


                           A   Y E A R   O F   B E E R
        
        
        
        
                    Reflections On Our First Year Of Brewing 
                                        
                                       by
        
                           Mark Mueller & Brian Bartle
        
        
             What follows is an attempt to organize our somewhat sketchy 
        notes from the twenty-odd 5-gallon batches we brewed up during 
        our first year of homebrewing (and some of the batches were VERY 
        odd indeed!).  Our original notes were jotted down on a pad of 
        yellow college-ruled paper and we put down whatever we remembered 
        while we were brewing.  Sometimes we didn't remember much more 
        than what the ingredients were.  We were very lax about specific 
        gravity readings, time measurements, temperature of fermentation, 
        what kind of yeast was used; you know, all those little things 
        that influence the taste of the final product.  Fortunately, only 
        a few batches turned out to be stinkers, and even more fortunate 
        is the fact that the really good batches we made were ones that 
        we collected fairly good notes on.  
             A brief biography might be in order at this point.  We met 
        in August, 1990, at Ron Goode Toyota (located in beautiful Alame-
        da, California) when Brian joined Mark in the service department.  
        We both are Assistant Service Managers, which means we're the 
        ones people talk to when they drop their cars off to get fixed, 
        and the ones they yell at when they yell at whenever we have to 
        give them bad news ("What do you mean I need a new engine!? I 
        just changed the oil last year!!").  All this makes for very 
        long, stressful days and we used to often go out for a malt 
        beverage after work.  One of the places we frequented was one of 
        Mark's watering spots in Oakland, Pacific Coast Brewing Co., 
        which is one of the best pubs in the San Francisco bay area.  We 
        got to talking about beers and Mark said, "Yeah, I used to brew 
        beer, but when I moved about 5 years ago, I didn't have the space 
        anymore, and I gave all the equipment to my brother to store in 
        his garage," to which Brian replied, "Well, that sounds like a 
        lot of fun, and I've got a big house and a big garage and when 
        can you get the stuff back from your brother?"
             The rest, as they say, is history.
        
             *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
        
             A brief note on the layout - We've tried to keep the origi-
        nal notes (that is, what was actually written down on paper) 
        distinct from our recollections.  The way we've chosen to do this 
        is to set off all other material with an arrow [====>] or by the 
        use of brackets.  We hope it doesn't confuse you as much as it 
        confused us.
        
                                  Mark & Brian






        [First Brew]
        
        2-4-91
        Specific Gravity (Initial) = 1.043 - 1.044
             1  can Cooper's "Bitter Ale" conc + 2.5 lbs  (approximately) 
        Australian Dry Malt Extract (light)
             1 oz Cluster hops (10 minutes at end of 1 hour boil)
        
             Bottled 2-17-91, final gravity = 1.010 @ 70F
        
        ====> Our first beer.  We didn't take many notes, because we
        never dreamed at the time that we would ever want to look 
        back on them to see what we did (right and wrong).  It wasn't
        a bad beer - maybe a little underhopped because we didn't know
        anything about alpha or beta acids at the time and Cluster 
        probably wasn't a very good choice as a finishing hop, but all
        things considered, a pretty darn good first effort.
        
        
        *****************************************************************
        [#2        "Death Brew"]
        
        
        2-17-91
        Specific Gravity (initial) = 1.060 @ 60F
             6 lbs Edme light malt extract (DME)
             .5 lbs (approx) Australian light DME 
                       boiled with 2.5 gal water for 60 min
             1.5 oz cluster hops for 60 min
             .75 oz cluster hops for 20 min
             .375 oz cluster hops for 10 min
             .375 oz cluster hops (dry hopped)
        
             wYeast American Ale yeast #1056
        
             specific gravity = 1.010 @ 70F (2-27-91)
             bottled 3-5-91 (terminal gravity = 1.010 @ 70F)
        
        ====>  We don't know exactly what happened with this batch, but 
        although it was beautiful to behold - clear, clean light amber 
        colored with a full, creamy white head - it was also completely 
        undrinkable.  The first impression as the aroma hit the nose was 
        of paint thinner, an impression that tasting reinforced.  We 
        bottled all of the beer; about forty bottles were poured into the 
        gutter in front of Brian's house.  Mark still has four bottles 
        left to open in case we get too cocky about how good we are....
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        
        
        
        
        
        






        [#3]       "Big Bob `English' Ale"
        
