Simply Sweet Stout

This is a sweet, cream, milk, lacto stout - pretty much the opposite of a dry stout. There are no late hops, the bitterness is low, and the lactose will ensure that this will finish slightly sweet - none of this is characteristic of Guinness. Also, you may not like the nitro that is common with Guinness and other commercial dry stouts; this beer uses a significant amount of chocolate and caramel malts, while a classic dry irish stout usually relies soley on roasted barley for color and roastiness. Simply put, this is NOT a beer that will resemble Guinness, but it's deceptively complex.
Target OG 1.058
Target FG 1.018

Grist:
Crisp Pale Ale 7 lbs
Briess White Wheat 1 lb 8 oz
Crisp Crystal Malt 60L 1 lb
Crisp Chocolate Malt 12 oz
Crisp Roasted Barley 8 oz

Hops:
Magnum Pellets, GR .70 oz @ 60 mins 14%AA

Yeast:
Wyeast 1028 London Ale

Adjuncts:
Lactose 9 oz 10min


Mash 60 min @ 154
Yeast: Wyeast 1028
Ferment 4 weeks @ 67 degrees or basement temp
Actual OG 1.061

Beet Orzo Salad

3/4 pounds beets, with greens attached
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces orzo pasta
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the pine nuts in a dry skillet, over medium heat, until they begin to brown. Watch them carefully, as they will burn in a flash. Remove from the heat & transfer to a bowl. Set aside.

2. Peel the beets & chop them into bite-sized pieces. Remove the stems from the beet greens & slice the leaves into strips. Wash the greens thoroughly to remove any grit.

3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced red onion & garlic. Cook until the onions are tender & golden brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low & add the beet greens. Cover & cook, tossing occasionally, until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cook the beets in a pot of salted water, until just tender, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the beets from the pot using a slotted spoon & set aside. Return the water to a boil & add the pasta. Cook, according to the package instructions, until al dente & drain. Add the orzo to a bowl, along with the beets, pine nuts, beet greens & crumbled feta. Toss, season with salt & pepper to taste & serve.

ESB (Extra Special Bitter)

This is a sequel brew, the yeast really makes this beer and is a seasonal yeast from wyeast. I'll be dumping this on a partial yeastcake from the Landlord Clone so I'm going to basically stay with a comparable hop profile of Kent Goldings and Fuggle.
Grist:
10 lb Crisp Marris Otter
1 lb Crisp 60L
.25 lb Crisp 120L

Hops:
1.5 oz East Kent Goldings 5.5% FWH
.25 East Kent Goldings 5% 20 minutes
.25 English Fuggles 4% 20 minutes
.25 Kent Goldings 5% 0 minutes
.25 English Fuggles 4% 0 minutes

Yeast:
Wyeast #1469 West Yorkshire
ABV 5.33% IBU 31.4 SRM 13.06

Target OG 1.055
Target FG 1.014
Mash in 4.5 gallons @ 173 degrees target 154
Mash out .75 gallons 180 degree water
collect 3.5 gallons, add FWH.
2nd mash 3.5 gallons 170 degree water
Mashed in at 8:30am, settled at 154.2 degrees 10 minutes in to the mash.
Hotbreak 10:20
hops 11:00am
hops 11:20am flameout Update 01.06.12 My OG was 1.056, and I am currently at 1.016. I'm not going to secondary, I'm going to let it condition in the primary for another week and bottle.

Christmissed Ale

I got off to a late start on this one trying to find the yeast I wanted to pitch. I wound up having to have it mailed from Annapolis Homebrew in Annapolis, Md. and since I was away most of the weekend of 11/20, no time for a starter. So here goes, I made the list and checked it twice, mashed in at 7:40 am on 11/20 giving me 35 days to have this ready.
Grist:
10lb pale malt 2 row
1lb caramel/crystal 40L
1lb wheat malt
.75lb special roast
.125 roasted barely

Additions:
2oz Hallertauer 4.3% 60 min
1oz cascade 6.8% 10 min
1oz cascade 6.8% 5 min
3 cinn sticks 5 min
1.25 ginger 5min
1.25 lb orange blossom honey flame out

Wyeast #1028 London Ale 2 packets, no starter-ferment at 64 for one week then 66 for 3.
Target OG 1.075
Actual OG 1.072

Update:
I am bottling this today, 33 days after brewing this beer. I wound up having to add more cinnamon and ginger to the primary because i was getting absolutely no spice in the samples I was pulling. I'm now in the predicament of potentially over spicing. I tasted last night and like it, so it's coming off the spices and going into bottles a bit early. Better safe than sorry with an over spiced mess of a beer. Final Gravity was 1.018 and has been constant for 5 days. Thank you thank you thank you, wyeast!!