We at the Brew House are pretty darn proud of the high quality beer that you can make in only minutes with our kit. We think it's the best beer kit ever invented.

Having said that, though, some people may not agree with our idea of what really good beer tastes like: "More hops!—Not enough malt!—You call that a Cream Ale?" Everyone is entitled to an opinion—that's what makes homebrewing great.

So, what do you do if your opinion conflicts with ours? You modify your kit; great brewers never leave well enough alone.

Let's see where a rainy day and a little imagination will take us.

These recipes are for 5, 4 and 3 gallon batches. You will need to adjust your priming sugar to match recipe volume and beer style. Generally, ¾ of a cup of corn sugar should suffice for 5 gallons, a ½ cup for 4 gallons, and 3/8 of a cup for 3 gallons. If you find these priming rates too low or too high, change them to suit your taste. Brew House Irish Stout | Waltzing Wiener Wanderjhar Wogger | Imperial India Pails of Ale | Too Much Armour, Not Enough Porter | Dupe-All Golden Ale

What to do next

The Brew House kit doesn't just give you a fast and convenient way to make high-quality beer. It also provides you with the finest possible ingredient base for your experiments with new beer styles and ideas. We expect that the best ideas for modifying and generally mutating the kit will come from you, the homebrewers who inspired it in the first place.

Good luck! And remember, the best beer is always the one you made yourself.

1. Crack your roast barley and place it, with the flaked barley, in a grain bag. If you wish to make an oatmeal stout (Samuel Smith), include the quick oats.
2. Add grain bag to 2 gallons of cold water in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grains, add the Northern Brewer hops, and boil for 20 minutes. If you want to make a milk stout (Mackeson's), dissolve lactose in the liquid during the last 5 minutes of the boil.
4. Remove pot from heat, cool, and use the liquid to make up the 5 gallon volume of the kit. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package (package #1).
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 60–70°F.

Initially, this stout will have a very sharp, grainy, roasty taste, quite coffee-like. With 6 weeks of aging, it will take on a mellow, smooth, luscious character, with the bitterness of the grains integrating with the maltiness of the dark lager base. The crispness of the Northern Brewer hops will unite it all, and suddenly the voice of Saint Brigid will ring in your ears: "I dream of Heaven, with a great lake of beer. . . ."

Variations on a theme:
So, you're looking for the ultimate stout adventure, the big, bruising black buccaneer of the brewers' business, an ale so big, only the Russian Empire could hold it—Russian Imperial Stout. Follow the recipe above, but instead of using water for steeping the grain and hops, use about 2 gallons of wort out of the kit. After boiling, add this liquid to the remaining wort and don't add any water. If you've done everything right, you'll wind up with about 3 gallons of wort at a starting gravity of 1.075–1.080. You can ferment with the 1084 yeast or champagne yeast (Lalvin EC-1118 Prise de Mousse is our favorite). After this, follow the Brew House instructions, but rack to a 3 gallon carboy on day 3–5. This beer should be aged for at least a month before bottling, and another two months before drinking. When it's ready, it will leave you speechless: try a scoop of good ice cream in it for a sinful Czarist float (we favor chocolate gelato). Also, save a few bottles for a year or two; you'll be amazed by the changes they undergo.

Further variations:

• Take an unpreserved (no sorbate, benzoate, sulfite or other chemicals) fruit purée or juice concentrate (cherry, raspberry, and blackberry work well) and add it to the stout, either the dry Irish or imperial style. The amount you use will depend of the concentration of your purée or juice, but try a quart or so to begin with. Follow the regular schedule, adding the fruit to the boiled liquid after removing it from the heat.
• Make a holiday stout by following the imperial stout recipe and adding cinnamon, dried orange peel, nutmeg, anise, and any other appropriate spices to the liquid during the last 5 minutes of the boil. Start with two tablespoons or less of each, depending on how well you like your spices. Keep in mind that you'll have 3 gallons of this stuff, so if you overdo it . . . .
• Espresso stout . . . the perfect morning pick-me-up! Make the regular dry Irish version (no oatmeal, no lactose) and add 8 oz. of finely ground dark-roast coffee to the grain/hop water after removing it from the heat. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, cool, and use the liquid to make up the volume of the kit. Don't worry about the coffee floating all over the top: it'll settle out with the yeast by racking day. Mmm, mountain grown, the richest kind . . . Mrs. Olsen never had it so good!

What else goes into a stout? If you're in the Pacific Northwest, probably more hops. If you're a millet- producing region, try some sorghum syrup. In New England, maple syrup. In Seattle, prime each bottle with an extra shot of espresso. In short, your stout can truly be yours. Tell us your favorite recipe: we can't have all the good ideas!

