National Home Brew Day 2015 - May 2nd

[LouieMacGoo]

For the last 27 years the AHA has celebrated National Home Brew Day, also called Big Brew Day on the first Saturday of May and this year is no different. This year I would like to have the BeerBorg participate by having as many BeerBorg members brew one of the 3 Big Brew Recipes on that day and either join the Tap Room Chat and or post here on the forum while they brew. For some of you that don't have a home brew club or event this is a great opportunity to join in on the fun. If you are going to a Big Brew Event (like me) this could be a lot of fun to connect your club or group with others. I am also looking at doing some sort of live video stream (Google Hang Outs or Ustream) for people to join and participate in. I'll provide more details as the event gets closer.

This could also be use this as a sort of "Recipe Collaboration" to pair some of the new brewers with those of us who have been brewing for awhile.

Below are the Big Brew recipes for both AG and Extract. Take a look and let me know what you think and if you would like to participate.

2015 Official Recipes

The 2015 AHA Big Brew recipes come from three time AHA Ninkasi Award winner and current BJCP President, Gordon Strong! This year’s beers are all medal-winning recipes from Gordon’s upcoming book, Modern Homebrew Recipes, to be released in May 2015.

Columbus Pale Ale

Pale Ale is one of the most popular styles in the world. This recipe for a Columbus Pale Ale is as versatile as it is delicious! The recipe is adaptable to many other hop varieties – feel free to substitute the Columbus hops with your favorite varietal!

From Modern Homebrew Recipes: “[Columbus Pale Ale] represents the classic, old-school type of strong pale ale that was quite common in the early days of craft brewing. It uses a variety of character malts with a traditional hopping regime. It won a number of medals, along with a best-of-show at the Riverside Rumble competition in Ohio.”

Columbus Pale Ale – All Grain

Columbus Pale Ale – Extract

Old School Barleywine

The first year that the American Homebrewers Association celebrated Big Brew was in 1998. That year, the AHA encouraged homebrewers worldwide to brew a Barleywine recipe. Now we are celebrating the 19th Big Brew, and bringing Barleywine back for the first time since 1998!

From Modern Homebrew Recipes: “An American style barleywine loosely in the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot balance. Big malt and big hops make this an aggressive style. I won an NHC silver medal with a beer based on this recipe in 2010; it was a blend of mostly five year old with a little bit of one year old to freshen the hop aromatics.”

Old School Barleywine – All Grain

OldSchool Barleywine – Extract

Killer Kolsch

If you are looking for a way to put a twist on this Kolsch recipe, take a tip from AHA Director, Gary Glass: “I recently got together with some fellow Brewers Association staff members to brew a Kolsch. Inspired by a local brewery, we decided to make a coffee variation of the Kolsch by making a concentrated batch of cold steeped coffee that we then put in a condiment dispenser. By adding variable doses of the coffee concentrate to a glass of Kolsch, we could customize our coffee Kolsch to our own tastes.”

From Modern Homebrew Recipes: “I fell in love with this style after a visit to Cologne in 2006. I had enjoyed it before, but it didn’t seem like anything special. Trying it fresh made all the difference… The style allows for subtle changes in balance in several components (malt, hop flavor, bitterness, fruitiness), but all were hovering around moderate intensity. I won a number of NHC first round medals with this recipe, which is in the style of a Früh or Reissdorf.”

Killer Kolsch – All Grain
Killer Kolsch – Extract

[Dawg LB Steve]

My LHBS, The Brew Mentor, is hosting again this year, he is going to do something a bit different. Along with having people in the store and the parking lot brewing, he is going to mash 60 gallons of the Columbus Pale Ale and sell 6 gallon batches of wort on a first come first served basis for those that may want a shorter brew day.

[Beer-lord]

It's a busy time at work during May but I'll see if I can brew up something that day..........even if it's not one of these brews.
Great idea!


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[D_Rabbit]

I am getting harrassed by my cousin to brew more and fill the kegerator so I will be brewing next weekend with him and I think I will now make a point to do a brew day on May 2nd now too. Probably won't be one of those recipes since my brew next weekend will be a Pale Ale but it does make me want to do my Kolsch again, so I will!

[BlackDuck]

It is a great idea. I've got to check the calendar with the wife and see if I can make this work.

[jimjohson]

Ok, why not? I'll make the Kolsch, I've never tried one.

[Inkleg]

Last year I brewed A Toast to Big Fuzzy RIS in the parking lot of my LHBS. Plan on brewing it again this year with a few tweaks to the recipe. Going to get my starter going this week or next. Doing two steps because it will take a lot of healthy yeast to chew through a estimated SG of 1.120.

There were 5 other people brewing too. We covered all forms of brewing from extract to BIAB (my set up) to 3 vessel All Grain. We had a blast amongst ourselves and really enjoyed talking to those that weren't Home Brewers yet, but were thinking about it. I'm sure brought a few over to "The Dark Side".

[mashani]

My LHBS, The Brew Mentor, is hosting again this year, he is going to do something a bit different. Along with having people in the store and the parking lot brewing, he is going to mash 60 gallons of the Columbus Pale Ale and sell 6 gallon batches of wort on a first come first served basis for those that may want a shorter brew day.

I believe Platform Brewing Co/Cleveland Brew Shop/SNOBs brew club are doing an open version of their "Iron Brewer" competition in one of their parking lots on that day too. As in they give you some random ingredient and you have an hour to make up a recipe that uses it and start brewing and some kind of judging occurs some months later.

Sounds like a blast if you have equipment to brew in a parking lot.

[BlackDuck]

Your right on about Platform doing that Mashani. My brother sent me an article about that from Cleveland Magazine. He was urging me to enter. But the logistics of getting my equipment from the Columbus area up there would be a nightmare. It does sound like it would be a fun time though.

[Dawg LB Steve]

That would be interesting, but its gonna be rough enough to get my stuff 8 miles away than around 25 miles over to the West side, and bring sloshing wort home. It definitely would be oxygenated from the ride. Plus only would have to do the boil and hops additions and cool in Mentor, the mash would be done.

[D_Rabbit]

Working things out now. Old Bust Head brewery is hosting our brew club again to make beer outside their brewery. They provide all the water and electricity. They let us tap their HLT so we have water that is pre heated to 170 degrees the second we get there.

Our other brewery, Tin Cannon, advised us if we make an American Wheat style beer than the best version can be brewed at their brewery on their equipment by the winning brewer. I am doing a collab. Trying to narrow down the specifics but it will definitely be narrowed down a week or so

[RickBeer]

My son decided to only attend the Friday graduation, so if Saturday is nice then this is on the agenda.

[jimjohson]

Is there suppose to be an official start time? Or just brew catch as catch can?

[Beer-lord]

My plans may need to change as it appears they may be replacing my roof over the weekend. So for now, I'm not sure if I will brew Saturday or Sunday but am thinking about brewing Saturday night which I've never done and might be something different.
Either way, I'd take part in any web, google, skype, oovoo video whatever that goes on as I think that would be fun.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Brewing Saturday Nite, you can name Dark Lord ________ Ale ?