Colorado Kitchen Brew

The beer below is inspired by the Kölsch/German Pils hybrid I brewed last Summer. My fiance said the original beer was one of her favorites, so I'm brewing a mild variation on it. This time around, I'm using a local Pils malt in addition to some Kölsch Malt that I had good luck with last year . I've also upped the ante by switching from a single to a double decoction mash. The hops and yeast are the same. The final beer should be perfect for our warm late Spring wedding. Here's the recipe for 5 gallons: Grains: 6.5 lbs Colorado Malting Pilsner 1.5 lbs Global Malt Kölsch Malt Hops: 1 oz Spalt (5.3% a.a.): First Wort Hopping 0.4 oz Magnum (14.7% a.a.): 60 min 1 oz Spalt (5.3% a.a.): 7 min Total Boil Time: 90 min Yeast: Wyeast 1007 - German Ale Mash Schedule: Protein Rest: 125F for 20 min Decoction 1:      Heat ~1/2 of mash to 155F and hold for 20 min      Heat Decoction again to boiling and boil for 15 min Saccharificati...

I'm happy to report that I finally found a local homebrew shop that sells the full line of malts from Colorado Malting Company . Boulder Fermentation Supply is my new home for these great local grains. Since they only recently opened up, this is my way of giving them a quick shout-out. I love supporting local businesses, and now I can support two of them at once (three, if you count the fact that BFS shares its space with a bike repair shop). From here on out, you'll see a lot of Colorado grains showing up in my brews. Several of the CMC grains are quite unique. So much so, that their catalog has thrown my 2014 brewing plans a curve. It's led me to amend a 2014 brewing calendar that was drawn up months in advance (I'm a little OCD. Just ask my fiance.). With malted Amaranth, Red Proso Millet (in base, crystal and chocolate, no less), Teff, Sunflower and Buckwheat on the menu, in addition to Cottonwood Smoked Malt, I'm officially open to recipe suggestions...

Well, that was easy. After only five short weeks, the Bitter I brewed based on suggestions from Twitter was done. Having consumed quite a few bottles while doing research for Grad School, I figure it's high time I finally write about how my beer turned out. My goal was for a Session Beer and that's what I got. With an ABV of around 3.5%, this is a beer you can drink several of (a Session's worth?) without fear of getting loopy. The body is light and refreshing, although a bit too tingly for a proper Bitter. But how does it taste? Not earth shattering, but pretty decent. The nose is primarily earthy hop, plus a bit of a toasty aroma. I was expecting some fruitiness from the yeast, but there isn't much there. The flavor is light, but interesting. Next time, I'll dial back the Amber Malt. It's a little too prevalent and doesn't quite balance the toffee undertones at work. Bitterness is just right and brings a black tea bite to the beer. It lingers thro...

What do you do when it's your first chance to brew in over a month, but the local homebrew store is closed? My initial reaction was to panic. Of course my homebrew store had to be closed on the one day I had time to shop! How typical! Then, I started to go through what brewing supplies I already had at home. Leftover Malt Extract from a beer kit ? Check. Some random specialty malts? Check. Hops? Check. Yeast? A spare packet of dry that I'd forgotten I even had. The beer I decided upon is an American Brown Ale . For grains, I used all of the liquid extract I had. The Caramel 60L was leftover from my Power-Outage Pumpkin brew day. My Chocolate Malt was leftover from an Oatmeal Stout . The Hops were around from my last online shopping spree. It's brewing time! Oddly enough, the ingredients I had on hand let me put together a beer eerily close to one of the first beers I ever brewed back in the mid 90's: Gushing Geyser Brown Ale. That beer netted me my first e...