Brewing Day!!

Thomas and I brewed 10 gallons of witbier in 2 batches and I put my ESB in a keg this afternoon. The witbier recipe was a partial mash. We modeled 5 gallon like a traditional witbier with hints of coriander and orange and made the other 5 gallons as a basic wheat base for a Lambic style that we are going to add fresh raspberries in the secondary. I'm hoping the one of the two is a high enough caliber to enter into the fall brewing competition. I used iBrewmaster to to figure and track my recipes,  I just  can't say enough about how much I love that iPad app...

Our next project is making a mash tun and adding a ball valve and thermometer to the brew kettle. Then I should be all set to brew all grain! I'm very excited about this!!

Beer Bread Super Easy!

                                                                   Ingredients: 3 Cups flour, 1/3 Cup of sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 beer, 1/3 Cup melted butter.


Mix everything listed above until the big lumps are out and it's a fairly sticky mess. Pour that mess into a pre-greased bread pan and brush the top with your melted butter. Pop the loaf in the oven and open a beer while you wait.

After I finish 1 beer I check on it, depending on the day I'm having, I might just set a timer for 30 minutes. Brush top with more butter and throw it back it. This is where common sense kicks in. Watch your loaf, if it's starting to brown all across the top, it's probably done. My recipe calls for an hour but I always bake it until it looks right so try which ever you like.

I added some brown sugar and honey to this one ans used a wheat beer on this one but once you realize how easy it is you'll be making all kinds of variations. Two words of  advise, take any rings off before you hand mix your dough and let the beer warm op to room temp or you'll freeze your hand off while mixing it!