Complete Homebrew List

1. The Early Days 1995-2004
2. Before the Blog 2006 -2007
3. 2007 - 2008
4. 2009
5. 2o10
6. 2011
7. 2012
8. Post 2012

Porter -- Summer 1995Dry-Hopped Ale -- Fall 1995Chocolate Stout -- Winter 1995Ginger Honey Experiment -- Early 1996Black Ale -- Early 1997Kolsch -- Early 2002Alt -- Spring 2002Dunkelweizen -- Summer 2002Das Riddlor -- July 2002Yippie IPA -- July 2003Orange Cru -- March 24, 2004Wheat -- Spring 2004Superstition Coffee Porter -- October 1, 2006Good Head Red -- October 20, 2006Good Head Red II -- December 30, 2006Yippie IPA II -- March 10, 2007Rauchbier -- April 2007Good Head Red III (first all-grain batch) -- August 2007Schwartzbier -- Fall 2007Stout -- October 2007Good Head Red IV -- November 3, 2002 (R.I.P. -- November 24, 2007)"22" -- November 2007"22" Junior -- November 2007 (first draft beer)Oily Bohunk Bohemian Pilsner -- January 18, 2008Orange Cru II -- February 1, 2008 (extract)Good Head Red V -- February 1, 2008Wannabe Special Bitter -- February 15, 2008Gold Glove Leapday Ale -- February 29, 2008Noc-a-homa I.P.A. -- March 15, 2008Schwarzbier -- April 5, 2008For Real ESB -- May 3, 2008Noc-homa I.P.A. II -- July 13, 2008Peasant Beer -- July 13, 2008Rustic Farmhouse Ale -- August 9, 2008El Jeffe Weizen -- August 29, 2008Slightly Olier Bohunk -- October 3, 2008"37" -- October 25, 2008"37 Jr." -- October 25, 2008Padunk-a-Dunkel -- November 14, 2008Greymalkin's Juicy Dubbel Dubbel -- December 26, 2008Rotkapchen Lager -- December 30, 2008Yippie I.P.A. -- January 18, 2009Bohunk -- February 20, 2009
Extra Pale Ale -- February 20, 2009Good Head Red 2009 -- March 10, 2009Black Belgian Ale -- March 27, 2009
Bavarian Lager -- May 15, 2009
Belgian Strong Golden Ale -- May 15, 2009
Bavarian Amber Lager -- July 12, 2009
Belgian Blonde -- July 12, 2009
Belgian Ale (ardennes) -- July 28, 2009
Belgian Ale (Strong Ale) -- July 28, 2009
Precipitator -- October 12, 2009
Downpour Ale -- October 12, 2009
DSB ESB -- November 1, 2009
Yippy Three -- December 5, 2009
Jahrfunfzehn Lager -- January 1, 2010Turkey Vulture Blonde -- January 1, 2010
Double Toasted Oatmeal Chocolate Too Many Adjective American Stout -- February 26, 2010
Bavarian Amber Lager -- April 2, 2010
Belgian Dubbel -- April 2, 2010
Spiced Special Ale -- April 2, 2010

Wannabe Special Bitter

O.G = 1.050 IBU = 36.8

This is an attempt to create something close to something between Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale and Wells Bombardier. Many recipes recommend adding flaked maize and not making cultural references to the Spice Girls, but that is where I am different. I am calling this Special Bitter since regular bitter, or "mild", the 3% or so session beer designed to allow you to chill at the pub for a couple of hours is not very available, nor is that very desirable for me right now. I am aiming for somewhere around 5.5%. Let's hope I remember to take a hydrometer reading.

Wannabe Special Bitter
The Grain:

8 lbs Marris Otter (66.6%)
2 lbs British Crystal Malt (50-60L) (16.7%)
2 oz Carafa III (16.7%)

The Hops:

.5 oz Challenger (8% AAU) First Wort Runnings
.5 oz Challenger (8% AAU) -60 minutes
.5 oz Kent Goldings (5% AAU) -15 minutes (along with one clearfloc tab)
.5 oz Kent Goldings (5% AAU) End

Cry Havoc Yeast

The Mash:

10 lbs grain x 1.3 quarts water = 3.25 gallons strike water (165 degrees hoping for a 155 degree mash)
Absorption = 10 lbs x .125 = 1.25 gallons / 3.25 - 1.25 = 2 gallons
Add four gallons sparge water to equal a six gallon boil.

