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The best beer money can't buy 

I am a lazy brewer, therefore I am an extract brewer. Generally I use a plastic pail primary fermentor with five and one half gallons, and a five gallon glass secondary. Its easier to strain the hops from and aerate the wort in the plastic pail, and easier to determine if the beer is ready to bottle in the carboy. Racking the beer is easy, and its not a good idea to leave it on the trub or in the plastic pail for too long. Primary fermentation duration ranges from four to eight days for ales, and one to three weeks for lagers. Secondary duration's are four days to six weeks for ales, and one to three months for lagers. Usually I start with one quart of cold water for each pound of extract or adjunct to be used but as little as one gallon per five pounds may be used. Milled specialty grains are placed in a straining bag in the water before turning on the stove and removed before the boil starts. The malt extract, adjuncts (non barley malt fermentables), and hops for bittering are then added as the boil begins. Occasionally adjuncts are added near the end of the boil instead of at the beginning, so as to preserve any aromatic qualities the adjunct may impart to the beer. Honey is one example of this type of adjunct. Additional hops also are usually added in the final minutes of the boil for their flavor and aroma. By using as little water for the boil as possible, the wort (that's what they call this stuff for some reason) after being diluted to about 5 1/4 gallons with cold water is usually cool enough to pitch (add) the yeast. Different brands of extract have different performance characteristics, and there are also differences from one batch to another, but these differences are minor compared to those between brands. I've used many brands but not by any stretch of the imagination all of them, availability, experimentation and personal preference determine which brands of extract get used. M&F unhopped light dry malt extract is one of my staples, it ferments well and gives a good amount of starting gravity and doesn't add too much color to the wort, its major drawback is that sometimes it doesn't clear real well and is prone to cause severe chill haze. Laaglander extra light unhopped dry is another staple, it adds lots of body to a beer and very little color. my other staple extract is American classic light unhopped syrup, this is an extract from six row barley, its not too thick and starting gravity's tend to be a little low but it ferments well and always clears extremely well. A good basic rule of thumb is that one and one half kilograms of malt extract syrup is equivalent to about two and three quarters pounds of dry malt extract. I also use lots of adjunct sugars, mostly rice syrup and honey. Dry active yeast packets are very reliable, it has been suggested to rehydrate the yeast before use, I never do and have not had any problems. While I have used Wyeast liquid cultures without breeding up a starter and it does work, I recommend taking the extra step and making the starter culture big enough for more than one batch of beer. I usually do a starter that's just under two quarts and share it with a friend. The following pages contain the recipes for all the beers submitted by me to the homebrew competition at the 1994 Dutchess county fair, a brief comment about the beer, and judging scores from the fair for each beer. I hope they are of some use. 
All Malt Pale Ale After four years of brewing this was my first all malt recipe, (I had always used corn sugar to prime) All Malt Pale Ale was a little too heavy to be a good pale ale, or so the judges at the club competition in March said. I was never totally satisfied with this beer and give it a grade of B-. Fair category entered HB 11 Classic Ale 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 6 + 5 = 11 of 20 Appearance 4 + 5 = 9 of 12 Flavor 12 + 10 = 22 of 38 Body 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 7 + 7 = 14 of 20 Total 33 + 31 = 64 of 100 "Good beer, keep up the good work, maybe try lower alpha hop" Bill Novotny 
Barely Beer My hop gardens' origins are a bit strange, anyway the point is that I have two Nugget rhizomes, one Hallertauer rhizome, two rhizomes of unknown variety, and I don't know which is which. Last years total harvest was a little over one half ounce, and I wanted to make a beer exclusively with my homegrown hops, so I had to keep the flavor profile light so as to be able to notice the hops. To this end I was successful so I give this beer a C+. Fair category entered HB 6 Light Ale did not place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Appearance 3 + 4 = 7 of 12 Flavor 10 + 7 = 17 of 38 Body 3 + 3 = 6 of 10 Overall Impression 5 + 4 = 9 of 20 Total 25 + 22 = 47 of 100 "Good looking beer but needs more malt." Greg Holton 
Ginseng Grog The book recommends adding flavorings at priming and so do I, it works. Admittedly it is difficult to get much flavor into such a small amount of liquid and almost no aroma gets transferred to the beer, but at least it's practically impossible to overdo it. This beer was fun, with a respectable alcohol content and the capillary opening properties of the ginseng it could really go to your head, and it tasted good too! It did require some aging though, grade A-. Fair category entered HB 26 Herb Beer 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 3 + 4 = 7 of 20 Appearance 4 + 5 = 9 of 12 Flavor 14 + 13 = 27 of 38 Body 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 8 + 8 = 16 of 20 "No nose, hop or otherwise" Chet Schaff 
Octofeast My first attempt at an octoberfest and a total failure. I had some Munich malt left over from a mini-mash experiment some time ago, and figured why not toast it and see what happens. It must have been too cold in my friends cellar for the dry yeast to handle, the fermentation stalled and was finished off in a warm environment, creating some esters that shouldn't be present in a lager. The result was no octoberfest but a fairly pleasant dark beer, grade C+. Fair category entered HB 19 Dark Steam 2nd place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 5 + 5 = 10 of 20 Appearance 4 + 5 = 9 of 12 Flavor 14 + 12 = 26 of 38 Body 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 6 + 6 = 12 of 20 Total 33 + 32 = 65 of 100 "Very malty aroma, need more finishing hops" Bill Novotny

