American Ale

A couple of weeks back I made the American Ale kit from MoreBeer. Here are the ingredients:

9lbs 2 row
1lb Crystal 15L

1oz Magnum 60min
1oz Cascade 5min
1oz Cascade 1min

Yeast = WLP001

Mashed at 150F. I also did a more of a fly sparge instead of a batch sparge. The OG was 1.046. The estimated was 1.044-48 so I nailed it.

I bought some silicon air locks and have begun using them. This way I don't have to worry the water being sucked back into the carboy. Not that I care about the water getting in the beer (it is starsan water). I care that the beer is exposed to air.

Why I really wanted to make this batch was that my beer lately is not coming out very well. It tastes bad. The only change from good beer to yucky beer has been the oxygen stone. So for this batch after it is cooled we will pour half into one carboy and half into another. Then use the oxygen stone for 1 minute on one and shake the other. Then pitch the yeast into both. Each carboy got its own yeast vial. The yeast was good an active. Both tubes exploded when opened so I was concerned whether I got enough in there.

They both took off within 24 hours. Both had a healthy fermentation. They looked to ferment the exact same. I'll sample them next weekend and then we will see.

Another note is that I made sure to get the temp right. This maybe the reason for the yucky taste as well. So we will see if there is a difference.