Fifteen minutes in: Temperature low (around 140something). I do not know why this is happening since I treated the tun with hot water before mashing since it is in the winter. I added about a quart of 200 degree water, and now I am waiting a few minutes . . .
Twenty-five minutes in: The temperature was around 160, so I threw in one ice cube, and that dropped it down to around 155.
Seventy minutes in: The temp was back down to 150, which is acceptable, but not exactly what I want. I added another 8oz or so of hot ass water. I am beginning to be concerned that this mash is going to be way thin because of all the extra water I have added. From the quick research I just did, it looks like I may want to look into learning how to calculate brewing efficiency and putting a thick blanket over the tun next time.

O.G. = 1.050
F.G. = 1.016
4.4% Alcohol by Volume




Oh, and then there is this, which has become obligatory. . .



Notes:

2.17.08 -- Fermentation has begun. The temperature seems to be hanging in there at 65 or so.

2.28.08 -- Using Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers as a guide, I calculated the brewing efficiency of this batch with the following formula. The factors are pounds, simplified gravity readings (1.050 becomes 50, etc.), and the potential gravity of different grains according to a chart in his book:

8lbs Marris Otter x 38 = 304
2lbs British Crystal x 34 = 68
.125 lbs carafa III x 30 = 3.75
304+68+3.75 = 375.75 (Potential Gravity of Grains)

Original Gravity: 1.050 x 6 Gallons:
50 x 6 = 300 (Actual Gravity of Wort)

300 /375.75= .80
80% Efficiency
Can this be true?

2.29.08 -- Kegged. Seems to taste right -- the hops are not overpowering at all, yet they are there. The color could be just a pinch darker. It is red / brown, but not the ruby color I was shooting for.

3.14.08 -- First impression: this is a beer made for drinking. It has less body than Wells Bombardier and Samuel Smith's Pale Ale, and that is probably because of the choice in yeasts. Kegging it and letting it condition in the fridge for so long seems to have been a good idea.

4.06.08 -- Picture day!! I am also realizing that this beer is exactly what it was named as it was being brewed. With the lager yeast, it really is a Wannabe Special Bitter.

From Fuller's -- London

Check out this diagram of the brewing process . . .
and then . . .
check this shit out.

O.C. II

The first O.C. (Orange Cru) was all fucked up, but when I found a four-year-old bottle of it it tasted like Grand Marnier. This four-year-old bottle was the ass (what I bottle after the bottling tube gets all clogged with yeast and hops). I figured I could do a nice little extract brew while I mash and cook an all grain recipe. This version is not at all meant to resemble a bright white Belgian Grand Cru. I am going for something thicker and spicer -- like Grand Marnier.


O.C. II :

Extract and Other Sweets:
Approximately 2.75 lbs -- Extra Light DME (It has to be used -- getting old.)
3 lbs -- Wheat DME
22oz -- wildflower honey from Lakemont, GA
1.5 -- Ground Coriander
.5 oz -- Dried Grated Orange Peel (grind it at least three days previous. dry in a paper bag -- about three oranges' worth)

Hops:
1 0z Target start
.5 oz Willamete end (which I forgot until after I pitched the yeast -- put it in then (?))

Belgian Wit Yeast

There really is not much to say here since I am not mashing, and I do not have to worry about temperatures, etc. I could mention that I fucked up and added the boiling hops that were meant for Good Head Red V.

O.G. = 1.050
F.G. = 1.015
ABV = 4.59%
Potential Alcohol = 6.8%
Final Alcohol = 2%
ABV = 4.8%

. . . I am going to make sure I have my head on straight next time I attempt to brew two beers at once. I switched the hops, forgot the aroma hops for this beer, and also forgot the 12oz of malto dextrin I bought to make this beer thicker.

