Dayton Road Brewing Pale Blue Ribbon

The past couple times I've picked up batches from the homebrew shop, the price has been more than I expected. Hop prices have gone up, as well as grain. Since I started brewing partial extract, I decided maybe it's time I brew up an all extract session beer. I'm going for a light pale ale. These two cans of extract cost me a total of $24 bucks. The yeast is a dry one. I'm not expecting much, but, who knows, maybe I'll be surprised. This is going to be my lawn mower beer, my "PBR".. I was talking with some friends about it, and they said I ought to call it DRB PBR, I changed it up a bit to "pale blue ribbon." I'm almost thinking of trying this again, yet with some hops, but we'll see. Maybe this'll be a one time experiment, and i'll go back to partial..or, if all goes well, my George Bush tax refund All Grain set up :)

I'll post back later on how this turns out.

St. Patrick's Day done right.

This year, a few of us are taking a vacation day on St. Pat's day to celebrate good beer. We'll start off the morning with a hardy DRB breakfast (corned beef hash, eggs, hashbrowns, toast and lots of hot sauce) and two special brews I've been aging for a while.

Tonight I pulled out both carboys that have been stuffed away resting. The first: my 80 shilling Scottish Ale. I siphoned it to the keg, and I always like to pull a sample that I try and make Jen try. I was really surprised. It turned out amazing. A lighter beer with a smooth crisp finish. There's even some slight carbonation already forming in the beer. Jen said she tasted a slight hop bite, but I couldn't. Probably one of the lighter beers I've made, but definitely one of my best.
Next up, the oatmeal stout. This is the first stout I've ever made, and to be honest, I was more nervous about this than any other beer style I've brewed. Well, it turned out just as good as the 80 shilling. It's amazing. A nice nutty full bodied stout. I can't believe I made it, but then again, once you start brewing, you'll surprise yourself, because there really isn't much to it. And my results have been excellent each time.

After breakfast, we're heading to Corner Brewery in Ypsi. Corner has a bus traveling back and forth to Arbor Brewing all day, so we're going to hike around town and enjoy some good beer. On my list: Arbor Brewing, Grizzly Peaks, Ashley's and maybe Conner O'Neal's. Should be a great day. I'm sure I'll be posting some pictures after, so keep an eye on the blog. :)