So far, 2025 has started out pretty well in the Ziggy Brau! Although not really beer-related, we had a great Burns Supper evening in January to kick off the year. Our featured Scotch was the Ardbeg “Heavy Vapours.” I had to substitute since I couldn’t find it and went with the Ardbeg “An Oa.” Delicious.

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I’m pretty well setup with my Brew Equipment (Brewtools), Recipe Tracking Software (Brewfather), and 20 Standard recipes and a good brewing process.

This last year, I adjusted my 20 Standard Recipes and have decided to add an additional 10 Flex Recipes. I realized my Standard Recipes were all Strong Beers (mostly). My 10 Flex Recipes are lower ABV (<= 5%) and will really challenge my skill in producing a flavorful beer with fewer ingredients. First, here is the list of my Standard Recipes:

1. Belgian Lambic-style Ale (Name: Hefenebel [Translation – Yeast Galaxy]).
2. Belgian-style Blond (Name: Keoni Blond).
3. Belgian-style IPA (Name: St Hommel).
4. Belgian-style IPA (Name: St Hommelganger). The Dark Version of #3.
5. Orval Clone (Name: Liquid Valor)
6. Monastic-style Dubbel (Name: Dubbel Trubbel).
7. Monastic-style Tripel (Name: Die Drie Draken) 
8. Belgian/Monastic-style Dark Strong Ale (Name: Drakengeist)
9. English-Style Barley Wine (Name: Merlin’s Magical Elixir). 
10. English-Style Porter (Name: Proper Polly Porter).
11. Bourbon-oaked Imperial Stout (Name: Morganna’s Mystical Merkin) 
12. American-style Brown Ale (Name: Big Brown Beer)
13. (Imperial) American-style IPA (Name: Wedding IPA).
14. German-style Pilsner (Name: OK Premium Pils). 
15. German-style Weizen Doppelbock/Eis-bock (Name: Frosty Billy). 
16. German-style Kölsch (Name: Malz de Quixote).
17. Irish-style Red Ale (Name: Auburn Sunset).
18. English-style Strong Bitter (Name: The Finger).
19. American-style Kentucky Common (Name: TBD)
20. German-style Pale Kellerbier (Name: Ziggy Zwick’l)

Here are my Flex Recipes:

1. Finnish-style Sahti (Name: Surreal Sahti).
2. French-style Saison (Table-Strength) (Name: TBD).
3. Monastic-style Single (Name: TBD)
4. English-style Dark Mild (Name: TBD)
5. German-style Altbier (Name: TBD)
6. Scottish-style Heavy (Name: TBD) (Not really heavy in the sense of ABV).
7. Irish-style Stout (Name: TBD) (My Beamish Clone!)
8. German-style Weizen (Name: TBD) (A Schneider Clone!)
9. German-style Munich Dunkel (Name: TBD)
10. German-style Dunkel Weizen (Name: TBD) – possibly my Smoked Pecan version)

I owe a few more updates on the blog — I have a couple of beer trips on which I’m way overdue in posting. I also owe an update on my Gueuze Process (I think a successful one!). I will be stepping through each of my Standard Recipes as an informative post.

I hope you enjoy this year!

Stumblingpiper … Ziggy Brau