Tunes I think I could chill to in the bath with a glass of O.C. and a fat Jay:

Big Poppa -- The Notorious B.I.G.
Florida Hurricane -- Saint Louis Jimmy
So Cruel -- U2
Dirty Mothe -- Roosevelt Sykes

Or you can get all of the above in a .zip file:

O.C. II Playlist .zip

Notes:

2.3.08 -- Bubbling away. From what I understand, Belgian Wit yeast has no problems in this area. My last batch of O.C. was way carbonated, and this may be the reason. I think I am going to have to move the Good Head Red to another place in the house because it may be too cold where I have these carboys. O.C. doesn't seem to mind though.

2.8.08 -- Still bubbling slowly. I am in no hurry with this one. It may speed up if I put it in the warmer room, but it seems to be doing fine where it is. It has a stack of krausen like a foamy urinal cake still after five days.

2.15.2008 -- Racked into secondary, which may be unnecessary at this point, but the last batch of beer I made with Belgian Wit yeast was way over carbonated. That is why I am taking this extra step. I will bottle this when I feel like bottling beer. I do not think there will be much harm in letting this one chill out longer as long as it is cold by the back door.

2.17.08 -- Now I understand why the last version of this beer was so over carbonated -- Belgian Wit Yeast is a wild animal! The beer I racked into the secondary is bubbling again. There would have been a major mess if I had not heard it hissing and squirting through the airlock. Seventeen days later, and it is still going. Patience with this one . . .

2.24.08 -- Bottled today. I just hope I do not have the carbonation issues I had with this kind of beer last time. I think I am in the clear since I waited longer for all the sugar to ferment out; I do not think this was the case last time.

3.9.08 -- I am so pleasantly surprised at the outcome of this beer. It is obvious to me that I bottled my last batch of O.C. waaaaaay too early, and that is why they turned out to be beer bombs. This one is so complex with the orange, coriander, honey, wheat, and yeast all showing up for their part in the show. The color is beautiful and the head is great. I can't wait to see what this will be like in a couple more months.

7.25.08 -- I wish I would have saved all of these this long. This beer improves so much with age. The flavors are so much smoother and unified at this point.

Good Head Red V

This will be the fifth batch of the beer I decided would be the house brew after I tasted the first. This one is a wee bit different than the others with a substitution of Biscuit Malt and Carapils for the Munich II I used in the past. This will certainly be different than the Good Head Red IV that escaped from a broken carboy and spilled all over the floor. You will see the differences compound further with each time I fuck up. Maybe brewing two beers, making two blog posts, and two playlists is a little ambitious.

GOOD HEAD RED V:

The Grain:
10 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb 60L Crystal Malt
1 lb Biscuit Malt
.5 lb Carapils
2 oz Roasted Barley


The Hops:
These are also a little different from other versions with the world wide hop shortage going on. The Kent Goldings I used in the past are substituted with Target.

.75 oz Willamete -- first wort runnings
1.75 oz Willamete -- -60 minutes (after foam breaks)
1 0z Willamete -- -15 minutes (along with a Whirlfloc Tablet)
1 oz Willamete -- end ( which I forgot until the wort was chilling. I added it then.)

(Notice that these are all Willamete. That was not the intention. Maybe this is why you should not brew two beers at once. You may become confused and put the wrong hops in the wrong beer. O.C. II got the Target hops, which may be too strong. I think it will all come out since the acid count would be similar if you added them all up.)

I am heating (right now) four gallons of strike water to 170 in hopes for a 155 degree mash. I am expecting the 12.5 pounds of grain to absorb 1.56 gallons (12.5 x .125 = 1.56). That means I will have to add 3.56 gallons of sparge water to get a 6 gallon boil (4 - 1.56 = 2.44) (6 - 2.44 = 3.56)

15 minutes into mash -- 156 degrees
45 minutes into mash -- below 140! -- I added about 2.5 cups of 200 degree water.
10 minutes later -- still low. I added three more cups of 200 degree water.
Last 30 minutes of mash -- I just checked it and it was up to 150. I added a few more cups of boiling water to get it up a little more. I am not going to fuck with it any more. The worst that can happen at this point is the beer coming out a little dry (let's hope).

