Analog Robot Brewing -

XLXPA (Xtra Local Xtra Pale Ale)

(il)logical conclusion to a two-year escalation of the concept 'brewing from scratch', which brought me all the way to growing my own barley and hops.

Xtra Pale Ale

Low-alcohol session beer brewed with barley, rye, and massive doses of Amarillo and Citra hops, giving it aromas of bitter grapefruit and tangerine.

Mugwort Beer

Intensely bitter pale ale brewed with wild mugwort foraged from the Oakland hills in lieu of hops.

Fatherland Imperial Stout

Smooth, rich, 10% ABV cross between an imperial stout and a barleywine brewed with 10 grains, aged on oak, then bottled-conditioned for a year.

Backpacking Gin

Gin made after foraging on a Caribou Wilderness backpacking trip.

Urban Hops

Many years of growing Cascade and Chinook hops in a city backyard.

Malting Barley

Malting my own seed barley (sprouting it to start the biochemical processes that unlock carbohydrate reserves, then halting the process before the barley consumes those reserves).

Malting Experiments

Transforming modified barley into various specialty malts through different combinations of temperature, time, and moisture.

Backyard Barley

I grew 25 square feet of barley in a city back yard.

Golden Thistle

a local California apertivo

Summertime Fruit Liqueurs

Sweet liqueurs from ume, loquat, rhubarb, plums, and other local fruit.

Red Wine Vinegar

Red wine + acetobacter + oxygen + oak + time.

Tepache

sweet, tart, and funky naturally fermented pineapple beverage.

Velocipede Vin d'Orange

Wine infused with sour oranges, sugar, and vanilla bean, then aged 6+ months.

Ardennes Friend

Strange, strong (10% ABV) beers brewed with caramelized invert sugar and Belgian yeast and aged with chunks of toasted oak and stonefruit.

West of Wallonia

Grisette-style beer (low-alcohol wheat beer brewed with saison yeast).

Pluomeshu

Umeshu is made from tart unripe ume, sugar, alcohol, and time. I've made it several times over the years, but my favorite variant used a different stone fruit.

Half-Life, Bourbon Barrel Aged

Strong, dark, slightly fruity ale, aged two months in a fresh bourbon barrel and conditioned another 10 months in bottles.

Wild-fermented Cider

Raw cider fermented without added yeast or sugar-- still, cloudy, and tart.

Beer with Foraged Yarrow

With foraged yarrow flowers in lieu of hops, as was done in the Middle Ages.

Small Batch Cider

Eighty pounds of Adina apples from an Oakland backyard transformed into a dry, sparkling cider.

Cherry Shrub

cherries macerated with sugar and herbs, strained, then mixed with vinegar-- a shelf-stable syrup excellent with sparkling water.

Robot Oil Dry Stout

Very dry stout brewed with pale malt, Maris Otter, chocolate malt, roast barley, flaked barley, and East Kent Goldings hops. Small 2.5 gallon keg and CO2 bottle supplied for an event.