        3-10-91
        
        1/2# Crystal Malt (whole) steeped until 170f
        8# Australian Light Malt Extract (syrup) in 3 gal
        1tsp Gypsum
        1.5 oz Cascade hop flowers (60min)
        1/2 tsp Irish moss @ 45min
        3/4 oz Cascade hop flowers @ 50min
        3/4 oz Cascade hop flowers @ end of boil (10 min)
        
             strained into fermenter
        
             specific gravity at 60f = 1.050
             racked to secondary 3/15/91 (SG = 1.014
        
        ====> This is the first beer we put a name to;  we called it "Big 
        Bob" in tribute to Bob Birak, one of the technicians at work 
        (although Bob never tasted this ale - in fact, he's never tasted 
        ANY of our beers...).  This is the ale we are quaffing in our 
        first "Mark & Brian" photo....
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        [#4]
        3/23/91
        
        2 cans (8# total) Yellow Dog Malt Extract
        2 oz cascade hop flowers for boil (60 min)
        1 oz cascade hop flowers for last 15min
        1/2 tsp Irish moss for last 15 min
        1 oz cascade hop flowers when heat off (30 min)
        
        1 pt starter from wYeast #1056
        
        plastic primary
        
        racked to secondary 3/30/91
        
        (oops!  no gravity readings anywhere!)
        
        ====> Once again, limited notes and the passage of time have left 
        doubt as to what this beer tasted like...the only memory Mark has 
        of this is Brian calling to say that the krausen had foamed up 
        through the airlock and filled the top of the primary lid before 
        flowing down the sides and soaking the towels the primary was 
        resting on....
        
        
        ***********************************************************
        [#5   Sometime in April - Light Ale w/Dry Rice Extract 
                          (no notes on this one)]
        ***********************************************************
        






        [#6]
        
        4/28/91
        
        5 oz black patent malt (cracked) \
        5 oz chocolate malt (cracked)      \
                                            >   steeped 'til 170f
        2 oz roasted barley (cracked)      /
        1 lb crystal malt (cracked)      /
        
        1/2 lb Aussie dry malt
        2 cans (8#) yellow dog malt extract
        
        3 tsp gypsum
        
        3/4 oz chinook pellets (60 min)
        1 oz cascade flowers (30 min)
        1/2 tsp Irish moss   (15 min)
        1/4 oz Kent Goldings (5 min)
        1/4 oz Willamette (heat off)
        
        ===> oops! forgot specific gravity readings again!
         
        racked to secondary  - 5/2/91
        
        ====>Our first stab at a strong dark beer.  We modified a recipe 
        in The Home Brewery catalog and came up with a really strong, 
        (Brian added a OG reading of 1.070 - 70f to the notes) full-
        bodied porter.  We drank a lot of this beer, gave some to Mike 
        Powell for his bachelor party and had a couple bottles left which 
        we entered in the Alameda County Fair.  Even though one of the 
        bottles had what looked like a bit of paper in it ("paper in the 
        porter - oh no!) we still took the Silver Medal....
        
        **************************************************************
        
        [#7]
         
        5/10/91
        
        1/2 lb crystal malt - steeped til 170f
        4# yellow dog malt extract (1 can)
        1/2 lb Australian DME (light)
        2 lbs  honey (30 min boil)
        2 tsp gypsum
        1/4 oz chinook pellets (10.8%) for 60 min
        1/2 oz cascade pellets (4.9%) for 60 min
        1/4 oz Kent goldings  (4.5%) for 60 min
        1/2 oz willamette pellets (4.0%) for 30 min
        1/4 oz hallertauer pellets (3.0%) with heat off
        
        ====> no specific gravity readings, no mention if Irish moss 
              added, no notes on transfer to secondary.....Jeez!
             This beer came out on the "cidery" side, probably due to the 
        high fermentation temperature (in the 70's) and the large quanti-






        ty (for us, at least) of adjunct (honey).  Mark still wants to 
        try this one again, but as a lager which should let the honey 
        character come through.  We drank it all, anyway....
        