O.G. = 1.048
F.G. = 1.020
3.66% by gravity reading (1.048 - 1.020 = .028 .028 x 131 = 3.66%)

Potential Alcohol = 7% / Final Alcohol Reading = 2.5%
4.5% by this reading, which is clearly different than the other. Maybe this is Alcohol by Weight? Fuck it. I know this beer is between 3.66% and 4.5%. The true test will be the "how do you feel after 2? 3? 4? test.

Estimated IBU = 58

Good Head Red V Playlist
The Criteria for this playlist are the songs that made me air guitar or bounce a little while brewing up this batch of beer (all via Mediafire):

Shake Your Money Maker -- John Little John
Good Bye Babylon -- The Black Keys
Some Dispute Over T-Shirt Sales -- Butthole Surfers
Juicy -- Better Than Ezra
Sonic Reducer -- Pearl Jam with Joey Ramone

Or you can dig all these in this zip file:

Good Head Red V Playlist .zip

Notes:

2.3.08 -- No real activity yet. The yeast seem to have reproduced themselves well. This is evident by the large layer of yeast at the bottom of the carboy. I think it is too cold where I have the carboy now (60s). I will move it today.

2.6.08 -- Fermenting well. It may be getting close to being done. I would like to keg this batch along with Oily Bohunk this weekend so I can have two beers on tap.

2.8.08 -- Kegged and put in the fridge. Should be ready to drink in 4-6 days.

2.15.2008 -- This beer drinks nice already, which is great considering I brewed it up two weeks ago. It will get better with a little more time, so I should slow down a little. I am wondering how much different this beer will be from the Wannabe Special Bitter I am making now. It may not be much.

2.28.08 -- If I am calculating efficiency the right way, this mash was 64%, which kinda sucks. This beer seems a little weak, but it is still good.

2.29.08 -- Picture day. This beer is not going to win any beauty contests, but it is still good with a nice bready aroma, and just a little hoppyness -- all with pretty good body. It makes me wonder if this would have been any different if I had used the Target hops as I had originally intended. The red does not show very well, and it is a bit cloudy (no secondary on this one).

3.11.08 -- Calculating Efficiency (while drinking GHR):

10 lbs Marris Otter x 37 = 370
1 lb Crystal Malt x 34 = 34
1 lb Biscuit Malt x 34 = 34
.5 Carapils x 33 = 16.5
.125 oz Roasted Barley x 27 = 3.37

Potential Extract = 370 + 34 + 34 + 16.5 + 3.37 = 457.87

6 gallons X 48 (1.048 O.G.) = 288

288 / 457.87 = 63% Efficiency -- this does not surprise me when I look at the notes of how the temperature dropped so much. I need to remember to wrap the tun in blankets or something -- this, or add boiling water to it before I start.

3.13.08 -- This beer started looking more an more clear, so I thought it was about to blow. Well, I was right. I drank the last glass today as I sat in the yard with my shoes off.

What has been getting my nads all pumped lately:

1. VooDoo Funk -- Frank scours West Africa for records so you don't have to. If you have not had the pleasure of listening to West African pop, rock, and psychedelic music, this would be a great place to start. Frank has single songs and podcasts. The podcasts are particularly kick ass.





2. FuFu Stew -- All kinds of goodness here. The other night I was listening to FuFu Stew #9, and I heard a song by the Trogs that was not "Wild Thing". Podcasts go anywhere from Motown, Pop, Bubblegum, Soul, Funk, and points in between.








3. Hammond Eggs -- Hammond Eggs is the early Saturday morning show on an alternative station in San Antonio which is sharp since too many people live without jazz. There are many shows at the link which is to archive.org , which is loaded with everything.