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"Wiener" is the German word for things Viennese, thus the goofy alliteration in the title of this section. Vienna lagers started (mainly) with two gentlemen named Sedelmeyer and Dreher. They were pioneers of European brewing, and knew how to capitalize on the trend of lighter, clear beers when they saw it (or saw through it, heh heh). With the combination of ingredients and brewing water available to them, these fellows were able to make a beer whose color was between a Munich dark and a Pilsen pale, and whose flavor was hugely appealing. It was a success in Bavaria, and survives in Europe as Märzen and Oktoberfest. Sadly, there are few true Vienna lagers available to us. Happily, we can make our own.

1. Crack your grains and place them in a grain bag.
2. Add grain bag to 2 gallons of cold water in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grains and boil for 20 minutes. At the end of the boil, add Saaz hops, remove pot from heat and steep hops for 5 minutes.
4. Cool the liquid and use it to make up the volume of the kit. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 46–54°F.

Variations on a theme:
There are many different styles and brands of high-kilned malts on the market—Munich, Vienna, aromatic—and there are crystal malts like caramel, CaraVienne, and Special B. You will find any number of grains to tweak the taste of this beer. Remember, though, the hallmark of Vienna lager is balance: not too sweet, not too hoppy, with a coppery amber color and a delicate grain aroma. Above all, balance, balance, balance between the malt and the hops.

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One of the most impressive pale ales to come out of the Pacific Northwest in recent years is Rogue Ale's I²PA (Imperial India Pale Ale). Deep golden, with a fine maltiness, I²PA is a delicious beer. Drinking it is like getting ones head trapped in a hop conveyor. Layers and layers of hop bitterness, raging hop flavor, and enveloping hop aroma overwhelm the senses, leaving one breathless and ready for another pint. Unfortunately, most people will not have had the chance to sample this beer because it's not yet bottled for general release. We at the Brew House know about I²PA because we live close to the best beer bar in the known universe and have had the opportunity to drink it several times. Whee!

Curious? It's the Archer Ale House in Fairhaven, Washington. Fairhaven is a former lumber town in southern Bellingham and is the southern terminus of the Alaska ferry. You can get there by taking exit 250 from the I-5. In addition to carefully and correctly serving brilliant cask-conditioned and regular ales (including the aforementioned Rogue products, Belgian lambics, and German and British specialties) the proprietor runs a non-smoking establishment. If this isn't enough, the bathrooms are also the cleanest we've ever seen in any commercial premise, much less a bar. Strange criteria? Maybe, but when you get used to it, everywhere else is a let-down. (Editor's note: This is obviously a blatant plug. However, the writer assures us he's not looking for endorsement contracts—or even free beer. We think we believe him. After all, he spends enough time there without them.)

The people at Rogue Brewing were kind enough to confirm the exact ingredients for us, something not a lot of big breweries would do. The ingredient list—with the precise quantities—would make you gasp and/or laugh. John Maire (Rogue-in-Chief) has an answer to any question: "Add more hops." How can you duplicate this beer? Well, you can't, but we'd like to think this recipe is reminiscent of a truly stupendous pale ale.

What's a lupomaniac to do? So much time, so little hops . . . .

1. Crack your grain and place it in a grain bag.
2. Put 2 gallons of wort from the Brew House kit in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Add grain bag and place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grain, add the Cascade hops, and boil for 10 minutes. Add Saaz hops and boil for a further 10 minutes (20 minutes in all).
4. Remove pot from heat, cool, and use the liquid to make up the 3 gallon volume. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package. NOTE: Don't worry about the hop sludge. Dump it in the primary (all of it). It will settle out before the first racking.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 60–70°F.
6. From this point, follow the Brew House instructions but rack to a 3 gallon carboy on day 3–5. On day 20, when the beer would normally be ready to bottle, rack into a clean carboy and add the East Kent Goldings as a dry hop. (Dry hops expand quite a bit, and you're using a lot of them. Make sure you leave enough space in the carboy). Wait for a month for the full flavor of the hops to come out, and then rack off, prime and bottle as usual.

Variations on a theme: Changing the crystal malt comes to mind, with brumalt (Gambrinus honey malt) topping the list of possibilities. More hops could be added, but only by those pushing the ludicrous button pretty hard. The addition of kettle sugars (such as brown sugar) to boost the gravity might be nice. Experiment, but above all remember: there's no such thing as too much hops!