        
        ***********************************************************
        [#8]
        
        5/22/91
        
        7.5 # Australian Malt extract (Extra)
        10 oz Australian DME
        1 pkt Burton Salts
        1 pkt Heading / Nutrient
        
        3/8 oz Eroica (10.4%) at start of boil (60 min boil)
        3/8 oz Galena (11.9%) at start of boil
        3/8 oz cluster (6.9%) at 30 min
        3/8 oz cascade (4.9%) at 15 min
        3/8 oz Willamette (4.0%) at end of boil
        3/8 oz Kent goldings (4.5%) at end of boil
        
        specific gravity = 1.060 @ 68f
        
           =====> no other notes present
             This is the first of a batch of "banana beer" ales that we 
        made during the summer.  We fermented everything in Brian's 
        garage, and the average temperature was in the mid-70's for most 
        of the time.  The beers cleared out nicely, though, and we drank 
        every one.  Len Goode got a 2 liter bottle of this (which didn't 
        get opened until September....).
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        [#9
        Sometime in June....
                                 Yellow Dog Pils
        
        ====>We picked up a second-hand refrigerator from someplace out 
        in Concord (Mark drove out after work and loaded it into the back 
        of his truck while Brian cleared a space in the garage).  We 
        didn't take any notes on it, but Mark remembers that we used Sam 
        Wammack's recipe from The Home Brewery and it went something like 
        this:
        
             2 cans Yellow Dog Malt Extract (4# each)
             1 oz Saaz for the boil (although I'm sure we used at least 
        1.5 oz, and probably 2)
             No finishing hops
             No gypsum or salts
             wYeast Bohemian Lager yeast
        
        ====>By this time, we were using a King Kooker propane burner and 
        a 33 quart enameled kettle and brewing out in the garage.  We 
        used a 6.5 gal glass carboy (used to be an acid bottle) for the 






        primary and racked to secondary.  The wort stayed in the refrig-
        erator (after Brian cleaned it out - it was a mess!) for 6 weeks 
        and never cleared out;  it was still murky and cloudy well into 
        July when we finally dumped it into the gutter.  It didn't smell 
        anything like the ales we'd been making (although, it did smell 
        almost exactly like a lager) and we never figured out why it 
        didn't work....must have been the yeast....It's also pretty 
        unlikely that we used any Yellow Dog in this recipe - certainly 
        not 2 cans because we have used 5 cans in the previous recipes 
        (and there's one can unaccounted for....)]
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        [#10]
        
         7/7/91        "Kirkliston Best Bitter"
        
        1/2# whole Crystal Malt steeped to 170f
        1 - 7# container of Kirkliston Special Bitter Hopped Extract
        3 tsp Gypsum
        1.5 tsp yeast nutrient
        1/2 oz Kent Goldings (4.5%) @ 15 minutes into boil
        1/2 tsp Irish Moss @ 20 min into boil
        1/2 oz Fuggles (3.4%) @ 30 min (heat off)
             Rest for 75 minutes, then stir to separate trub
        Siphon through wort chiller
        1 package of rehydrated Edme Ale yeast
        
        OG = 1.045 @ 60f.......TG = 1.011 @ 65-70f (1.012)
        
        Mold in secondary
        
        ====>Another banana beer.  Not much to remember about this one, 
        other than the observation that it wasn't our best bitter, nor 
        was it particularly "special"....Mark doesn't recall if there was 
        any mold in the bottles or not....
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        [#11]
        7/8/91   [The next day...]
        
                                      EDME
        
        10 oz Crystal malt (steeped to 170f)
        4 oz Chocolate malt (steeped to 170f)
        3 tsp gypsum
        2.5 tsp yeast nutrient
        6# EDME Plain Light Malt Extract (syrup)
        1/2 oz Galena (11.9%) for 60 min
        1/2 oz Northern Brewer (6.9%) for 20 min
        1/2 tsp Irish Moss for 20 min
        1/2 oz Cascade @ end of boil
        
        [1 package rehydrated EDME ale yeast, Mark thinks]






        
        Wort chiller [this may have marked the introduction of our home-
        made immersion wort chiller - pretty sure it is...]
        
        OG = 1.042 @ 75f (1.0435);  TG = 1.011 @ 75f (1.0125)
        
        ====>Again, nothing particularly noteworthy about this batch, 
        other than the fact that this is the day we went out to Pleasan-
        ton to pick up our medals...This batch threw an ungodly amount of 
        trub, probably about 3-4 inches in the bottom of the carboy (we 
        used a 5 gal carboy with a blow-off tube...).  Another banana 
        beer.
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        [#12]
        7/26/91           "Wonderful Dry Light #2"
        
        3# "Wonderful" Dry Malt Extract
        1.5# Dry Rice Extract
        1/2# Crystal Malt (10l) light - not cracked [*actually, since a 
        notation of the degrees lovibond is made, this must have been 
        purchased at Brewmaster in San Leandro and was undoubtedly sold 
        in a 1# plastic bag - cracked many moons earlier] steeped - 170f
        3 tsp Gypsum
        2 tsp Yeast Nutrient
        1/2 oz Galena (11.9%) for boil (60 min)
        1/4 oz Cascade (4.9%) @ 30 min
        1/4 oz Willamette (4.0%) @ end of boil
         
