Homebrewing Tips

Our General Store team is very excited to launch a new Homebrew Recipe program. Each month, one of our store clerks will share one of their own homebrew recipes. March 2019's recipe is below. You can purchase the ingredients online and at our General Store (355 E Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007). We also have a batch of each recipe tapped in the store to try (while supplies last). If you have any homebrew questions, please reach out to the General Store. We’d be more than glad to help you. Give us a call at 269-382-5712 or drop us a note. lexi's cupbearer ipa Created By: Lexi Koperdak Estimated OG: 1.060 Estimated ABV: 6.2% Estimated IBU: 50 Estimated Color: 11 SRM 5 gallons - All Grain   7.5 pounds Golden Promise Malt 3 pounds Flaked Wheat 0.75 pounds Briess Caramel 20L Malt 2 oz. Briess Midnight Wheat Malt 1 oz. Magnum Hops for 60 min. 1 oz. Lemon Drops Hops for 10 min. 1 oz. Ahtanum Hops for 5 min. 2 oz. Ahtanum Hops Dry Hop 1 oz. Lemon Drop Dry Hop Imperial Yeast House A01 5 gallons - Extract   4 pounds Briess Pale Ale Dry Malt Extract 3 pounds Briess Bavarian Wheat Dry Malt Extract 0.75 pounds Briess Caramel 20L Malt 2 oz. Briess Midnight Wheat Malt 1 oz. Magnum Hops for 60 min. 1 oz. Lemon Drops Hops for 10 min. 1 oz. Ahtanum Hops for 5 min. 2 oz. Ahtanum Hops Dry Hop 1 oz. Lemon Drop Dry Hop Imperial Yeast House A01 Do you have a homebrew club? We’d love to take you on a behind the scenes tour, which includes a customized homebrewing demonstration from our General Store staff. Reach out to us. See more Homebrew recipes here. [[{"fid":"8535","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default"}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]  

Our General Store team is very excited to launch a new Homebrew Recipe program. Each month, one of our store clerks will share one of their own homebrew recipes. February 2019's recipe is below. You can purchase the ingredients online and at our General Store (355 E Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007). We also have a batch of each recipe tapped in the store to try (while supplies last).  If you have any homebrew questions, please reach out to the General Store. We’d be more than glad to help you. Give us a call at 269-382-5712 or drop us a note. connor’s NBA brown ale Download a PDF of the recipe. Created by: Connor McCririe Estimated OG: 1.053 Estimated ABV: 5.7% Estimated IBU: 29 Estimated color: 26 SRM 5 GALLONS - ALL GRAIN 5 pounds Briess Pale Ale Malt 3 pounds Maris Otter Malt 1 pound Red Rye Crystal Malt 0.75 pounds Briess Special Roast Malt 0.5 pounds Briess Chocolate Malt 1 oz. East Kent Goldings Hops for 30 min. 1 oz. East Kent Goldings Hops for 10 min. Imperial Yeast Flagship A07 5 GALLONS - EXTRACT 6 pounds Briess Pale Ale Dry Malt Extract 1 pound Red Rye Crystal Malt 0.75 pounds Briess Special Roast Malt 0.5 pounds Briess Chocolate Malt 1 oz. East Kent Goldings Hops for 30 min. 1 oz. East Kent Goldings Hops for 10 min. Imperial Yeast Flagship A07 Do you have a homebrew club? We’d love to take you on a behind the scenes tour, which includes a customized homebrewing demonstration from our General Store staff. Reach out to us. See more Homebrew recipes here.