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Everybody knows why dinosaurs didn't make the evolutionary cut: too much armor, not enough brains. Yet few people know the story behind the demise of porter. Arguably once the most popular style of beer on earth, this black beverage built—and broke—fortunes and empires. It even drowned a neighborhood when a bazillion gallon tank of it burst in one of the worst beer-related industrial accidents ever. And yet porter quietly went its way, lost in the headlong rush of the 20th century. On the face of it, porter looks like stout's long-lost uncle (the one who drank too much and pawned his coat, and never got invited to Thanksgiving dinners after that morals arrest). Nothing could be farther from the truth; porter has a long history as a beer style in its own right. It evolved from the dark-roasted barley that was common in England before the industrial revolution. The acidity of the brown malt combined well with London's slightly alkaline water, producing delicious dark beers. Roastier and less black than today's stouts, porter highlights subtle hoppiness and fruity yeast qualities—no other black beer does this quite as well.

1. Crack your grains and place them in a grain bag.
2. Add grain bag to 2 gallons of cold water in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grain. Boil the liquid for 10 minutes, then add Hallertau hops and boil for 10 more minutes (20 minutes in all).
4. Remove pot from heat, cool, and use the liquid to make up the 5 gallon volume of the kit. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 60–70°F.

Variations on a theme:
The recipe above makes a style of porter called "ruby." There are several more styles, including robust, prosperity, Pennsylvania, and original London. There is also West Coast porter, typified by Anchor Brewing and Sierra Nevada; its unique aroma and flavor come from a twist of piney, citric American hops. In addition to having developed stylistic differences, porter previously attracted the use of all sorts of adjuncts—some aromatic, some flavorful, and some downright toxic. Capsicum pepper, grains of paradise (an obsolete spice), quassia (ersatz cinnamon), molasses, spruce, juniper, ginger, etc. etc. have all been recommended as porter flavoring from time to time. Let your imagination be your guide, but be moderate to begin with: we can still remember the 2 quarts of molasses we put into a batch of porter. . . .

• For a robust porter, use the above recipe but include 3 oz. of black patent malt. For your 2 gallons of grain-steeping liquid, use 1 gallon of water and 1 gallon of wort from the Cream Ale kit. This should yield 4 gallons with a starting gravity of approximately 1.060.
• For a smoked porter, use the basic recipe and add 8 oz. of any one of the following crushed grains: distiller's (peated) malt, German rauch malt, or home-smoked pale malt. Smoked porters take a little getting used to, but they have an elusive, delicious quality that makes them "more-ish." You can add more smoked malt, but remember that the smoky quality should complement the roast grains, not overwhelm them.

The best beer is always the one you made yourself, and we think this could be one of the best beers ever. Can't find Brew House kits in your area? E-mail us and we'll tell you where to get them.

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For the most part, Duvel is simply made, using Belgian pils malt and some sucrose. Its complexity derives from the yeast used—or, rather, the yeasts. Originally Duvel was fermented with 20 strains of yeast, but these were eventually refined to two strains; naturally Moortgat isn't talking about which two they chose. For each batch of Duvel they split the wort, ferment the two portions separately with the different yeast strains, and then blend them. They also add sucrose (yes, table sugar) to the secondary fermenter to increase the strength of the beer without changing the color. The result is a beer as light as pilsener, with a sweet, pear-like aroma, and 8.5% alcohol . . . yeehah!

1. Crack your grain and place it in a grain bag.
2. Place the grain bag in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot with 1 gallon of cold water and 1 gallon of wort from the kit. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grain, add Kent Goldings hops and sugar, and boil for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat, add Saaz hops and steep for a further 5 minutes.
4. Cool the liquid and use it to make up the 4 gallon volume. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 65–75°F.

Variations on a theme:

"Dupe-All" is an authentic example of a Belgian strong ale, but there are many variations within the style. Heavier, more robust varieties use dark candi sugar to increase the color and fermentable extract without increasing maltiness. Many Belgian beers include spices and herbs for further complexity.

• Proceed with the recipe as normal, but include three tablespoons of fresh-crushed coriander and one tablespoon of dried curaçao orange peel in the boiling liquid. (If you can't get whole coriander seed and crush it yourself, don't bother: the volatiles in coriander oxidize within minutes of being exposed to air. Also, don't use regular orange peel. It metamorphoses into an odd canned-ham smell). The spice will mark the beer with an authentic Belgian touch. Alternately, you could carbonate your bottles with curaçao liqueur: about 5 oz. per gallon will be sufficient (and will add a lovely kick). If you don't feel like coming up with a half bottle of expensive liqueur for a batch, try priming a few bottles this way and use corn sugar on the rest.
• Instead of using table sugar, substitute a pound of Belgian candi sugar. Candi is a form of sucrose used in Belgian beers, and should be available in good homebrew shops. (In British Columbia—where the Brew House is located—we can use Rogers' Golden Syrup. Malcolm, the chief sugar-research guy at Rogers', who is a durn fine brewer himself, confirmed that the processes used for making Rogers' Golden Syrup and candi are virtually identical. One-half quart is approximately equal to a pound of sugar.) The addition of candi will add an indefinable perfume to the beer and increase alcohol content without increasing maltiness.

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