        Wort chiller to 80f
        
             "Poured the whole damn thing into 5 gal carboy w/ blow-off 
        tube"
             OG = 1.045
        
        ====>Mysteries abound here.  The title on the notes is "Wonderful 
        Dry Light #2" which obviously implies that we made a #1 at some 
        point in the past.  The notes also say that we used a 5 gal 
        carboy with a blow-off tube instead of the 6.5 gal primary....
             Well, we did make an earlier version of this beer, sometime 
        around the time we made the honey beer (batch #6, 5/10/92) be-
        cause we remember that it was substantially overhopped.  Mark 
        thinks that it was probably made in March or early April and that 
        it was made with a 3# bag of Aussie DME, 1.5# DRE and too much 
        hops.  As for why we didn't use the glass primary for this batch, 
        your guess is as good as ours....
             One thing we do remember is that this batch was very clean 
        tasting, and a bit on the bland side due to the extremely low 
        quantity of hops used (only 1/2 oz for the boil with 1/4 oz of 
        Cascade for flavor @ 30 min).  What we were trying for was some-
        thing that wasn't so assertive as our first batch - we got it 
        (our first "wimp" beer).
        
        ***********************************************************






        [#13]
        
        9/12/92
        
        8  oz Crystal Malt (20 l) steeped to 170f
        3 tsp gypsum
        2 tsp yeast nutrient
        2 oz dextrin powder
        
        6# Teleford Plain Light Malt extract (syrup)
        1 oz Chinook (10.8%) @ 7:00 pm
        1/4 tsp Irish Moss   @ 7:35 pm
        1/2 oz Mt. Hood (?%) @ 7:45 pm
        ----End of boil      @ 7:55 pm
        
             OG = 1.052 @ 60f
        
        ====> Banana time again.  This beer developed a bit of mold in 
        the bottle that we think came from dry-hopping and a prolonged 
        stay in the secondary.  Len Goode got a big bottle of this, while 
        most of it went to Bill (the laundry man at work).
        
        ***********************************************************
        
        [#14]
        
        9/19/91     "Teleford Extra Pale Malt Extract"[*]
        
        6 gal water
        1/2# Crystal Malt (10l) to 170f
        3 tsp gypsum
        3 tsp yeast nutrient
        6# Teleford Extra Pale Malt Extract @ 6:30 pm
        1/2# (approx) Aussie Lt. DME
        1 oz Dextrin powder
        1/2 oz Mt. Hood (3.3%) @ 7:15
        1/4 oz Irish moss @ 7:15
        1 package of Ironmaster ale yeast (rehydrated)
        
        OG = 1.053
        
        ====>This was our first contract beer - Bill (from the beer 
        above) gave us money to buy materials with and we brewed this 
        beer for him.  He didn't like it - said it was "too strong."  So, 
        we swapped this batch for the moldy beer (we never heard how he 
        liked that batch).  Actually, the beer wasn't too strong, just 
        that the yeast we used (Ironmaster - never again) took ages to 
        mellow out in the bottle (it cleared up ok, but the sharp yeast 
        tang didn't go away until about Christmas).
        
        *This stuff was sold to us as unhopped.  It was in fact VERY 
        hoppy.  When we brought this up to the staff at Brewmaster, the 
        kid's response was "Oh, yeah, we didn't find out until people 
        started telling us - it's still good, though."  Maybe, but not 
        what we wanted; our first (but not last) reaming from Brewmaster.






        [#15]
        
        ====>On Monday, 9/30/91, we left from Brian's house in Hayward at 
        about 6:30 am for Santa Cruz and Mark's first try at surfing.  We 
        got in the water at about 9:30 and after an hour Mark's arms had 
        turned to rubber.  We packed up by 11:30 and headed for one of 
        Brian's surfer hangouts, Seabright Brewery (home of the Mason 
        jar-with-a-handle to go).  One of the beers we had there (and we 
        had many) was a reddish amber ale that had a great balance of 
        hops, malt and roast flavors.  We hadn't experimented with roast-
        ed barley before (we'd put some in our porter, but that was part 
        of a recipe) and wanted to make something like the beer we'd had 
        at Seabright.
        
