Archive | September, 2012

First Brew Imperial IPA – Partial Mash

10 Sep

So I have in my hand my first homebrew.  To start I did perform a partial mash with extract.  It was a little bit more expensive, but the beer itself is really good.  I am actually surprised at how well it turned out.  8% alcohol, good hopiness, great aroma hops.  This is a must repeat.  Here is the recipe.

Type: Partial Mash Date: 9/6/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 2.30 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot ( 3 Gal/11.4 L) – Extract
End of Boil Volume 2.08 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 55.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal Est Mash Efficiency 55.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:

Ingredients
Ingredients

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14.5 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 1 8.7 %
14.5 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.7 %
3.6 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.2 %
2 lbs 16.0 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 4 28.6 %
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 18.4 IBUs
2 lbs 11.6 oz Light Dry Extract [Boil for 20 min](8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 6 26.0 %
2 lbs 11.6 oz Light Dry Extract [Boil for 15 min](8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 7 26.0 %
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] – Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 2.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] – Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] – Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 11 -

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.077 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.9 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 50.7 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 11.2 SRM

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 7.9 oz
Sparge Water: 1.91 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps

Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 2.56 qt of water at 163.1 F 150.0 F 75 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 1.91 gal water at 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Keg Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Storage Temperature: 65.0 F

Seabright Brewery Santa Cruz, Ca

8 Sep

In my never ending quest for the best beer and pub food, it was recommended to me that I check out this brewpub.  I visited this place on a Saturday, and it had  a good crowd in the restaurant, which has been there for a long time, and the ambiance was ok; a little dated.  I ordered up a green IPA, named such for it s hop characteristics which was good, no awards.  Then I tried their Stout, which was quite nice, and has apparently won several awards over the years.  The food looked sort of typical so I didn’t eat anything…but nice brews.

Seabright Brewery on Urbanspoon

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Pono Island Grill, Santa Cruz, Ca

3 Sep

I love good Hawaiian food from time to time, I obviously love Hula’s in Monterey and Santa Cruz, and there was another favorite of mine, Aloha in Santa Cruz, on East Cliff.  Well I have been told that one of the owners there, split, and opened another restaurant near downtown Santa Cruz.  I went in to investigate.

Pono is an order at the counter restaurant, that is built into a bar.  With a full bar and plenty on tap, you canget your great Hawaiian food and drink all you want.  I ordered a spicy Poke bowl, and it was WAY to hot.  Still the place has good food, not so great atmosphere, and plenty to drink…check it out for sure, the price point is right.

Pono Hawaiian Grill on Urbanspoon

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French Onion Soup – Delicious

1 Sep

Alrighty Fans and Haters, here is a recipe for my favorite French Onion Soup…this stuff rocks.  One major thing that makes French Onion Soup the best, is the Stock, if you have time to make the veal stock from scratch it will make all the difference, if not, just get a really good meat stock.  This is a slight variatoin of T-Flo’s Recipe…but better.

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Ingredients

  • 1 stick cup unsalted butter
  • 4 onions, sliced (one Sweet, One Red, and two Yellow)
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 fresh thyme sprigs
  • pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup good Malbec, about 1/2 bottle
  • 2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 quarts homemade veal stock or good beef broth
  • 1 baguette, sliced
  • 1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, pepper flakes and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you’re ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on top of soup bowls sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil the whole bowl until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.  this gets some melted cheese into the soup, fantastic.

Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.

Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

Serve with the Malbec used in the soup!

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