Oily Bohunk

First thing's first: this is a beer blog now too. If you don't love beer, lick my coin purse. With that out of the way, I can get to typing the recipe for the Bohemian Pilsner I am brewing right now:

Oily Bohunk Bohemian Pilsner:

Grain:
9 lbs: Pilsner Malt
2 lbs: Munich I
.5 lbs: Carapils
.5lbs: Carahel

Hopz:
.75 oz Sterling -- First Wort Runnings
.75oz Sterling -- When the foam breaks (-60 minutes)
1 oz Sterling -- (-15 Minutes) (add 1 tspn Irish Moss) (I am out of Moss. We will see if it makes a difference
1 oz Sterling -- (-5 minutes)
1 oz Sterling -- (-0 minutes)
.5 oz Sterling -- (Dry Hop when transfer to secondary is made)

Pilsner Urquell Yeast

Mash 12lbs grain x 1.3 quarts = 4 gallons strike water (Strike at 160 to Mash at 145 for a nice dry pilsner).

4 gallons Sparge water @ 170 (maybe should have been 3.5 gallons now that I look at my notes).

Boil 60 minutes after foam breaks -- Hop schedule above:


Here are the songs I particularly dug while brewing this up (all via Mediafire):

Agua Ardente -- Santo Samba
I Can't Feel My Face -- Lil Wayne
Reefer Man -- Cab Calloway
Jigsaw Falling into Pieces -- Radiohead
Purple -- Shuggie Otis
We're Gonna Boogie -- Lefty Dizz
Dust Devil -- Butthole Surfers

Or you can enjoy the whole thing as a playlist! (via Mediafire)

It went down like this:

Notes:

1.20.08 -- still no fermentation activity. This worries me a tad. It is probably because I put the fermenter in a very cold spot (46 degrees). I moved it to a little warmer spot in hopes that this will wake it up. The only real fear I have is of oxidation, so if the beer tastes like a wet paper bag, we will know the reason. Keep your fingers crossed.

1.24.08 -- FERMENTATION!! Hell yay-ya. The beer finally woke up yesterday; by the time I got home from work yesterday evening, the Oily Bohunk was alive with sugar-eating activity. Apparently, I had shocked the yeast into going dormant when it was too cold (carboy was next to the back door on one of the coldest nights of the year). I will likely transfer to the secondary and dry hop next Wednesday (1.30.08)

2.1.08 -- Transfer to secondary and dry hop with .5 oz Sterling

2.8.08 -- Kegged and put in the fridge. Will be ready to go in 4-6 days. Final Gravity was 1.014. I forgot to take an original gravity reading, so this does not mean much. Maybe I will figure some way to make calculations later. I tasted the gravity sample, and it tasted pretty good for being warm and flat. The color was looking nice and gold as it came through the hose. I am afraid this beer will not last long once it is ready.

2.15.08 -- I have been drinking small amounts of this beer so not to go through it before it is at its best. Right now, seven full days getting gas, it is carbonated right, but still a bit cloudy. I will photograph it when it gets clearer -- when the residual hops and yeast are all sucked off the bottom of the keg leaving just beer. This is not an exact replica of Urquell, but it is not that far either. I bet it would be much closer were Saaz available.

2.19.08 -- Looks as clear as it will get as I remember that I ran out of moss.

2.29.08 -- Finally added the picture. I am liking this beer more and more, which probably means it is almost gone. The crispy hop character is really starting to shine. This is becoming closer and closer to what I intended.

Grinderman

You don't give a fuck what I think, and you shouldn't. This is not a record review because you do not give a fuck what I think, and I would not be a cheeky bastard to think that you would. The extroverted world of blogging, however, gives me a platform to tell you something about this record that I liked, like I am someone who has some sort of authority to tell you something about how you might appreciate a piece of art. I am not doing that, so get off my nuts. This is the reason I do not do album reviews, not that this is one, because I have to go through all this shit before I even get to the music. Fuck.