        10/1/91        "Teleford Plain Amber Malt Extract"
        
        5+ gal water
        1# Crystal Malt (20 l) to 170f
        4 oz roasted barley (cracked) to 170f
        1 tsp gypsum
        6# Teleford Plain Amber Malt Extract; back to boil @ 7:05pm
        1/4 oz Chinook (10.8%) @ 7:05
        3/4 oz Galena  (11.9%) @ 7:05
        3/4 oz Hallertauer (3.0%) @ 7:35
        3/8 tsp Irish moss @ 7:55
        1/2 oz Hallertauer @ 8:00
        
        wort chiller to 75f
        
        OG = 1.047 @ 60f
        
        ====>All in all, this was a pretty successful brew.  We had a bit 
        more esters than Seabright and the roast component wasn't quite 
        as pronounced, but a very good drinking beer.  Mark lost a bottle 
        and didn't find it until January.  It had cleaned out to a crys-
        tal clear amber color and was superb, but by that time, all the 
        rest of it was gone....
        
        ***********************************************************
        [#16]
        10/11/91           STOUT (Aussie)
        
        1# Dark Crystal (cracked) to 170f
        3 oz Chocolate malt (crkd) - 170f
        3 oz Black Patent  (crkd) to 170f
        3 oz roasted Barley (crkd) - 170f
        1 oz Dextrin powder
        6# Dark Malt extract (syrup)
        1 lb light DME
        
        2.5 oz Kent Goldings (5.5%) @ 6:00pm
        1 oz Kent Goldings @ 6:45
        1 oz Perle (6.8%) & 1/4 oz Cascade (4.9%) @ 6:45
        1/4 tsp Irish moss @ 6:45
        1/2 oz Kent @ 7:00 (heat off)






        OG = 1.059 @ 76f (1.0605)
        
        ====>This came out as more of a porter than a stout as the rela-
        tively low quantity of roasted barley would indicate (it was all 
        we had at the time) and was quite successful, although it did 
        have a tendency to "gush" when opened.  What we ended up doing 
        was to decant a bottle into a pitcher and then pour it into a 
        glass when the head had dropped down.  We'd been using our normal 
        3/4 cup corn sugar to prime - the only thing we could figure was 
        that the quantity of wort had dropped enough through transferring 
        from primary to secondary to bottling that our corn sugar ratio 
        was too high....
        
        ***********************************************************
        [#17]
        11/8/91     "How Wheat It Is...."
        
        2 cans Pub Draught Guinness (for consumption during brewing)
        
        1/2# Crystal Malt (10l) to 170f
        3 tsp rock salt
        6# Teleford Wheat Malt Extract
        1 oz Eroica (10.4%) for 60 minutes
        1/4 tsp Irish moss for last 15 min
        
        ====>No notes on what yeast we used, specific gravities, etc.  
        What we were trying to do was to make a beer using the same 
        ingredients as Kellogg's Grape Nuts (except for the hops, of 
        course).  What we ended up with was a beer that looked beautiful 
        with a creamy lacy head that tasted so salty that we were tempted 
        to throw it out (we didn't).  Actually, it wasn't THAT salty - 3 
        tsp in 5 gallons of anything isn't all that much - but the per-
        ception of salt was quite overwhelming in the head.
            It also made a great marinade and cooking ale....
        
        ***********************************************************
        [#18]
        
        1/5/92            "Logger Lager"
        
        For 5 gal
        
        1# Crystal Malt (10l) to 170f
        6# Teleford DME
        1.25 oz Hallertauer (3.2%) for 60 min
        1/2 oz Hallertauer  - - -  for 30 min
        1/4 oz Tettnanger (4.8%)   for 15 min
        1/2 oz Hersbrucker (3.2%)  for 15 min
        1/4 tsp Irish moss         for 15 min
        1/4 oz Hallertauer at end of boil
        
        Immersion wort chiller to 80f
        wYeast American Lager Yeast (about 1 cup starter)
        OG = 1.041 @ 68f (1.042)
        TG = 1.011 @ 50f (1.010)






        Kegged on 1-26-92 with 1/2 cup dextrose
        
        ====>What a difference a keg makes!  This was the first batch we 
        had kegged (although we had bought the keg back in November). 
        Only 1 bottle to sanitize (the keg); only 1 bottle to fill (the 
        keg); only 1 bottle to store (the keg).  It took 20 minutes from 
        start to finish (including cleaning out the carboy and racking 
        equipment) instead of the hour and a half for bottling.  The beer 
        was as clear as we expected it to be by the 3rd week of February 
        and tasted great.  The one thing we weren't expecting (but should 
        have known considering the amount of draft beer we've consumed) 
        was the almost total lack of head after only a few minutes in the 
        glass.  This batch made up for the one we pitched into the street 
        last July....
        
