buckaroo said:
I once used to be able to buy a beer called Black Dog Ale, but I haven't been able to find it any more.
Well then buckaroo this is just for you:
Midwest Homebrewing Supplies
5701 W. 36th Street St. Louis Park, MN 55416
1-888-449-2739 (toll free) 1-952-925-9854 (direct)
RECIPE KIT BLACK DOG ALE
INSTRUCTIONS FOR 5 GALLONS
1. Inspection: Make sure you have all of the ingredients listed on the side of the box.
2. Sterilization: Wash and sterilize all of your equipment. Do not use soap to clean any of your equipment. It can ruin the head of your beer. B brite and One step sanitizers are the best. We recommend using a separate container such as a small cooler or another pot to soak your smaller equipment during the appropriate stages of brewing, fermenting and bottling. Clean your primary fermenter with a sponge. Don't use any abrasive pad that could scratch the inside of your bucket. These scratches could hold bacteria that could affect future batches. Rinse all equipment with water prior to use.
3. Grains and first Heating: If you did not have your grains crushed in our store then use a rolling pin or a empty beer bottle to lightly crush the grains. (We will crush grains at no charge upon request) Next, put the crushed grains into the boiling bag. Add 1.5 -2 gallons of tap water to your pot. Set the grain bag into your into your pot and turn the heat to high. Steep your grains at 155 degrees for 10 - 30 minutes. 10 minutes is fine if you're pressed for time. You'll need a thermometer ($5.95) for this stage. If you don't have a thermometer, make sure you don't boil the grains. Remove the pot from the burner and let grains steep for another 5-10 minutes. Discard the grain bag.
4. Second boil: Before returning the pot to burner add your malt extract . Make sure to stir the water so the malt extract does not burn on the bottom of your pot. Return pot to the burner and turn the heat to high. As soon as you see a boiling bubble add your 1 oz Mt. Hood bittering hops and boil for at least 30 minutes stirring as needed. The Joy of Homebrewing suggests up to 60 minutes of boiling time for optimal hop utilization. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POT UNATTENDED! Boil overs are messy and should be cleaned up immediately. This can be avoided by going back and forth between high and medium high. During this boiling period add 3- 3.5 gallons of cold water to your sterilized 6.5 gallon fermenter and set aside..
5. Hydrometer reading: Pour the wort (Pronounced "WERT") into the primary fermenter that contains the 3- 3.5 gallons of water. Make sure you have cooled your wort below 80 degrees. If you want to take a hydrometer reading, do it now. Do not return any samples back to the fermenter. Methods of cooling wort. 1.You can set your brew kettle (sanitized top on, if available) in a sink full of ice stirring the wort with a sanitized spoon. every 15 minutes. 2. You can use ice as part of your 3- 3.5 gallons of water that you added earlier. 3. Set your fermenter in a cool place and add your yeast the next morning. (This method is not recommended by Midwest, but will work in a bind.) 4. THE BEST Use a wort chiller immediately after boiling. The faster you cool the wort and add the yeast, the less chance you'll have of any contamination. The temperature must be below 80 before adding the yeast.
6. Fermentation: If you are using dry yeast, you can rehydrate the yeast in luke warm water, let it stand for 10 minutes and pour into the wort, or just sprinkle the dry yeast over the top of the beer. Rehydrating is recommended. If you are using liquid yeast, follow the directions on the packet. You should have prepared the yeast the 1-3 days before. Approximately 1-3 days after adding the yeast you should start to notice a healthy fermentation taking place. A head of foam (called krausen) will have formed and co2 should be bubbling out of the airlock. After 5-7 days of fermentation, transfer into a glass carboy. If you are using a single stage fermenting system, then leave the beer in the fermenter for two weeks total.
You can be sure that the yeast is done eating the available sugar by taking a hydrometer reading three days in a row and getting the same reading, a gradual lowering of the reading will indicate a slower or unfinished fermentation. Be patient. A good rule of thumb is 2 weeks and every thing will be fine.
7. Bottling: At bottling time, heat 1 cup of water and add the corn sugar provided in the kit. Bring the solution to a slow boil for 2 minutes. Cover with a sanitized lid and let cool. Sanitize your bottling bucket, tubing, bottle filler, caps and bottles. You will need to sanitize 48 - 54 twelve oz. bottles, or 24-28 twenty-two oz. bottles. The dishwasher may be used for sanitizing the bottles, however, make sure your dishwasher is working properly. The heat of the dry cycle sanitizes the bottles. A Jet Bottle washer and a bottle Tree will make this part of homebrewing much easier. Sanitize caps in a sanitation solution. After everything is sanitized, add the corn sugar mix to the bottling bucket, siphon beer from your fermenter into your bottling bucket and fill the bottles using a bottle filler. Cap your bottles and you're done. Store your beer in a cool (60-70 degrees), dark place for 3 to 4 weeks. ENJOY!! During winter months, basements can be too cool.
If you have any questions please call us at 888-449-2739.
TIPS FOR BETTER HOMEBREWING
1. Relax. Give yourself plenty of time to brew. Go slow and be patient. Drink a homebrew from an old batch and have fun. Listen to Music or watch TV.
2. Be patient. The longer you let your beer sit in the bottle the better. Go ahead and taste one after 2 weeks. If you're happy with the carbonation, drink up. If not, wait. Ideally 4 to 6 weeks. So while you're waiting, brew another batch.
QUICK INSTRUCTIONS
1. Steep crushed grains for 10-30 minutes at 155 degrees.(1 lb British Crystal malt 50-60, 12 oz malted wheat.)
2. Add malt extract while brew pot is off the burner.
3. Bring to a boil and add 1 oz Mt. Hood boiling hops. (30- 60 MIN.)
4. Cool and add yeast.
5. Ferment and bottle. 2 stage fermentation is recommended.
Oh yeah, and when I'm at my father's home. He's on a budget so he only gets the cheap stuff. 
just kidding....I acutually didn't drink that much when i was young, making up for it now that I am old........did I say that? 