Maine Brews

Brewday recap: Lambic #1 (pLambic) with Turbid Mash

Joel Mahaffey — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:28:04 +0000

Last weekend, on MLKJr day, I brewed my first lambic. Technically it was a pseudo-lambic (or pLambic) because I pitched a culture rather than letting nature inoculate the wort. There are many ways to get a souring culture, one of the most … Continue reading →

Brewday Recap: Dark Mild

Joel Mahaffey — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:07:39 +0000

Last Sunday I brewed the first dark beer of the year, a Dark Mild. This style is unfortunately a dying style, and is almost unheard of in the US. The best way to describe it is the smaller, gentler brother … Continue reading →

Extra-Ordinary Bitter

Joel Mahaffey — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:40:51 +0000

Just a quick write-up on yesterday’s brew… Since last year’s vow of small beers (under 5%), I’ve become a little obsessed with a good English bitter, something that’s a bit of a rarity this side of the Atlantic. Yesterday’s was … Continue reading →

Homemade Sourdough Pretzels

Joel Mahaffey — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:39:15 +0000

It’s not really beer, but it’s sort of related, right? I’ve been talking the big talk about how I’m going to learn to make my own soft pretzels, and yesterday, I did. It took a bit of searching online to … Continue reading →

Brewday: American Saison

Joel Mahaffey — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:50:37 +0000

I’ve had a long-term love/hate relationship with Belgian beers, but this year I fell in love with Saisons. They’re often everything you don’t find in a typical Belgian beer, hoppy, dry and bitter [Note: I know there are some Belgian … Continue reading →

Tasting: Old Ale

Joel Mahaffey — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:11:30 +0000

Last December I brewed the first beer I’ve ever intended for really long-term aging, an Old Ale. This recipe is based on the recipe that was built on HomeBrewTalk for their 11-11-11 swap beer. The idea is to have lots of … Continue reading →

Tasting: No Sparge Oatmeal Stout

Joel Mahaffey — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:02:26 +0000

I’m going to make an effort to review more of my beers online, as I’ve posted a lot of recipes, but never any follow up after that. Well, rarely. I brewed an Oatmeal Stout in November, trying for the first … Continue reading →

Kate the Great Inspired Russian Imperial Stout

Joel Mahaffey — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:42:01 +0000

Last updated 12/9/2011 Last weekend I brewed a monster of a Russian Imperial Stout. I’ve made a recipe the last couple of winters based on the Old Rasputin recipe, but this year I decided to make something based on a … Continue reading →

Fall Bitters

Joel Mahaffey — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:53:31 +0000

This past weekend I made my first English bitter since the springtime, marking a return to low-gravity beers that I am very excited for. Low-gravity, meaning under 4% beers, which by American standards, is a very light beer. The reason … Continue reading →

Homemade Sauerkraut

Joel Mahaffey — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:43:10 +0000

This summer I started making sauerkraut with green cabbage. I’d love to experiment, but I’m waiting until I feel like I’ve got this down before moving on. This is a shot of about 3-4 days in, with fermentation bubbles at … Continue reading →