Koval Barrels

Pete Skold has spearheaded a great endeavor for the club.  He organized the purchase as well as offered to house two 35 gallon whiskey barrels from Koval Distillery.

Sampling

We brewed an Imperial Stout and an English Barleywine to fill the barrels.  We brewed together as a group then took a couple fermenters home each.  With so many carboys/buckets fermenting in different places, there were plenty of chances for infections or other off-flavors.  Impressively, all the batches turned out well which left us with extra beer rather than our fear of not being able to fill the barrels.

Official Sniff Test

Multisiphoning

Action shot!

All that was left was to wait and think about what to fill with them next.

dry hopped with black magic

Done with leftovers

Our next meeting will be our Pale Ale hop experiment where we will have about a dozen versions of the same pale ale recipe using a different hop in each.  It will meet on February 26th at 8pm.

Our barrels have arrived!  We will be filling them up in the next month.

Homebrews

Pete Sk. – Mild

Matt – Caribou Slobber

Randy – Rumpkin (two variations)

Kos – Baltic Porter

Chris – Milk Stout

Rich – Belgian Stout (oaked and not oaked)

Brent – Bourbon Barrel Old Ale

Pete Sk – Breakfast Stout

Chris – Black IPA

Chris – Cider

Matt – Farmhouse IPA

Commercial Beers

Doug – NoDa – Tart Attack

Derek – Les Brasseurs de Gayant – La Goudale 

Gabe – The Alchemist Heady Topper

Nate – Surly Smoke

Our next brew club is January 22nd!!! Remember it’s the 4th Wednesdays.

Gabe – Milk Stout

Barb & Mike – Dead Ringer

Chris – Big Brew Barleywines (one with mango, the other with raisins)

Doug – Winter Warmer

Nate – Dubel

Nate – Cider

Jay – Pumpkin Ale

Rich – American Pale Ale

Randy – Robust Porter

Commercial Beers

Andy – Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale

Derek – New Belgium Lips of Faith

Randy – Summit Union Rebellion Stout

Brent – Summit Unchained Abbey Ale

Sorry for not updating our club notes since August.  That happens to coincide with the start of the school year but I’m sure that’s a complete coincidence!  We have had some amazing meetings this fall and here are the best that I can remember.

Our next meeting is moved up to December 18th. Contact me with corrections or links to the recipe or kit.

September

Randy – Saison

Matt – Synchronicity Belgian Wheat

Randy – Hefeweizen

Rich – English Mild

Nancy – Kitchen Sink British Brown

Matt – IPA

Gabe – Pliny the Elder IIPA

Brent – Robust Porter

October -Fresh Hop Meeting

Doug – Fresh hopped ale

Pete Sk – Wet-hopped Pale Ale

Pete Sk – HG Willamette Pale Ale

Matt – 1/2 Wet-hopped Pale Ale

Randy – Chaska Cascade Fresh Hopped Pale Ale

Brent – Fresh hopped Pale Ale

Derek & Laura – Hoppy Red

Gabe – American Bitter

Ben – IPA

Ben – Rye Ale

Jay – Weizenbeer

Kos – Deschutes Chasin Freshies

Derek & Laura – Pliny the Elder

Rich – New Belgium Rampant IIPA

November

Nancy – Light American Ale

Derek – Cream Ale

Randy – Cream Ale

Randy – Mild

Rich – English Brown

Kos – Red w/Maple

Pete Schl – Scottish Wee Heavy

Pete Sk – British Pale Ale

Matt – Vanilla Blueberry Ale

Andy – American Pale Ale

Pete Sk – Rye PA

Gabe – Jalapeño Pale (Jalapeño tincture added to the American Bitter)

Derek – Coffee Stout

Brent – Winterkoninkske Grand Cru

Homebrewing is easy and fun, which is why the Milltown Mashers are hosting a free and public Learn to Homebrew Day event on Saturday, November 2nd at The Contented Cow from 3-6pm. Come join homebrewers from the Northfield area brew a couple batches of beer and engage in a lively discussion about a hobby we all love.
Organized by the the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), Learn to Homebrew Day is an international event held on the first Saturday of November. Since 1999, thousands of homebrewers have gathered each year to teach friends and family the basics of the homebrewing hobby.

