Bottling the Honey Nut Brown

After a little over a month of secondary time, I bottled the Crazy Bear Honey Nut Brown.  It smelled fantastic so I feel good about the end product.  My intention is to have a big BBQ in early April so I went ahead and filled a mini-keg along with thirty-eight 12oz. bottles.  Nothing like good beer straight from the tap into a big glass!

Brew Day - Honey Nut Brown

This weekend a few of the guys got together for a brew lesson.  The subject: brewing the award-winning Crazy Bear Honey Nut Brown.  Award-winning you say with questioning raised eyebrows?  Yes, this recipe took 1st place in the English Brown Ales category at the Montgomery County (MD) Fair a few years back.  Hopefully we nailed it again, not just for its prize value, but because this happens to be one of my top favorite beers of all time.

O.G. - 1.055

Ingredients:

6 lbs. Amber LME
2 lbs. Minnesota Clover Honey
8 oz. Crystal 10L Malt and 4 oz. Chocolate Malt speciality grains
1.5 oz. German Northern Brewer hops (bittering)
1 oz. Williamette hops (aroma)

El Hefe and Crazy Bear Update

Last night we moved the El Hefe from the primary fermentation vessel to the secondary aging vessel. I don't actually intend to keep it in the secondary for more than a week, as I prefer to bottle age it. Why secondary then? While hefeweizens are supposed to be hazy, I still think it would be beneficial to allow some of the larger sediment to settle out prior to bottling. Moving from vessel to vessel helps do that. Finishing gravity: 1.010. Estimated ABV should be 4.80%.

Also, I drank the final bottle of the regular stock of Crazy Bear Honey Nut Brown Ale last night. It was a bittersweet moment (not the flavor) because this was my first blue ribbon beer; but, it does open up space for new brews. The next (and last) time this beer will touch my tongue is when we have the 2009 Brewing Year Recap party. Until then....