Anyone out there ever tried brewing their own beer? Well, if you haven’t it’s a must-try. It’s definitely a commitment, as it isn’t an over-night endeavor, but it is deeply satisfying to brew your own beer.

This morning, as the weather is gloomy and dreary, it didn’t make us think of wanting to drink a homebrewed beer, just yet, but it did make us think of starting a project that takes just long enough to ripen to its peak right as the weather will be getting warmer. If you start brewing now, you could have this tasty Red Ale from SeriousEats for a sunny afternoon sometime in May.

Picture this: a beautiful day begun by strolling through the farmers market, followed by a bike ride in the crisp mountain (almost summer) air. We know you’ll want a cool, refreshing beer after that. And, if you do – you’d better get brewing. Just one piece of advice: make sure to clean all of your bottles thoroughly, we wouldn’t want to see you waste any of this delicious content.

Happy brewing from all of us at CSR! And, if you have more questions check out Hop to It in Boulder or Stomp Them Grapes in Denver. They are great resources for any homebrewing materials you need or advice on what’s best.

Hoppy Red Ale

From SeriousEats

Ingredients:

6 gallons of tap water, split

6 pounds Light liquid malt extract

1 pound CaraRed malt, crushed

1/2 pound Crystal 60L malt, crushed

2 ounces Black Roasted Barley malt, crushed

1 ounce Centennial Hops—60 minutes

1 ounce Centennial Hops—15 minutes

1 ounce Amarillo Hops—5 minutes

1 Liter starter of American Ale yeast (White Labs WLP001 or Wyeast 1056)

1 ounce Amarillo Hops—for dry hopping in secondary

priming sugar for bottling

Method:

1. If possible, place 3 gallons water in the refrigerator to cool in a sanitized container.
2. Tie the CaraRed, Crystal 60L and Black Roasted Barley malt in a large mesh grain bag or hop bag. Place the bag in 3 gallons of water in a 5 gallon pot and immerse the grain.
3. Begin to heat, making sure mesh bag isn’t sitting directly on the bottom of the pot. Remove the grain bag when the temperature reaches 170°.
4. Bring wort to a vigorous boil. As water is heating, slowly add 6 pounds of light liquid malt extract, stirring constantly until completely dissolved. When the boil begins, add 1 ounce Centennial hops in a mesh bag.
5. After 45 minutes of boiling has passed, add 1 ounce Centennial hops in a mesh bag.
6. After a total of 55 minutes has passed, add 1 ounce Amarillo hops in a mesh bag.
7. After total of 60 minutes of boil, remove from heat. Warning: After wort cools below 180°F everything that touches it should be sanitary, and exposure to open air should be limited as much as possible.
8. Cool wort by placing pot in ice bath until it is below 85°F. Transfer to sanitized fermentor (either a carboy or a fermentation bucket). Top off to make 5 gallons using refrigerated water.
9. Use a sanitized auto-siphon racking cane to remove enough wort to take a gravity reading with your hydrometer. Make a note of this number, since you will be using it to calculate the actual alcohol content when its done fermenting. The reading should be around 1.050.
10. Carefully pour yeast into cooled wort (it should be below 70°F), and agitate vigorously. Cover fermentor with a sanitized stopper and airlock. Ferment in dark place, keeping ambient temperature consistent, preferably between 65 and 68°F.
11. After 2 to 3 weeks when primary fermentation is complete (take at least two consistent gravity readings), transfer to a secondary carboy for conditioning, add 1 ounce Amarillo hops for dry hopping and store as cool as possible.
12. Bottle after another one to two weeks using enough priming sugar for a medium level of carbonation according to these instructions.