Old Time Spruce ale

I am quite glad that I got the time to try out this recipe.  I would have been pretty disappointed, seeing as there is really only one a brief period of one to weeks in the spring that can have to make the recipe the best it can be. The main ingredient and flavouring in this [...]

Thyme Ale Review

If you read my previous entry on how I bottled this beer, I sort of already talked about what I thought of the flavor. But the sample that I tried was from the very bottom right above all the herb and yeast sludge, as well as room temperature, and non-carbonated. So, given that these guys [...]

Thyme Ale – Bottling

Finally this jerk was ready to be bottled a few days ago. The original recipe stated that fermentation would take approximately 6-7 days, but this guy was fermenting for a solid 3 weeks before it finally calmed down. As I was bottling, I put a little bit into a glass and decided to try it. [...]

Yarrow Honey Mead

For I Gallon I used: -3 lbs. organic fireweed honey -1/5 tbsp. gypsum -3/4 tsp. acid blend (not as exciting as it sounds!) -Small pinch of Irish Moss -A handful of freshly picked yarrow leaves (I left the premature flowers alone so that they would seed more for future batches.) -3 gr. champagne yeast, dehydrated [...]

Outside the Hops: Thyme Ale

The time for herbal home-brew number two has arrived, and I decided on producing a thyme ale. There was no specific recipe that I found to make this, so it essentially entirely from scratch. Here is the ingredients list: 2.9 L water (another growler brew) 1 pound brown sugar 3 ounces thyme 1 ounce rosemary [...]

Chamomile Ale Review

Woah, I am really surprised by this one. Considering that it was my first attempt brewing beer at home using less than ideal equipment, I was sort of expecting a complete bomb but this really turned out to be quite good. Just as a reminder, this beer is made with unfiltered tap water, brown sugar, [...]

Outside the Hops: Chamomile Beer

Outside the Hops: Chamomile Ale Inspired once again by the poetically profound and leucrative book Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, I have developed a slight adaptation from one the featured recipes. This is the first time I have tried making a beer entirely out of my own ingredients and with my own supplies, so I [...]

Calamus Ale

Has it really been 20 days already? Two weeks ago I felt that this beer would never be ready for consumption, but alas that day finally arrived this past Saturday. John, the one overseeing the entire process kept a watchful eye over the brew in it’s second fermentation vessel. The two of us transfered and [...]

The Making of Calamus Ale

Well, it finally happened. I have been wanting to try my hand at home brewing ever since fellow contributors Chris Veska and Robert Nagy began exploring the delicious possibilities of starting beers from scratch. Although I was only a taster and occasional observer of the whole process, I fathomed the infinite customization of flavors, textures [...]

Historic Ales from Scotland

I was extremely excited when I came across this gift set at the LCBO in Lindsay, Ontario. I had read about these beers before, and never expected to be able to try them without first catching a plane to the United Kingdom. What is very characteristic and noteworthy about this collection of beers are the [...]