Griswold Mountain Brewing Company BrewNews July 2007 Newsletter

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		Volume 2, Issue 7 July 2007

	Setting Up A Home Brewing Party (part 2) By Frank Holes, Sr.
Making your own beer is a great hobby to share with your friends and relatives. Regardless of whether you are a first time or an experienced brewer, combining beer, food, and snacks in the company of friends will make lasting memories. This is the second in a series on hosting your own home-brewing evening.
As we discussed in the previous article, you will want your guests to be fully immersed, fully involved in the brewing process. Once dinner is over and your brewing kettle is at a full boil, its time to begin the official night's entertainment. Gather everyone in your kitchen around the brewing kettle. Have snacks and beverages handy so no one has to leave the main event. Always narrate each step of your process, and get everyone involved. Pass around the equipment and the ingredients. Invite everyone to smell, touch, and even taste each ingredient if they wish. Call upon different people to help you at each step. You can have one or more guests stir the wort and add in each ingredient. This gets the guests right into the action. In the time between adding each successive ingredient, answer questions and discuss techniques and processes. This is the time to share your brewing stories and favorite recipes. Talk about different types of malt and hops. Discuss the uses of adjuncts and flavorings. You are the teacher, and your kitchen is the classroom. While your wort is chilling, present several of your homebrews for taste testing. Begin with the lightest beers and work up to the darker ones. Discuss the attributes of each with your guests, and invite each person to give their impressions. Be humble, but also remember that not everyone will enjoy each of your creations. That's ok. A little planning and preparation will ensure an excellent evening for you and your guests. Be open and honest about your experience as a homebrewer. You might even influence another person to take up the hobby. Feel free to use some of our monthly food recipes for ideas on what to serve your guests for dinner.
Check out our website at http://www.griswoldmountain.com
Frank Holes, Sr. is the Vice President of Griswold Mountain Brewing Company and a distinguished crafter of homemade champagne and cordials.

Recipe for home brewed
Honey Brown Ale
by Frank Holes, Sr.

The very first beer we brewed back in 1996 was a Brown Ale, and our adapted Honey Brown Ale recipe is a definite improvement on the original. Lighter than a porter, but with deep hints of amber and gold. This is a fine malty beer with a nutty flavor.

Recipe for Honey Brown Ale

2 gallons of good water

1 lb of Chocolate Malt, cracked

1/2 lb of Crystal Malt, cracked

6 lbs Dried Malt Extract (DME) Light

2 lbs Clover Honey

3 oz Fuggles Hops

1 oz Irish Moss

1 package of liquid London Ale yeast (or a packet of dry yeast if it's all you have)

Honey Brown Ale Recipe Directions:

In your large brew kettle, bring 2 gallons of water to 165 degrees.

Steep the cracked grains in a steeping bag at 165 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the steeping bag and bring the kettle to a boil.

Once the kettle comes to a boil, slowly add the dry malt extract (I like to pour off a bit of the wort and whisk in the DME in a large bowl, then pour everything back in to the kettle). Add in the honey and stir constantly to avoid burning.

Once all the malt is stirred in, add 1 ounce of the hops. Start your timer for a 60 minute boil. Stir often.

Add another ounce of hops at the 30 minute mark.

With 15 minutes left in the boil, add the Irish Moss. At 5 minutes left, add the remainder of the hops.

Once the boil time is over, remove the kettle from heat (I like to pour the wort off into another large pot I can cool in the sink - or use a wort chiller if you have one). Reduce the temperature to around 75 degrees F.

Pour the wort into your primary fermenter, being sure to leave the bottom dregs in the pot. Fill up to the 5 gallon line with room temperature water, being careful to stay between 68 and 76 degrees F (don't kill the yeast).

Stir in the yeast (pop your liquid yeast several hours or even a day earlier if necessary) well, and seal the fermentor with an airlock. Store in a room temperature place out of the way for 7-14 days. You can re-rack into a secondary fermenter after 7 days if you wish.

Bottle and store for three more weeks (taste and carbonation both improve in my opinion). This beer will keep in bottles for up to 4 months (but they probably will disappear well before then). This makes 5 gallons.

Recipe of the Month:

Brown Ale and Herb Marinated Rib Roast

Brown Ale and Herb Marinated Rib Roast
Yield: 8-10 servings

You can use any beer for your marinade, but we find the Brown Ale to be mighty tasty. There is a lot of pre-cooking work to this recipe, but believe me, each step only makes the final Prime Rib that much better.

Ingredients:

4 bottles of Brown Ale
1 teaspoon of Black Peppercorns
4 cups ice
7 1/2 to 8 pound beef rib roast.

1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup snipped parsley
2 teaspoons dried marjoram crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
8 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Cooking Directions:

1. Dry age your Rib Roast in the fridge in a covered container for a few days. Pour off the juices each day. This will release excess water and intensify the flavor of the roast.

2. Pour four bottles of Brown ale into a large container (we use a round cooler with a lid). Add in the Black Peppercorns, ice, and the Rib Roast. Marinade in the container in the fridge (or in the cooler) for at least 1 day.

3. Remove the roast from the marinade and pat dry. In a processor, grind rosemary, parsley, marjoram, olive oil, garlic pepper and salt to a paste. Rub mixture all over the roast. Place beef in a container or re-sealable plastic bag, refrigerate at least 8 hours.

4. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Remove beef from bag place on rack and roast until a meat thermometer registers 125°F for rare, about 1 hour 45 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil. Increase the oven temperature to 500°F. Return the roast to the oven for 15 minutes or until it gets a nice crust.

5. Remove and re-cover with foil. Let stand 20 minutes. Transfer roast to platter. Serve with horseradish and au jus.
Serves 8-10.

Check out our website at http://www.griswoldmountain.com