“If you’ve ever had an interest in homebrewing, Learn to Homebrew Day is the ideal way to get started. Brewing a batch with an expert is a great way to get started, which is why this event connects aspiring homebrewers with experienced ones for a hands-on education,” said Gary Glass, AHA director.

Our next meeting will be September 25th.

Homebrews

Matt – Kolsch

Rich – Hefeweizen

Doug – Saison

Brent – Tis the Saison

Pete Sk – Berlinerweisse

Evan – Australian Sparkling Ale

Pete Sch – Sierra Madre

Pete Sk – Dubbel

Gabe – Belgian IPA

Brent – Cider

Randy – Big Brew Barleywine

Gabe – Big Brew Barleywine

Commercial

Kos – Plum Noir

Our next meeting will be August 28th.

Homebrews:

Rich & Lacey – Blonde Ale

Brent – Big Brew Pale Ale with Peaches and Brett

Brent – Happy Holiday Ale

Chris – Smoked Hefeweizen

Gabe – Boddingtons Clone

Gabe – American Bitter

Randy – Dawson’s Multigrain Red

Randy – Big Red

Pete Skold – Berlinerweiss

Pete Schlief – (I)PA

Ben – EPA

Jay – Brown Ale

Jay – Apple Ale

Our next meeting is scheduled for July 24th at 8pm.

Homebrews:

Doug – Hefeweizen from Brewing Classic Styles

Gabe – Hefeweizen from Brewing Classic Styles

Rich & Lacey – Kolsch

Rich & Lacey – Big Brew IPA

Brent – Gueuze

Matt – IPA

Gabe – Autumn Amber Ale

Pete Sc. – Patersbier

Pete Sk. – Big Brew IPA

Teacher Chris – Imperial Stout

Teacher Chris – Saison

Chris A. – Kiwi Express with Lager yeast

Chris A. – Kiwi Express with 1056 yeast

Commercial Beer:

Lagunitas – Cruising with Ruben and the Jets Zappa-inspired Chocolate Imperial Stout

I apologize for not updating the site recently but the end of the school year got the best of me.  I misplaced our notes from the April meeting so if you have a recipe you’d like to share just email it to me and I’ll add it to this post.

One recipe that I do know came from the April meeting was Pete’s Dark IPA that was chosen to for the Lagunita’s competition and won!!! He was able to brew a variation of it in California and it will be on tap in Minnesota soon.

Homebrews:

Randy – Big Brew IPA with BRY97 Yeast and keg hopped with homegrown cascade

Randy – Cream Ale

Chris – Belgian Kissed IPA

Chris – Hefeweizen (from Brewing Classic Styles)

Rich & Lacey –Belgian Stout

Matt – Big Brew IPA with 1056 and dry hopped with cascade

Matt – Bender clone

Jay – Oatmeal Stout

Pete – Dry Stout

Pete – French Saison with Brett

Gabe – Big Brew IPA with Belgian Ardennes yeast and Zythos hops

Gabe – Big Brew IPA with American Ale II yeast and Zythos hops

Commercial Beers

Dogfish Head  Palo Santo

Hoegaarden Grand Cru

Our next meeting will be April 24th when we will choose a beer to enter into the Lagunitas competition. (Remember that you need to have an American ale yeast and no spices, etc.  The one that is chosen will submit a 6-pack to the competition)

April 27th we will be brewing at Midwest Supplies as part of their customer appreciation day.

May 4th we will have a brew day/party at Randy’s house.

Homebrews:

Brent – Grand Cru

Andy – Kentucky Common

Jay – Apple Ale & Nut Brown

Matt – Cider

Doug – Unexpected BS IPA (Gluten Free but didn’t taste it!)

Randy – Robust Porter

Gabe – Breakfast Stout

Pete – Scotch Ale & English IPA

Commercial Beers

Odell IPA

Peace Tree Rambler