Question: I have been drinking Two Hearted for a long time. Just had Roundhouse for the first time at the Eccentric Café . As a homebrewer, Roundhouse is a beer I would love to make over and over! Can you provide any direction on grain bill/hops/yeast to make this? Answer: Roundhouse uses a pretty basic red ale recipe – base malt, a mix of light and dark caramel malts for color and flavor, some Munich and/or Carapils for body, Then, a dose of honey or sugar to help dry it out. I’d use no more than a pound of either (honey or sugar – we use honey) in a 5 gallon batch. Hops use a mixture of Amarillo, Citra and Simcoe primarily – use a lot of them at the end of your boil, then dry hop with a mixture of those same hops. Again, use your favorite clean American yeast. - David Curtis, Bell's General Store Manager and resident homebrew expert This post is a part of an occasional homebrew Q&A series. Bell’s founder and president Larry Bell began brewing his own beer in the late 1970s after working at Sarkozy Bakery in Kalamazoo where he learned about yeast and fermentation. Larry opened his homebrew supply store, Kalamazoo Brewing Co., in 1983, which later became Bell’s Brewery. Homebrewing is still a big part of who we are. This series is an homage to our homebrew origins - one of the ways we give back to the community that helped us get to where we are today.  Homebrew equipment and supplies can be purchased online or in person at our General Store. Have a question of your own or need some homebrew advice? Drop us a line.  Looking for homebrew supplies and ingredients? Check out our online store or stop by. 

Question: I recently tried and fell in love with the Quinannan Falls Special Lager; however no one where I am located carries it. I know that I can’t get the recipe for this delicious brew, but any information regarding grain bill, hops, etc. would be appreciated so I can try and recreate this at home. Answer: Start with a base of Pilsner malt and add a touch of Carapils or other dextrin malt for some body. Shoot for a gravity just shy of 1.060. Hopping is simple – use your favorite American hop for bittering and a flavor addition (60 and 30 minute additions) – shoot for around 50 IBUs. Ferment with your favorite German lager yeast – something clean. Dry hop with a moderate amount of Simcoe and a small amount of something noble, like Saaz or Hershbrucker. That’s it. Ferment cool and lager cold. - David Curtis, Bell's General Store Manager and resident homebrew expert This post is a part of an occasional homebrew Q&A series. Bell’s founder and president Larry Bell began brewing his own beer in the late 1970s after working at Sarkozy Bakery in Kalamazoo where he learned about yeast and fermentation. Larry opened his homebrew supply store, Kalamazoo Brewing Co., in 1983, which later became Bell’s Brewery. Homebrewing is still a big part of who we are. This series is an homage to our homebrew origins - one of the ways we give back to the community that helped us get to where we are today.  Homebrew equipment and supplies can be purchased online or in person at our General Store. Have a question of your own or need some homebrew advice? Drop us a line. 

Question:  What are 3 tips to a homebrewer that you can give to help them achieve batch consistency from one brew session to the next? Answer: 1. Fermentation temp control. To me, this is the biggest challenge to homebrewers getting started and makes the biggest difference in the finished product. 2. Pitch healthy yeast. Making proper sized yeast starters for liquid yeast and rehydrating dry yeast are critical to healthy fermentation. 3. Give it time. Never rush a fermenting beer by racking it too early. Off flavors that need more time won't get cleaned up if you do. - David Curtis, Bell's General Store Manager and resident homebrew expert This post is a part of an occasional homebrew Q&A series. Bell’s founder and president Larry Bell began brewing his own beer in the late 1970s after working at Sarkozy Bakery in Kalamazoo where he learned about yeast and fermentation. Larry opened his homebrew supply store, Kalamazoo Brewing Co., in 1983, which later became Bell’s Brewery. Homebrewing is still a big part of who we are. This series is an homage to our homebrew origins - one of the ways we give back to the community that helped us get to where we are today.  Homebrew equipment and supplies can be purchased online or in person at our General Store. Have a question of your own or need some homebrew advice? Drop us a line. 

