About

The Deja Brew blog is a small corner of the internet where I, an amateur homebrewer, journal my experiences brewing beer. Here, I reflect on my experiences, talk about what I've learned, document my technique, celebrate my successes, and confess my failures. Some posts contain batch logs, including information about each recipe's brew and bottling days, specifics on the output, and critique.


I'm not a know-it-all, and I'm not going to act like I am. The plain truth is that I am new to it all. This blog is a documentation of my meandering journey through the life of the homebrewer. The content of this blog is intended for people just starting out with the hobby. Although the information here gets into some of the science, we don't go too deep, and articles explain information related to all-extract recipes. 


Popular posts from this blog

Homebrew Batch Journal 002 - Northern Brewer Nut Brown Ale

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Journal Entry  - 002 / May 2021  Batch Information Notes Details New Name* Not My Nut Style Nut Brown Ale Batch No 01 Brewed By Keith Wolfe Volume 5 gallons Brew Date/Primary Date April 14, 2021 Secondary Date N/A Racking/Bottling Date April 28, 2021 Fermentation Temp 70 F  * This is the name of my own personal batch. For the original recipe information, see  Recipe and Ingredients , below. Recipe and Ingredients Notes Details Original Recipe Nut Brown Ale Creator Northern Brewer Type Extract Grains Maverick Grain Blend Hops 1 oz. US Fuggle Hops Pellets LME 6 lb. Gold Malt Extract Syrup DME N/A Yeast Lallemand Nottingham High-Performance Ale Yeast Water Primo Bottled Water (5 gal) Wort Boil Time 60 minutes   Hydrometer Readings Notes Details Original Gravity 1.042 Final Gravity 1.008 Test 4/26/2021 1.008 Test 4/27/2021 1.008   Beer Information Notes Details IBUs NA ABV 4.46% Apparent Attenuation 80.95% Estimated Calories (per 12 oz) 137.2   Brew Day No...
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Homebrew Batch Journal 001 - Hank's Hefeweizen

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Journal Entry  - 001 / March 2021  Batch Information Notes Details New Name* Psychedelic Straw Hat Style Hefeweizen Batch No 01 Brewed By Keith Wolfe Volume 5 gallons Brew Date/Primary Date February 21, 2021 Secondary Date N/A Racking/Bottling Date March 8, 2021 (tentative) Fermentation Temp 68 F  * This is the name of my own personal batch. For the original recipe information, see Recipe and Ingredients , below. Recipe and Ingredients Notes Details Original Recipe Hank's Hefeweizen Creator Northern Brewer Type Extract Grains Fieldstone Grain Blend Hops 1 oz. Tettnang Hops Pellets LME 6 lb. Wheat Malt...
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Lessons Learned From My First Homebrew

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It all started innocently enough... With a simple homebrewing kit I assume I started out as a homebrewer like most first-timers. I purchased this starter kit from Northern Brewer , but I didn't do it haphazardly. Research led me to this kit. It turned out that a friend of mine received it as a gift last Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it. I should note that this particular kit is optimized for all-extract brewing , which is typically recommended for first-time brewers. It requires less equipment, less time, and less of a commitment. This is where I decided to start. This kit offers the same sort of thing you find with many kits, intended to get you brewing a 5-gallon, all-extract recipe, which should yield 48 12-oz bottles. Northern Brewer, like many other merchants, offers more advanced kits as well if you're keen to dive in deeper, but I decided to start simple. Dipping my big toe into the beer, so to speak. I felt like I could always upgrade later as I became more familiar...
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