Also entered HB 7 Dark Ale 2nd place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 8 + 8 = 16 of 20 Appearance 4 + 5 = 9 of 12 Flavor 17 + 17 = 34 of 38 Body 3 + 4 = 7 of 10 Overall Impression 8 + 8 = 16 of 20 Total 40 + 42 = 82 of 100 "Very nice ale, rich, complex, enjoyable, nice example of dark ale" Bruce Franconi 

Light Lager #2 As with many beers, I over hopped this one. It required extensive aging, more than it got before the last one was consumed. Grade C+ Fair category entered HB 2 Light Lager 3rd place. scores; Bouquet/aroma 5 + 4 = 9 of 20 Appearance 4 + 4 = 8 of 12 Flavor 12 + 7 = 19 of 38 Body 3 + 3 = 6 of 10 Overall Impression 5 + 4 = 9 of 20 Total 29 + 22 = 51 of 100 "Strong hop flavor throws balance off" Joe Benkert 
Wheat Beer #3 I don't really like wheat beers very much, but since my wheat beers never taste like one I keep making them. This beer was no exception, not a good wheat beer but I liked it, especially on a hot summer day. As far as how to make the correct flavor profile I'm clue less, grade C+. Fair category entered HB 24 Wheat beer did not place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 5 + 5 = 10 of 20 Appearance 4 + 4 = 8 of 12 Flavor 12 + 9 = 21 of 38 Body 3 + 3 = 6 of 10 Overall Impression 5 + 5 = 10 of 20 Total 29 + 27 = 56 of 100 "Good overall drinking beer, but lack character for Wheat beers" Bruce Franconi 
3 Gallon Barley Wine The primary was over filled with water wasting about a half gallon, the yeast was stubborn and gave out, making the beer somewhat flat, but it taste great and is more filling. Grade B. Fair category entered HB 22 Barley Wine 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 5 + 5 = 10 of 20 Appearance 3 + 4 = 7 of 12 Flavor 12 + 14 = 26 of 38 Body 4 + 3 = 7 of 10 Overall Impression 6 + 6 = 12 of 20 Total 30 + 32 = 62 of 100 "Very sweet, slight carbonation, good hop balance" Joe Benkert 
M.R. & M.R.S. Stout (Where one beer is two)

Mountain Roast Stout #3

Mountain Roast Sweet Stout

The first part of this recipe is virtually identical to Mountain Roast stout #1 which won first place in category at the Hudson Valley Homebrewers 1st annual competition in 1991. I just couldn't leave well enough alone and had to do something to it. M.R. Stout gets an A+, while the M.R.S. looses a bit for an A.