        ***********************************************************
        [#19]
        1/26/92              "Porter"
        
        3 oz Black Patent (cracked)  \
        3 oz Roasted Barley (cracked)  \  steeped 
        8 oz Chocolate Malt (cracked)  /  to 170f
        1# Crystal Malt (120l) (crkd)/
        
        1 pack each Burton salts, Heading salts & yeast nutrient
        8# Teleford Amber Malt Extract \
        10 oz Australian light DME        at 14:45
        1.5 oz Fresh Northern Brewer   /
        ------> back to boil at 15:00
        1/2 oz N.B. pellets (6.9%) @ 15:00
        1/4 tsp Irish moss @ 15:45
        1/2 oz fresh N.B. @ 16:00 (end of boil); rest for 10 minutes
        
        chilled with wort chiller to 75f; rest again for 20 minutes
        
        Strained into primary (6.5 gal glass) 
        pitched about 1 cup wYeast American Ale Yeast starter
        
        OG = 1.080 @ 60f
        
        ====> This was by far the strongest beer we had ever brewed (the 
        second strongest was our "Paper in the Porter" from April, 1991).  
        I don't know why alarm bells didn't start going off in our heads 
        when that SG came out so high - it was probably euphoria induced 
        by our success at kegging....Brian's brother Buzz brought back a 
        huge plastic sack filled with freshly dried Northern Brewer hops 
        and we wanted to use them in a recipe....unfortunately, we had no 
        way of knowing how "hoppy" they were - and although they were 
        great in volume, they turned out to be not so great in weight... 
        we ended up with only about 2 oz hops for the boil - not nearly 
        enough to balance the amount of malt we started with (almost 10 
        pounds of fermentables!)  Maybe we can try to make a really 
        aggressively hoppy IPA for some killer black and tans....
        
        ***********************************************************






        [#20 & 21]
        
        2/1/92              "American Beer"
        
                                        |
        4 oz Crystal malt (20l) - 170f  |4 oz Crystal Malt (20l) - 170f
                                        |1 oz whole roast
        1 pkg nutrient/heading salt     |1 pkg nutrient/heading salt
                                        |1 pkg Burton salts
        4.5# Yellow Dog DME*      \for  |4.5# Xtra Light Calif. Beer+\for
        1# Teleford Wheat extract |60   |1# Teleford Wheat extract   |60
        1 oz Cascade (?%)         /min  |1 oz Cascade (?%)           /min
        1/4 tsp Irish moss @ 45 min     |1/4 tsp Irish moss @ 45 min
        1/2 oz Cascade @ end of boil    |1/2 oz Cascade @ end of boil
        American Lager yeast** @ 80f    |American Ale yeast++ @ 80f
        5 gal carboy w/blow-off         |6.5 gal carboy w/airlock
        OG = 1.042 @95f (1.0455)        |OG = 1.043 @ 85f (1.0455)
        Golden honey color              |Golden honey color, too
                                           
        
        
        Water for lager started at 10:00; boil at 10:30.
        Water for ale started at 12:30; boil at 13:00.
                  Cleaned up and in two carboys by 15:00...
        
        [Hops used were from Brewmaster (who don't bother to tell you 
        what the alpha acids are)...Crystal malt was pre-cracked (don't 
        ask when).]
        
        *3# Edme Light DME; 1.5# DRE
        +3# Wonderful Lt DME; 1.5# DRE
        ** wYeast #2035
        ++ wYeast #1056
        
        ====> This was a science experiment with two purposes - we wanted 
        to see what differences the two yeast and beer production methods 
        created (lager vs. ale) and also to prove to ourselves that we 
        could make a great tasting "light" beer (well, light by OUR 
        standards).  Both beers came out great.  The lager came out so 
        clear and smooth that both of us think "That's it."  We may fool 
        around a bit with some different hops, but the proportions are 
        absolutely balanced.  Great honey gold color, fantastic creamy 
        head with full lace, good mouth feel, full body, good aroma - 
        this is the best lager either of us have ever tasted.  The ale - 
        not quite the perfection of the lager, but pretty darn close. 
        It's not quite as clear and the head isn't nearly as full, but 
        that could be a product of the different malt extract (cheaper 
        Wonderful vs. Edme) or the addition of the whole roast....it may 
        just need to sit a bit longer, too....