Question:  Just brewed a new batch of IPA 3 days ago and the bubbler is not showing any bubbling activity. Just wondering if I need to add more yeast? Just trying to knock out some ideas. Answer:  Bubbling is not always going to be a dependable sign of fermentation. There are ways that gas can escape out the bucket lid (I’m assuming it’s in a bucket) or the airlock can kind of get stuck in a spot that lets gas escape. I recommend pulling the lid off and looking for foam on the top of the beer (or signs that there was foam). If you see foam, fermentation is happening. If there’s no foam, take a gravity sample. If the gravity is unchanged from when you pitched your yeast, then you need to repitch. Assuming you added healthy yeast at roughly the proper temperature, it’s very unlikely that nothing happened or is happening. -Bell's General Store Manager and residential homebrew expert.  - David Curtis, Bell's General Store Manager and resident homebrew expert This post is a part of an occasional homebrew Q&A series. Bell’s founder and president Larry Bell began brewing his own beer in the late 1970s after working at Sarkozy Bakery in Kalamazoo where he learned about yeast and fermentation. Larry opened his homebrew supply store, Kalamazoo Brewing Co., in 1983, which later became Bell’s Brewery. Homebrewing is still a big part of who we are. This series is an homage to our homebrew origins - one of the ways we give back to the community that helped us get to where we are today.  Homebrew equipment and supplies can be purchased online or in person at our General Store. Have a question of your own or need some homebrew advice? Drop us a line. 

Question:  I have a hard time getting 5-6 hours to spend on a brew day. I was wondering if you had advice on splitting a brew day into a two-day brew process. Not to be confused with overnight mash. I am thinking of making wort and chilling (or maybe not chill?) on day one then boiling and completing the process on day two. What are the effects and impacts of this on an ale - or other styles? I know that Bell's provides wort to homebrewers for the annual contest, is there something you do to prepare the wort for dispensing and boiling later? I would like to understand the best practice for what I want to try. Answer:  I feel your pain – brewing takes a pretty good time commitment which isn’t always the easiest thing to fit into life. I know of others who split the day into two, but I think you’ll find that it’s even more work and time doing it that way. If you chill your wort after the mash, you’re opening your wort up to lots of bugs that can do their work at those temps. I know you’ll be boiling the next day, but there are bacteria and other wild yeasts that can impart their tangy flavors in a very short time – this is why we have people that do sour mashes. On top of that, you’ll now be bringing wort from a cooler temperature all the way to a boil rather than starting with wort that’s in the 170 degree range already. Doesn't seem like a huge deal but that’s a lot of propane/gas and time. When we do our wort giveaway, we bring the wort to a simmer to kill off anything that might be living in it and then chill it down – this is so that carboys don’t crack by us putting hot wort into them and to keep things safe. We recommend people get their boil going as soon as they're able. Certainly it’s possible to throw it in the fridge and brew later, but it’s a big risk and something you wouldn't want to do with each batch. My recommendation is to try to streamline your day as best as you can. My brew days take 4 hours from the time I mash-in to the time I’m done cleaning up. My system is fairly automated (it’s a Blichmann Brew-Easy electric system) and was quite an investment, but I’m able to set things up and dough in, then kind of let it take care of itself for an hour during the mash. Then once I’m on to the boil, it doesn’t need much babysitting. I know this is something that not everyone can accommodate in their house and it’s a big investment, but I think just planning out the flow of your day can give you a similar result. What can you prepare while the mash is doing its thing? What can you clean to be ready for the next step or to get out of the way before the next brew day? Have you considered brew-in-a-bag? If you can find a way to swing your beers in 2 days, I say go for it. But I think you’ll find that once you have everything out and you’re brewing, finding ways to cut time off your day will be the way to go. I hope that’s helpful. - David Curtis, Bell's General Store Manager and resident homebrew expert This post is a part of an occasional homebrew Q&A series. Bell’s founder and president Larry Bell began brewing his own beer in the late 1970s after working at Sarkozy Bakery in Kalamazoo where he learned about yeast and fermentation. Larry opened his homebrew supply store, Kalamazoo Brewing Co., in 1983, which later became Bell’s Brewery. Homebrewing is still a big part of who we are. This series is an homage to our homebrew origins - one of the ways we give back to the community that helped us get to where we are today.  Homebrew equipment and supplies can be purchased online or in person at our General Store. Have a question of your own or need some homebrew advice? Drop us a line. 

