Category: Small Batch Brewing

Dortmunder

This lager is such a treat, especially if you love malty cereal flavours in your beer. Since first brewing this recipe, I’ve been coming back to it at least twice per year. It sports a gorgeous clear colour, a big head that lingers for quite some time and is a delicious exploration of malty/cereal flavours. Slightly maltier and a deeper gold than the Pilsners the Dortmunder was a lager made for 19th century German industrial workers. Naturally, this one tastes very good after a hard day’s work.
Kölsch-Style Ale

If you’re looking to start brewing lagers, a Kölsch serves as a bridge between ales and lagers. The style is a lagered ale, so you don’t need to ferment at lager temperatures. But you need to store it at cold temperatures once your bottles are carbonated. The longer, the better. If you can try to go six weeks in the fridge before cracking open, you’ll get rewarded with an incredibly crisp and delicious beer with beautiful clarity.
Fifty-Fifty New England IPA

The first NEIPA I brewed and shared on BeerCraftr is admittedly complicated. As I have experimented with this beer style, I have sought to make it easier to brew. Here I cut out the whirlpool step altogether and simplified the dry hop schedule. And to make things even simpler, I cut down the mash and boil times in half (50/50!), inspired by the short and shoddy methods of the brülosophy team. It worked well. In the end, the beer tasted as good—if not better—than my original recipe, with half the hassle.
American Pale Ale II

In the vein of simplifying an already tasty recipe, I tweaked my original APA recipe by reducing the grain bill to two grains, swapping out Amarillo for Perle, adjusting the hop schedule, and trying a different yeast strain. The changes were worth it—this version is superior to the original. It has become my new go-to APA recipe, so I thought I’d offer it here for your consideration. As a fun experiment, brew the two APA recipes back-to-back and compare. One can never have too many APAs in the house!
San Diego Lager

If you take a second look at the Uncommon Lager recipe, you’ll notice it shares the same grain bill as this recipe. It also shares an identical fermentation profile, having fermented warm (for a lager) at 18ºC for two weeks. Here I’ve simplified the hops to a simple boil addition, and have swapped in a different yeast. The changes are subtle, but noticeable if you have the two beers side-by-side.
Dark Kveik

Kveik is becoming all the rage for its amazing fermentation properties. This Norwegian yeast can tolerate very warm fermentation temperatures (well into the high 30ºC range) and is awesome if you struggle to keep your fermentation temperatures lower. I wish I had discovered this yeast years ago when I only had room on my warm kitchen countertop to ferment. This recipe would thrive in such a warm environment. And it’s delicious.
Uncommon Lager

This beer gets its name for taking inspiration from California Common, but with a grain bill you would expect to find in a Vienna lager. This was also the first recipe in which I experimented with fermenting a lager on the warmer side, maintaining a fermentation temperature of 18ºC (64ºF). It worked incredibly well. I hope you enjoy this one, and the freedom to make a lager at a warmer temperature!
Mojito Witbier

This was a fun experiment. My former colleagues and I wanted to create a beer that would represent each of us in one recipe. So, we chose a grain bill and a Belgian yeast to represent our resident Belgian; hops with mint and lime aromas to represent our resident Cuban and Peruvian, a wit style for the white guys on the team. Designed for easy sipping on a hot patio, it can double as a beer cocktail base. Why not toss in some mint leaves and a dash of white rum?
Tips for Bottle-Conditioning New England IPA

It would appear that time is our worst enemy when it comes to conditioning this beer. We need to drink it very quickly after bottling it if we want to avoid the purple/grey haze. If you’re going to brew this style, apply what I have learned through trial and error with these four simple tips.
Bog Myrtle Gruit

I have seen few breweries in Canada brew with these two herbs, but one brewery—Beau’s—does it so well. When I first had one of their bog myrtle gruits, I was enchanted. This was my first attempt at making my own, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. This beer is beautifully herbaceous, sweet, and peppery. It’s one of my favourite recipes. You can order these special ingredients online. I get mine here.
Scottish Export 80

If you’re looking to showcase and enjoy a malt-forward beer, this is a user-friendly recipe. The grains really shine in this recipe, giving you the chance to explore the pronounced cereal and biscuit notes of this particular grain bill. With a low ABV, you can have a couple of these in a session and properly explore this under-appreciated style. If you want to have fun with this one, taste the specialty grains and adjust the ratio to your liking. Be sure to keep 85% of the grain bill for the pale malt.
Breakfast Stout

This is by no means a clone of the famous Breakfast Stout made by Founder’s Brewing Company. But it it’s a similar beer in spirit. I love coffee stouts and when the original Breakfast Stout finally hilt the store shelves in Toronto, I couldn’t get enough of it. This is my own version of this recipe which has strong notes of coffee and chocolate, with the smooth mouthfeel that only oats can provide.
Coconut Brown Ale

Two of my closest friends celebrated their wedding in summer 2017, and I wanted to toast them with a beer they could call their own. They had recently spent a week in Asheville, North Carolina and raved about the coconut brown ales (and porters) that brew mecca had on offer. So, I thought, why not make them their own version? This is it, and it’s worth the extra effort.
Salty Coriander Gose

Gose might be my preferred summer beer. I brewed this Gose ale recipe as a perfect start to any fun sunny evening with friends. It’s not too sour, and the sea salt and coriander seeds give the beer that perfect balance. You could sip on this bad boy by all day long. And I love a sessional sour beer. Far too many of today’s sour beers take it a notch too far with the tart. This one is restrained.
Tokyo Rose Saison

HALO is an amazing brewery in Toronto. I met one of the founders when they were looking for seed funding. Sadly, I was a month too late in pledging my support. I wanted to invest because of this one beer. The brewery has since shared its recipe for the world. I’ve adapted it for one-gallon BIAB brewing here. If you’re ever in Toronto, pay HALO a visit—they’re fellow homebrewers gone pro.