At the end of the year 2007 I reviewed other blogs for best-of lists before procuring a handful of albums. The above-pictured Grinderman was perhaps my favorite. Grinderman is the new band featuring Nick Cave, whom I am pretty unfamiliar musically. I saw a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds performance at Lollapolooza in 1994, and I thought it sucked ass. I was twenty, so I probably did not know any better. Oh, you fuckin' care.

Of the three selections below, "No Pussy Blues" reminded me of Bob Dylan's "Gates of Eden" for no immediately apparent reasons; "Honey Bee" has notes of The Butthole Surfers' Independent Worm Saloon, and I put "Man in the Moon" in there because it was a little different than the others.

Two other things that make this album rad: they have an electric bouzouki player, and there is a monkey grabbing his nuts on the cover.

Download "No Pussy Blues" via Mediafire
Download "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars) via Mediafire
Download "Man in the Moon" via Mediafire

2013

2013-2018

2013
Tommahawk! American Pale Ale -- February 9, 2013

Mrs. Gorilla's Best Bitter -- April 7, 2013 
Lajoie Beliner Weisse - May May 8-11, 2013 
Pegasus - September 2, 2013
Bullfrog Brown - -November 3, 2013
Temptation Toad-- November 3, 2013
Smokey the Bandit - December 12, 2013
 

2014

Keller XP-- January 04, 2014
Estimated Prophet - February 17, 2014
New Brewery Pale Ale - March 22, 2014
Floyd the Barber -- May 3, 2014
Aero Zeppelin -- May 3, 2014
The Illustrious Merkin Gherkin -- July 8, 2014
Merkin Splendor - July 8, 2014
Kattenstoet -- August 30, 2014
Figgy Pudding -- Augst 30, 2014
Bloody Hell to Pay -- November 3, 2014

2015  

Another Pegasus - February 21, 2015
Mordecai Brown - March 28, 2015
Toxic Avenger - May23, 2015
Angel Piss - May 23, 2015
El Jeffe Amberweissen -- July 30, 2015
Space Ritual -- December 28, 2015

2016

DAS Beer 1 - January 10, 2016

DAS Beer 2 - February 29, 2016
The Infamous El Guapo - April 7, 2016
DAS Beer That Owns Itself -- May 15, 2016
Booze Hound - June 14, 2016
DAS Beer 3 - August 28, 2016
DAS Strangers - December 23, 2016
Sour Barrel One - December 30, 2016

2017

DAS Landlady - March 20, 2017
Sourpatch - May 28, 2017
DAS BEER 4 July 30, 2017
Brown Barrel Beer October 22, 2017
Pecan Smoke December 23, 2017

2018

River Bitter: First 811 Beer -- June 16, 2018
DAS Beer 5: July 28, 2018
Barrel Beer 4 -- October 26, 2018

2019

Big Brew Day / Partigyle -- January 21, 2019
XPA / Cahntrelle Saison -- February 24, 2019
River Bitter 2 -- June 13, 2019Barrel Beer Five
Barrel Beer 5 -- December 29, 2019

2020s

DOOMIE -- February 16, 2020
River Bitter #3 -- March 25, 2020
Manual Transmission -- June 29, 2020

Barrel Beer #6 -- January 5, 2021

Episode Six Six Six

After a long hiatus the Merkin Man is back with another offering of musical candy for the very very exclusive group of people who actually come here.
Here it is!

1. Four Kicks -- Kings of Leon
2. Packin' a Rod -- L7
3. Sick of Myself -- Matthew Sweet
4. Time Fades Away -- Niel Young
5. Jimmy -- M.I.A.
6. Ye Ye De Smell -- Fela Kuti and the Africa 70
7. Hello -- Lionel Richie
8. These Eyes -- The Guess Who
9. Aht Uh Mi Hed -- Shuggie Otis
10. Poon-tang! -- The Treniers
11. In Your Room -- The Bangles
12. Reckoner (live) (the version I thought would be on In Rainbows) -- Radiohead
13. Judy Mach 7 -- Smersh
14. Screwdriver (live) -- The White Stripes

I actually said "please" in this podcast. That is not very Merkin Man. I will try to do better next time, fuckers.