Jay's Brewing Blog

Pumpkins are in season, it’s time to do a pumpkin ale.  All a pumpkin ale is, is a lighter beer that you will put pumpkin and spices in.  With that said, you don’t typically want to make a beer that will take away from the pumpkin.  We do have a pumpkin ale recipe that we […]

Every once in a while I get asked how to culture yeast from a bottle of beer.  It’s not that hard, but it is time-consuming.  If you are interested in culturing your own yeast this is the post that you need to read. Which Beers Can Be Culture When choosing the beers that you want […]

This wine will be a bit lighter in color.  It’s as very tropical tasting wine.  In general it’s a bit dry and also carries a great flavor.   If you are looking at changing up your strawberry wine, this is the way to do it. Yield 1 Gallon 2 pounds kiwifruit, peeled and chopped 2 […]

This is one of those wines that is just amazing.  Very wimple to make, taste delicious, you really can’t ask for more.  Grape melomel was pretty popular back in the times of ancient Egypt.  If you make it and take off the grape skins then it will be light purple, if you leave them on […]

A pretty short post and also an opinion, but it’s relevant to the hobby.  As you may well know, the midwest is getting hit pretty hard by the drought that is going.   Here is a link to get a visual check it out: As you can tell, it’s pretty bad.  So I’m mentioning this […]

When it comes to hardware, I generally try to save money where I can.  Wort chillers are pretty easy to make, and if you have the time, I would give it a go for building your own.  That’s why I wanted to put up instructions on how to make a wort chiller!  Using a wort […]

The guys from Proper Hops came by shop and did a Russian Imperial.  Super nice guys and truly was a treat for me to work hang out with them. Part 2 Related Post Russian Imperial Stout Explosion Russian Imperial Stout Video 3

Apricot wine is one of those wines that is really good for certain seasons, I enjoy it in the summer.  This wine has a yellow/orange color to it.  Apricot wine has tart flavor to it in my opinion but is pretty good as a spritzer. Yield 1 Gallon Ingredients 3 lbs Fresh Apricots 1.5 lbs […]

When football season comes out I go all out for brewing.  But since there are so many people that drink my beer when it comes to it, I like to go simple.  My crazy beers have a special place in my heart and I will always hold them close, but I don’t think my friends […]

Homebrewing is an amazing hobby,  but just like most things in life, people end up getting into something that they really enjoy and the joy can diminish over time.  With homebrewing I’ve found it happens kinda like  writers block but, “brewing block”.  It happens to the best of us in the hobby and you go […]