The Beer Circle » Brew It Yourself
Novice Homebrewer: My First Cider – Tasting & Bottling
Roughly two weeks ago, I wrote about a sudden inspiration to attempt to brew my own hard cider. I worked with what I had available to me – a couple of Mr. Beer fermenters and a spare growler I had laying around – very much winging the whole thing. After a relatively easy “brew day”, the concoction bubbled away rather furiously for a little over a week before finally settling down. As fermentation slowed, the airlock … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer: My First Cider – The Adventure Begins
I’m not the best homebrewer. Those familiar with my attempt at a “Liver Lascerator Lager” in college recall the results: an overly-aggressive attempt at bottle priming to boost the ABV resulted in disaster – an overly-sweet, under-alcoholic mess. Think of a Miller Lite with a tablespoon of sugar added, and you’ll have a decent idea for the taste. As such, my first attempt at brewing a beer didn’t go so well, and I haven’t attempted it … Read entire article »
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Guest Post: Three Headed Dog
Editor’s Note: This is another of what we hope are many contributions from our readers. These guest posts come from our friends, followers, and fellow beer geeks who have something they want to share. If you’ve attended a great event, tasted a rare beer, want to give your favorite brewery some love, or share anything else beer related feel free to send us an email at thebeercircle@gmail.com and let us know! This post specifically is … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer: Converting All-Grain to Extract
For my most recent homebrew, I was looking to make a chocolate stout, preferably using the locally produced Wilbur Chocolate in Lititz, PA. To my surprise, I was able to find a recipe entitled Wilbur Bud Chocolate Stout, but alas, it was a 12-gallon batch, all-grain recipe. Thanks to a simple search, I found some great advice on how to convert such a recipe. Here are the main rules of thumb to help with converting: 1. Convert … Read entire article »
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“Spicing” Up Your Homebrew: The Dos and Don’ts
Editor’s Note: This is another of what we hope are many contributions from our readers. These guest posts come from our friends, followers, and fellow beer geeks who have something they want to share. If you’ve attended a great event, tasted a rare beer, want to give your favorite brewery some love, or share anything else beer related feel free to send us an email at thebeercircle@gmail.com and let us know! This post specifically is from Jake Metzler, a … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer: Kenton’s 1st Batch
After receiving some gift cards to Lancaster Homebrew over the holidays, I finally invested in a Brewer’s Best kit to start my own homebrewing. While at the store, I attended an open class to actively participate in and learn the steps for brewing your own beer. Per the instructor’s recommendations, I bought ingredients for my first batch simply by getting a pre-built kit and following the recipe. At the turn of the new year, IPA kit in hand, I … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer: Batch #7 Fallgasm Review
To see how Fallgasm was brewed, see Novice Homebrewer- Batch #7 Fallgasm. After the bottle conditioning of the collaboration beer I made with my friends Tierney and Colleen was complete, I was rather excited to try it. It as inspired by the Blue Moon Caramel Apple Spiced Ale, and all of those things sounded like something I would like in a beer. Let’s see how it turned out in my opinion. Lincoln Abbey Fallgasm Beer Stats Style: Amber Ale Serving: … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer- Batch #7 Fallgasm
I was approached by my friends Tierney from Stouts and Stilettos and Colleen to brew a beer so that they could learn the process a little better. As we were trying to determine our recipe, the Blue Moon Caramel Apple Spice Ale announcement hit the internet so we decided to brew a beer with a similar profile. Full disclosure: I never looked at the ingredients in the Blue Moon variation when developing the recipe, so … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer: Next of pumpKIN Review
I hope that you read my post on brewing my pumpkin ale, Next of pumpKIN. Here is the tasting review. I had decent expectations going in, but I did also expect some shortcomings due to the amount of pumpkin that remained in the beer since it came out of the muslin bag. Let’s just say I was more than pleased with the results. Lincoln Abbey Next of pumpKIN Beer Stats Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer Serving: Bottle Size: 12oz ABV: 7.80% BA Score: N/A RB … Read entire article »
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Novice Homebrewer: Batch #6- Next of pumpKIN Pumpkin Ale
In thinking ahead to the change of seasons and the arrival of one of my favorite styles, I decided to start putting together a pumpkin ale recipe. While the pumpkin beers arrived way too early for my taste this year, I knew that brewing at the end of August would allow me to have the beer ready for the start of fall. Obviously fresh pumpkins were not in season yet, but I elected to use … Read entire article »
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