After weeks of close calls and near misses, we got the girls in on some summer brewing. Sean and I turned over the reins of our largely automated brewing rigs to see what creative beers Andrea and Stephenie could deliver.

Here, Andrea is adding the boil hops to her as-of-yet unnamed ale which will be fermented with kiwi fruit. She turned out to be a natural at the more difficult aspects of the brew night — sampling the previous few batches, and stirring.

Meanwhile on the other rig, Sean and Stephenie paid a lot of attention to the mash. Since she was brewing an Abbey-style Dubbel, hitting that magic 153F would ensure enough residual body and avoid dry-beer syndrome.

The fermentations are going strong now, so we should have some interesting beers in a few weeks.

Andrea’s birthday in July seems to always inspire us to have a neighborhood party. This year, I invited her to pick a beer style and help brew it. She wanted a light, refreshing fruit beer for the party, and we picked a kiwi/strawberry combination for this recipe.

For 5 gallons (75% efficiency):

Grain
5.00 lbs. Pilsener malt
2.00 lbs. Munich Malt (2-row)
1.00 lbs. Flaked Soft White Wheat
0.50 lbs. Honey (orange blossom, or other aromatic honey)

Fruit
4.0 lbs. kiwi fruit, peeled and cut into small chunks (3.5 lbs after peeling)
2.0 lbs frozen strawberries (thawed and pureed)

Hops
0.75 oz. Mt. Hood (6.5%) 60 min.
0.25 oz. Saazer (2.5%) 5 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 American Ale

Mash grains at 152F for 60 minutes. Add the Mt. Hood hops when wort begins to boil. After 45 minutes, add Irish moss. After 10 more minutes, add the Saaz hops. 5 Minutes later, knockout to chiller, and pitch yeast. Will be in primary fermentation for up to 7 days, and then rack it to secondary for the fruit addition. It will ferment for 7 to 10 days in secondary. After the fermentation subsides, you can transfer to a tertiary fermentation to help with flavor maturation, or package it..

OG: 1.047 (11.7P)
Anticipated SRM: 9.3
Anticipated IBU: 22.3

Packaging
Kegged and force-carbonated

Production + Tasting Notes
The beer was served as the birthday beer at our summer party, and it very well received. The kiwi tartness had melded with the strawberry flavor to produce a light fruitiness that complemeneted the light body of the base beer, yet avoided being cloying. Andrea remarked that it is "definitely not for the kids".

Every brewery has a house beer that always seems ot be on tap, and this one is mine. Modeled after cask conditioned Bass form the UK (not the darker, imported version we get here in the US), this Best Bitter is a true session beer. Delightfully hoppy in an earthy way thanks to the Goldings and Northern Brewer hops, this brew will please both experienced and novice craft beer drinkers alike.

For 10 gallons (80% efficiency):

Grain
13.50 lbs. Maris Otter Pale Malt
2.00 lbs. Crystal 60

Hops
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer (8.0%) 60 min.
1.00 oz. East Kent Goldings (4.75%) 60 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Mash grains at 151F for 60 minutes. Add all of the hops a few minutes before the hops begin to boil (the extra steeping time brings extra hop character to the table). At 45 minutes, add Irish moss to help clarify the wort. At 60 minutes, knockout to chiller, and pitch yeast. 001 is a steady fermenting yeast, so plan on 5 days in primary if your temperature is around 70F. This beer definitely benefits from a minimum 1-week secondary, and 2 is even better.

OG: 1.043 (11.1P)
Anticipated SRM: 11.1
Anticipated IBU: 28.5

Packaging
Kegged and force-carbonated