So I entered the AHA competition. Seemed like the thing to do to set an example in the homebrew club. I'm not sure where I got this recipe. I may have made it up. I may have grabbed it from somewhere. I don't know. I'm pretty sure part of it is just old un-used yeast. So way to go me for using fresh ingredients. Gotta put your best foot forward.
5lbs Maris Otter
5lbs Pale Wheat
1lb Dark Munich
1oz Hallertau Mittelfruh 4% AA
2x SafAle WB-06
Distilled water with the following salts in the mash:
3g gypsum
1g salt
4g CaCl
Some quick math tells me that I need two packets of yeast. Thankfully I got 2. What I need to do it take 10 times the weight of wort during cooling to re-hydrate. That would be 220ml. So, hopefully I don't forget.
It's 1pm as I type this and I still have to get to the store and calibrate thermometers and all that. So it could be a while before I'm actually boiling things.
3:13pm - We are now heating the strike water. I've measured out the salts. I've calibrated the thermometers and the pH meter. Grain has been milled. So far everything is going smooth.
3:38 - I've mashed in. Mash temp is 150 which is exactly what I was after. So that's awesome. The pH came in at 5.1 which is a little low but not tragic. I'll assemble the brew kettle next. So far everything is going very smooth.
4:20 - Heating up the sparge water now. I've assembled the boil kettle, cleaned the fermentation chamber, and made some cider. I entered that into the NHC as well. I didn't put much effort into that. I put in a some all spice, nutmeg, and cloves in a 1 gallon fermenter, apple cider, and yeast. I did add a little yeast nutrient. How much of each spice? You know, just a little sprinkle. What yeast? WLP 775. I will say the expiration date was two days ago.I give this an extreme low chance of turning out good. This is where my life is.
5:20 - We are well into the boil now. The first gravity reading I got was 1.040. Things are going well. Bugsy has been in and out of here all afternoon.
7:04 - Done. OG will be 1.052. It tasted really good. I went with the old fashioned copper coil for heat exchange today. I stirred like hell and I think it cooled faster than the plate chiller. I'm going to move to this method from now on. This was one of the most easy, pleasant brew days I've ever had. Not sure why. Days like this make me want to brew more.
