Back to Black

While the All Blacks were destroying Australian pride the water was heating up. This brew is a Coffee infused Stout. 

Below are some photos of the boil and the cooling of the wort.

Joe Junior - Amber Ale

The three of us got together to brew an amber ale in celebration of Joe and Hannah's new baby.  Joe was too busy getting the homestead all homey.

The beer worked really well and was based of the Hallertau's Logg Cabin recipe in the Big Book of Home Brew: A Kiwi Guide. I highly recommend this book for beginners, some easy to follow recipes from some of New Zealand's best craft beer breweries.

Below is a picture of the label.

Double HOPnob IPA

Craft beer brewers/lovers love wordplay. We decided to call our latest brew Double HOPnob IPA.


Definitions from Urban Dictionary.

Hobnob

Hobnob v 1. to mingle, usually with the upper class of society.

The verb hobnob originally meant “to drink together” and occurred as a varying phrase, hob or nob, hob-a-nob, or hob and nob, the first of which is recorded in 1763.

"After the opera, we hobnobbed with the foreign heads-of-state."

Hobnobbing

To hobnob means to chat and share a laugh and a drink in the presence of other people at a function or party.

I do love hobnobbing at all those various hobnob do's that I do go too.

Or

Quit yo hobnobbing beeatch before I bitchslap you round the face!!

Hop(s)

Brewers use hops, a small bitter flowering plant, to provide a counterbalancing aroma and taste to beer. The basic idea is not unlike what you would find in a good wine. As you drink, the malty beer washes over your tongue, bringing you body and sweetness. As you swallow, the hops hit the bitter taste buds in the back of your mouth, serving as a tonic, leaving (hopefully) a refreshing taste.

You hate beer — if you do hate beer — because most of the beers you've tried are unbalanced. All you can taste is hops. And with nothing to balance them, hops taste nasty.

Nob

British slang term for the penis. Typically used as an excellent cheap insult. Used in jest (above "moron", just below "twat", and well below "cunt"), or used to describe someone who is doing something you think is annoying or a bit crap.

Scenario 1: one of your friends walks into the room and throws an apple at you. You reply: "Don't be a nob."

Scenario 2: your aging boss thinks he has broken his laptop because the battery ran out. You say: "Hah. He's such a nob."

Scenario 3: you have gonorrhoea, and it's making your nob hurt. 

Obviously there is more to this name then we are telling you but it's an 'in' joke. Perhaps not the best name for a commercial beer (lucky it isn't one!) . 

Below is the label and a poster you can print out and stick to yr wall.

Design by Louis N Campbell

Design by Louis N Campbell

Double IPA in Carboy Picture

The latest brew after 9 days in carboy.

Photo by Joe Henderson

1st of August Brew Recipe - Double IPA (Pliny the Elder, We Will taste you in New Zealand)

Preboil tea 

29.5L of water

7.01kg 2 Row Malt
272g Crystal 45

272g carapils/dextrine

Boil

24L approximate water

Columbus Hops (Alpha Acid 15%)
Simcoe Hops (Alpha acid 12.1%)

Centennial Hops ( Alpha Acid 8.2%)

340g Dextrose Sugar

Yeast Nutrients

Process

1. Grain bag filled with mixture above grains at 66°C for 90 minutes
2.  the water was stirred at the start of the mash and just before removing them from the pot at the 90 minute mark
3. water was brought to the boil
4. once boiling, (start of 90 minute boil) 340g of Dextrose sugar and 90g of the Columbus hops were added,
5. 45 minutes, 21g of Columbus hops were added,
6. 30 minutes, 28g Simcoe hops were added,
7. 15 minutes, Yeast Starter* was added,
8. at 0 minutes, 28g of Centennial, 71g of Simcoe hops and a tablespoon of Koppafloc added
9. brewpot was then taken of the heat and cooled. 

In Carboy 

Dry Ale yeast sprinkled on top of wort (Safale US 05).

On 7 day of fermentation, 28g each of Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial will be for first stage of dry hop

On 14 day of fermentation, 7g each of, Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial will be used for second stage of dry hop

Starting Gravity: 1.056

Final Gravity: TBC

ABV: TBC

*yeast starters discussion

This recipe was based (cloned) off the Pliny the Elder by Russian River.

russianriverbrewing.com/brews/pliny-the-elder/

An update will be posted on how much volume was bottled, tasting notes and final gravity etc.

Stay posted!

Who the F*ck is Ministry of Brew?!

A photo of a few of us taking a break after our first brew, Benefit of the Stout.

Brooklyn, Wellington. 8 November 2014. Photo by Albert J. Hanson

Invincible IPA Photo Process

Photo Process of Ministry of Brew's Invincible IPA