M.R. Stout category entered HB 17 Stout 1st place. scores; Bouquet/aroma 8 + 7 = 15 of 20 Appearance 6 + 6 = 12 of 12 Flavor 17 + 16 = 33 of 38 Body 5 + 5 = 10 of 10 Overall Impression 9 + 8 = 17 of 20 Total 45 + 42 = 87 of 100 "Excellent balance & flavor, complex and nice aftertaste" T.R. Moeller

M.R.S. Stout category entered HB 21 Any Other Beer 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 8 + 7 = 15 of 20 Appearance 6 + 6 = 12 of 12 Flavor 17 + 16 = 33 of 38 Body 5 + 5 = 10 of 10 Overall Impression 9 + 9 = 18 of 20 Total 45 + 43 = 88 of 100 "Really great brew. Brew lots of this one !!" P. Stolarski 

American Dark Lager Several people claim "I don't like dark beers" this beer was brewed to shut them up. Thin, barely hopped, and almost without any flavor whatsoever, but dark in color, it satisfied them but no one else. A truly successful yet pointless effort, grade B-. Fair category entered HB 4 Dark Lager 3rd place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 4 + 5 = 9 of 20 Appearance 3 + 4 = 7 of 12 Flavor 8 + 10 = 18 of 38 Body 3 + 2 = 5 of 10 Overall Impression 5 + 3 = 8 of 20 Total 23 + 24 = 47 of 100 "Not bad, keep trying" Bill Novotny 
Cranbeery #1 I got the idea of using the cranberry concentrate at Christmas of 1990, but didn't get around to actually making the beer until March of 1993, when I did make the beer I decided that it needed more flavor so I used all the stuff (which I drink regularly) that was in the house. The end result tasted really good but just didn't seem very much like beer. B. Fair category entered HB 28 Specialty Beer 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 8 + 8 = 16 of 20 Appearance 4 + 4 = 8 of 12 Flavor 14 + 15 = 29 of 38 Body 5 + 3 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 8 + 6 = 14 of 20 Total 39 + 36 = 75 of 100 "A pleasant beer. Great expression of cranberries, could be a bit sweeter & more complex" John Calen 
Cranbeery #2 The object here was to make number 2 more beer like, so I used more extract all of which was Laaglander, known for its heavily unfermentable sugar content, I also slightly reduced the concentrate content. All Cranraspberry was used to soften the tartness and everything worked out wonderfully, although I missed the dark malt characteristics and will probably use some chocolate malt in the next one. This one earned a grade of A-. Fair category entered HB 25 Fruit Beer 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 8 + 9 = 17 of 20 Appearance 6 + 6 = 12 of 12 Flavor 17 + 16 = 33 of 38 Body 5 + 4 = 9 of 10 Overall Impression 10 + 9 = 19 of 20 Total 46 + 44 = 90 of 100 "Excellent, really well balanced" Chet Schaff 
Pacific Pale #7 Notice this beer is not called Pacific Pale Ale, because all the name means is that it contains rice syrup and hops imported from either Australia or New Zealand. Number 7 was intended to be what I refer to as an Extra Bitter Special, or in other words an intentionally overhopped low to moderate alcohol content beer, no surprises here grade B. Fair category entered HB 8 Pale Ale 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 4 + 4 = 8 of 20 Appearance 5 + 6 = 11 of 12 Flavor 10 + 7 = 17 of 38 Body 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 4 + 8 = 12 of 20 Total 27 + 29 = 56 of 100 "A good beer with no faults, but needs some attention to meet the style profile" Nat Collins 
Pacific Pale #8 The second I.P.A. of the Pacific Pale series and the best so far with a grade of B+. some of the odd amounts can be accounted for by explaining that the yeast was prestarted with 1/4 lb. M&F malt and 1/8 oz. Eroica hops, as for toasting the crystal that particular bag seemed awfully starchy and no pale malt was on hand so it seemed only natural. Fair category entered HB 12 India Pale Ale 1st place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 8 + 8 = 16 of 20 Appearance 5 + 5 = 10 of 12 Flavor 12 + 15 = 27 of 38 Body 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 9 + 6 = 15 of 20 Total 38 + 37 = 75 of 100 "Good drinking beer, rich, malty and alcoholic" Gloria Franconi 
John & Kathi Wedding Special This was made in a hurry in mid June and suffers from the typical hot weather problems, it was ready on time and enjoyed but deteriorated rapidly. Grade C-. Fair category entered HB 14 English Bitter did not place. scores; Bouquet/Aroma 3 + 4 = 7 of 20 Appearance 5 + 5 = 10 of 12 Flavor 5 + 6 = 11 of 38 Body 4 + 4 = 8 of 10 Overall Impression 3 + 3 = 6 of 20 Total 20 + 22 = 42 of 100 "Nice looking beer, but..." T.R. Moeller

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