The year 2000 marks my first year homebrewing. Most of the recipes I crafted during this time were simple, but still good.

  • Mild Brown Ale
    ★★
    OG: 1.045
    FG: 1.016
    ABV: 3.8%

    Strong roasted flavors (almost porter-like). Decent hop flavor and malt sweetness. Over time this batch took on a subtle sour flavor and was over-carbonated – so only two stars.

  • Pleasant Porter
    ★★★
    OG: 1.050
    FG: 1.014
    ABV: 4.8%

    Fairly malty with pleasant bitterness. After aging, however, some of its “porter” characteristics (chocolate, roasted grains, bittersweet) faded, and it was over-carbonated.

  • Sweet Imperial Stout
    ★★★★
    OG: 1.072
    FG: 1.020
    ABV: 6.8%

    Very tasty brew. Less bitter roasted flavors than one would usually expect from a stout. But malty, sweet, and strong. Alcohol flavor was a little high in early bottles – so this recipe needs a little age to smooth out.

  • Atlanta Pale Ale
    ★★
    OG: 1.052
    FG: 1.016
    ABV: 4.7%

    A pale ale that turned out a little too weak. The aroma was full of cascade hops, and there was a firm presence of cascade hops in the flavor, too. But there was insufficient bitterness and malts to back it up. Tasted like cascade tea. More bittering hops and various specialty grains would have likely eliminated those weaknesses.

  • Black Wheat Ale
    ★★★★
    OG: 1.061
    FG: 1.018
    ABV: 5.6%

    Very spicy thanks to the weizen yeast. A little weak on actual wheat flavor though (typical wheat beers are 60-75% wheat; this recipe was not even quite 50% wheat). Very tasty overall, though.

  • Hazelnut Brown Ale
    ★★★★
    OG: 1.055
    FG: 1.017
    ABV: 5.0%

    Very good brown ale prior to addition of hazelnut extract. After addition of hazelnut: still a delicious beer. The hazelnut provides a candy-sweet flavor and covers up some of the hop bitterness. A good dessert beer.

  • Ale de Pêche
    ★★★
    OG: 1.049
    FG: 1.012
    ABV: 4.9%

    Peach flavor is very subtle, but noticable. The fruit complements the sweetness of the beer. The bitterness balances the flavors well. Also, this beer was the prettiest to date (very clear, not cloudy like previous homebrew batches). After a little aging, it took on a slight acidic sourness, but was still good.