My First New Beer Brewing for The New Year 2023 ~ Brewing39

As those of you who know me, I love brewing beer! I brewed a lot in November. I got busy getting ready for my last Brewing39 Beer Sampler on December 3rd and then the Holidays. I looked at my brew logbook and my last batch was brewed on November 22rd. The big keezer in the garage was full with 8 kegs for my guests and heading into the holidays.

Now it's time to get bottling some of my beer. I got plenty. My new brew that I brewed on New Year's Day is batch number 210 for me. Last year, I brewed a festive dark beer that I called simply Christmas Cheer Beer. I get creative with naming my beers at times. Some are named for certain events, holidays or sentimental things to me. Others are named after my being a history buff. This time, looking over the ingredients and what I was aiming for, I kept it simple.

New Year's Cheer Amber Ale is what I will call it. It's brewed on a domestic 2 row base. I also added a pound each domestic white wheat malt, Viking Cookie malt, a pound of flaked corn and flaked rice, a pound of Morena pure cane sugar and 1/2 a pound each of artisan Mecca Grade specialty malts, Opal 22 and Opal 44. I went with English Challenger and East Kent Goldings hops. I used one of my stand by go to yeasts, Nottingham Ale yeast.

How will it turn out? We will found out. There should be a bit of taste of shortbread cookie, along with hints of cocoa and graham cracker with Opal 22 malt. The Opal 44 is a caramelized toffee malt. The white wheat malt also give you a soft mouthfeel. The flaked corn can also add a sweet aspdct to the flavor to the beer. The hearty Nottingham ale yeast should take care of most of the sugars. It should be a strong beer to my calculations. About 8% ABV like a Double IPA. I will update the progress on my Instagram feed. My plans are to have another Brewing39 BBQ Beer Sampler in early March.

Here's to 2023 being a great new year to all of you. I have a few more ideas for recipes. I'll keep you posted. ~ William Brewing39