Before we were a brewery, we were a homebrew supply store. That's how our president and founder Larry Bell got his (and our) start. It wasn't until two years after the Bell's General Store opened that we sold our first official beer as a brewery.  More than 30 years later, our homebrew roots still run deep. From our support of the American Homebrewers Association to our annual Bell's Homebrew Competition, we offer support and advice to home brewers every day. So what better way to celebrate those roots than by offering some tips on how to make a clone brew of our American Wheat Ale? Plus, for our fans who do not currently live in an area where we distribute just yet, this is a great way to enjoy a taste of summer. As we have advised countless homebrewers before, there are certain things about our recipes that we keep close to the vest, but if you are looking to brew a Oberon clone of your own, here is some advice.  The malt bill is relatively straightforward: stick with 2-row base malt and a decent portion of wheat, something in the 40-50% range. Wheat can stick to a lauter, so use as much of that range as you can within the limitations of your lauter tun; adding rice hulls can help improve the flow. If you are going the malt extract route, there are manufacturers that offer various wheat/barley malt extract blends that will work just fine. A touch of caramel malt will be all the color you need usually. Aim for a target original gravity of around 1.056 and moderate fermentability. The ABV should be just below 6%. Oberon uses several hops, but the signature varietals are Hersbrucker and Saaz. Target roughly 30 IBUs. Don’t be lured into using coriander or orange peel: Oberon is made with just four ingredients (water, hops, yeast and malted barley/wheat). You can culture our house yeast out of one of our bottles if you're comfortable with that; it's certainly the preferred option for a solid flavor match. Otherwise, our General Store has found that most people looking to clone one of our recipes lean towards ale strains with a straightforward ester profile and good attenuation. You can find supplies on our online store, by using the links below - our General Store is a great resource for ingredients and homebrewing supplies.  All grain ingredient kit Extract ingredient kit Here's to the next batch! 

We don’t offer our house yeast for sale. But since we don’t filter any of our ales either, you can harvest it directly from the bottle or can. Any of our non-Belgian ales are good candidates for this. If you can get your hands on them, Oberon or Amber Ale are all good choices. What you will need: 1-3 bottles of beer, a vessel, a flame source and the same ingredients required to build a yeast starter. DIRECTIONS Refrigerate your bottle or can of beer for one week. Make sure you have a nice slurry on the bottom. Two to three bottles cans will yield better results. Open bottle or can and sanitize the lip with a flame. NOTE: You may also want to spray sanitizer on and around the cap before opening. Gently pour the beer into a glass, leaving the sediment (yeast) in the bottle or can. Swirl the sediment/yeast in the bottle and re-flame the lip. Pour sediment into a sanitized container. Grow your yeast using a stepped starter – start with 75ML (about 1/3 of a cup) of wort, then let ferment for two to three days. Then add an additional 750ML of wort and let ferment an additional two to three days. [[{"fid":"1980","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]  

From the basics of malt to setting up a home draught system or even making cheese, our General Store staff have a number of classes planned to help you make it through the cold winter months.  Beginners Malt Sunday, February 12th                Learn the ins and outs of all things grain! We will cover the basics of how beer gets its sweet goodness. Hands on demonstrations, class room activities and beer samples help drive home one of the most important aspects of brewing, malted barley. Cheese-Making Saturday, February 25th Do you like cheese? Of course you do. Do you want to learn to make it at home? Of course you do. Join us for our cheese making class where you will gain hands on experience crafting your very own cheese! Advanced Malt Saturday, March 11th Do you have a grasp on all things malt? Think again. Our Advanced Malt class  will dive deeper into the wonderful world of brewing sugars! Some homebrew experience or our Beginners Malt class is required. Draught Class Saturday, March 25th Want to bring the bar home? Now you can! Sign up for the class that will teach you everything you will need to know on how to set up a home draught system and how to trouble shoot those pesky kegerator problems.