A blast from the past - OR - Time fixes all beers

To mark the (approximate) third anniversary of my homebrewing, I decided to reach waaaay back in my cellar and grab a bottle of the second beer I ever brewed - chocolate coffee stout. This is also the only beer I ever brewed that got dumped down the drain. It was my first attempt at a recipe and I had NO clue what I was doing. I can't remember the exact recipe by far, but it was a mix of dark malt extract, who knows what hop, chocolate brownie coffee, and 4oz of cocoa powder. The OG was ~1.060 if memory serves.What a disgusting mess! After 6 or 8 months I gave up on this beer and dumped all but a sixer down the drain. I've tried some periodically since then and not a one of them have been finished. I'd say that the last one I tried was a good year ago. I just cracked into my second-to-last one and this is actually a pretty damn good beer! Now I wish I had that case and a half I drainpoured. Oh well, just goes to show how much a beer really changes over the course of three years. I'll bring my last bottle to the Bay de Noc Brewers meeting on Saturday to get some other opinions.

RIP Vanilla Cherry Stout

It's always sad when you drink the last bottle of a great beer that you brewed. This was my first fruit beer and even though the vanilla never really came through and it took awhile for the cherries to fade and balance, it was interesting to taste it throughout. It really does remind me of chocolate cherry cake, which is what I was going for. Brewed 12/30/08, bottled 2/22/09, killed 3/8/10. I'm definitely going to brew this again some day, but will cut back on the cherries a bit and add more vanilla

Malt:
10lb (80%) 2-row
1lb (10%) Chocolate Malt
0.5lb (5%) Crystal 40L
0.5lb (5%) Crystal 80L
0.5lb (5%) Roasted Barley
1lb Lactose in boil
Mash at 158

Hops:
2oz East Kent Goldings @ 60min - 35 IBU

Fermentation:
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale
2 weeks primary

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.019

ABV: 6.3%
5 weeks secondary on 5lb montmorency cherries, ~3oz homemade vanilla extract

The Captain's Nephew IPA

Last week I ordered 9 lbs of hops, so you know what that means - IPA time! My friend Steve will be brewing this with me, his first homebrew experience. He also happens to be the nephew of a teacher I had who we all called "Captain", hence the name. Recipe is as follows:

Malt:
12lb (83%) 2-row
1lb (7%) Munich Malt
0.75lb (5%) Crystal 10L
0.75lb (5%) Crystal 40L
Mash @151F for 60min

Hops:
1oz Nugget @60min
1oz Cascade @15min
1oz Willamette @10min
1oz Centennial @10min
1oz Amarillo @5min
1oz Simcoe @0min
Dry hop 1oz Simcoe and 1oz Cascade for 1 week

SafAle US-05
1tsp each of Gypsum, Irish Moss

OG: 1.075
IBU: 69
Approx ABV: 7.3

Welcome to Third Eye Brewing!

Well, here's my first post! I plan on using this blog to highlight the various (some may say insane at times) brewing activities I have going on. My goal in homebrewing is to educate people on the world of craft beer, and sometimes make something completely ridiculous to make people say "Wow!". Stay tuned for recipes and see what I'm brewing!