch: I brew this once a year Saison: I brew this once a year Cranberry Belgian Pale Ale: I brew this once a year After 20+ years of homebrewing I have created a number of regular house ales. I also have regular lagers that I brew every year but that is a topic for another thread. Cheers!
Junetoberfest the last few summers http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/junetōberfest.193888/ I'm planning on brewing this in August. I'm running late. Luckily it will be hot here until more or less December. Malcolm's Beach Kolsch when I can get the ECY21 yeast. I got the last vial from Love2brew. 90% Pils, 10% wheat, 1.050/1.010, and Hallertau to 30ibus.
My galaxy session ale always makes me happy. WY1272 has a citrus note that goes so well with galaxy. Wyeast 1272@68 2-row to 1.045 20% oats 5% Victory 5% caramunich I 35IBU@60 2oz galaxy@whirlpool 3oz galaxy@dry hop NO finings or filtering
I brew an Imperial Stout yearly. Thats it. I brew alot of pales and ipas, but they are rarely the same.
I make one barleywine each year. I also make a Scottish 60/wee heavy and love the Irish Ale yeast for both. I usually make a smaller beer and re-pitch to make the barleywine. I re-brew my Flanders Red when the batch fermenting is ready, not necessarily each year, but close. That's a long-term re-pitch. I have also gotten into a habit of making an Altibier each year, and re-pitch the yeast to make more. These house beers are almost always in stock, year-round, if you make it over for a tasting.
I generally have 6 taps on at all times, a Session IPA, an IPA, a DIPA, a Berliner/Gose (usually just once a year)/Session strength sour, a Brett Saison and a Wild (WLP 644)/Brett DIPA. I brew several beers pretty regularly in that line up, but tend to experiment a lot with single hop IPAs (last I counted, I've brewed over 50 different ones and have hops for my next 8 new single hops ready) on the IPA tap. I have a 7th tap that gets the seasonal brew as well, but I don't always have a seasonal on that tap and might put it on one of the other taps of it fits that style (Rye IPA in the fall for example) Here's my pretty regular rotation... Session IPA with Citra and Nelson (1 batch a month...this would be my "house beer) IPA with all Centennial (2 or so times a year, wife's favorite) DIPA with Columbus and Equiniox (4 or so times a year) Berliner Weisse/Session Sour with no hops (always on tap) Wild/644 DIPA with all Citra (at least twice a year) I also do a yearly Rye IPA for August and September, a yearly Imperial Pumpkin beer to have on for October and November, a yearly Imperial Stout/Porter that follows that for December and January and a Belgian/White IPA for February and March
House ale is something I brew often not 1 or 2 a year , so, I would have to say the TH3 ultra light Records say I make this 5 to 8 times a year. 8 lb Best Ale malt .5 L40 .5 victory malt .5 carapils .5 Columbus 60 min 1 oz cascade 30, 15, 5 FO 1 oz Centenial at 15% FO 1 oz Chinook at 15 5 FO 1 oz citra at FO DH 1 oz of citra Columbus and cascade for 5 days. Wife loves it!!!!!
Like SFACRKnight I brew an imperial stout every year. I'll 'tweak' it from time to time by adding coffee and/or vanilla beans. This year it'll be a rye whiskey version. Yeast WLP002 – 3L starter Same day as doing starter, soak 2 oz American Oak cubes in 12 oz. Rye Whiskey Grain/other 13 lbs. British pale malt 2.0 lbs. Flaked rye 1.0 lb. Flaked oats 1.0 lb. Crystal malt (60° L) 1.0 lb. Crystal malt (120° L) 0.5 lb. Brown malt 0.5 lb. Chocolate malt 0.5 lb. Roasted black barley 0.5 lb. Rice Hulls Mash 154 ºF for 80 min Sparge at 170 ºF for 10 min Boil 2.5 oz. of Cluster @ 90 min. 1 tsp Yeast nutrient @ 15 min. 1 oz. Northern Brewer @ 2 min. 1 oz. Centennial @ 2 min. Primary for 1 month. Transfer onto whiskey/oak and secondary for 3 months. Aside from that recipe, I always have a batch of saison or two that's conditioning in the bottle. I always wanna try something new though so it's hard to go back to the same recipe every time. Too many interesting yeast/bacteria/sour blends out there that I want to experiment with.
I've been meaning to add this to the recipes section. My house beer is a Cali Common, which I call a lager but since I don't actually lager it some might find that characterization debatable. I've brewed it at least once or twice a year since I first brewed it. It's simple and a great go-to. People also seem to really like it, especially the new ones (see below). It's a partial mash. OG: 1.052 50% DME 50% 2-Row .75 oz Northern Brewer pellets at 60min. Wyeast 2112 This year, after trying Anchor's Brotherhood Steam http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28/138924/, which is the dry-hopped version of their classic, I've experimented with this base and dry hop variants. They've been a huge success so dry hopping is now part of the house recipe. 1st time I did: 1.5 oz Citra 1 oz Nelson Sauvin 2nd time I did: 1oz Nelson 1oz Simcoe 1oz Mosaic I'll probably experiment a few more times to dial in the dry hop character. The first time was very similar to Brotherhood Steam, this time was a little different but also great. I'm not sure which I like better but I have one bottle from the old batch to side-by-side compare soon.
Right now I am perfecting the recipes on the IPA, Session Saison, and Coffee Porter. Only a tweek or two left to make. I have been rebrewing these every 2-3 months now. A few others are working their way into that mix too, but seeing as I am brewing to lock in commercial recipes that is mostly all I do now anyways.
