So here I am making beer for Ellie's beer party. We thought we would throw a party to raise money for her race in Ireland. I was thinking about what beers to make and I thought a brown ale and a wheat beer. Those are beers she likes. So we will start with Janet's Brown Ale. It was a brown ale I've made and we really liked. I've changed the recipe slightly. I thought there was too much coffee notes in the beer so I backed off a little on the chocolate malt. Could find some of the hops so I made a substitution. Not sure which yeast I used the first time but this time we are using WLP002 English.
Here's the ingredients:
12lbs 2-Row domestice
1lb White Wheat.
1lb 4oz Crystal 40L
7oz Chocolate malt (Tasty had this at 8oz)
2oz Northern Brewer 10.6%AA @60min
1oz Northern Brewer 10.6%AA @15min
1.5oz Cascade 6.2%AA @10min
1.5oz Cascade 6.2%AA @1min
2oz Columbus 15.2AA drop hop (was Centennial. Could find it at brew shop)
WLP002 - Aug-18-12 - Lot # 1002PBLSKYA1
Whirfloc @10min
Servomyces @10min
Dad was supposed to come by but wasn't feeling well. We rode with us to COH yesterday. I know it dorks up his back. He know it does too which is why he travels with pain killers. He didn't use any on the trip. I know he was hurting. But it's cool. That means that Ellie and I get to hang.
Made a starter last night. All went well with that.
Woke up this morning, ran, ate, went to store to get water, ice, and propane.
10:00am: Started cleaning.
12:30pm: Heating strike water. Wanna get a mash of 154-155F. It should be nice and malty.
12:54pm: Mashed in. Mash temp 154F. Hit it. Awesome!! Added 5.2. Half a tablespoon this time. I'm thinking I'll never need as much buffer power as they provide for the worst case with a full tablespoon. Mash tun leaking a little. Not too bad though. Just put the pitcher underneath. Should be fine.
1:17pm: Started to clean the keg. E bought a gate so Snickers can brew with papa. It looks bad ass. I've got to get that dog a brewer's assistant shirt now.
1:40pm: Heating sparge water. Hanging with Ellie.
2:56pm: Sparged. Didn't get out very much sugar. A little sad. I wanted to get 1.055ish and got 1.047ish. So I added some DME until I got to 1.055. I added a little at a time and then checked. The only thing I can think of was that the second sparge temp was low and it didn't dissolve the sugars as well as it should have. So note to self, get the sparge up to 170F.
Tuey came over. We drank beer and he helped out a ton. The beer OG is 1.069 which is where is should be. i'm glad I added the DME. Looks like I did that part right.
The boil and such went well. The cooling did not. I really need to think more about a more efficient way to move the thing over to the basin, get the pump primed, and cool the wort. Tuey was assigned to hold the pump but it got too hot. The pump needs to to be below the spigot and we put it on the mash table and it worked. Getting ice water through the heat exchanger is not easy. The whole system I got going is awkward and clumsy and it seems I always run out of ice. I really need to think harder about the process.
It's really hot in the garage. Hot and humid. Got to get inside now.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
100 Day Pale Ale Notes
The 100 Day Pale Ale started out way too bitter. Kevin and I must have added too much hops after the boil over. We drank some after two weeks when I moved it to the keg. The next week I gave Kevin a growler and he said it was good and that his wife liked it too. I called BS.
Later in the week I invited over Kevin and Poole to empty the keg since I wanted to get ready for Ellie's beer party and I need the space in the chest freezer. Kevin brought two growlers and Jonathon took one. Then five of us worked through at least a half gallon of what was left. It wasn't bad. The bitterness had calmed down and the citra was beginning to come through. It smelled great. Love that new yeast. It may become EKA new yeast.
So, the keg is empty and I'm working a couple of new beers to raise money for Ellie. Wish us luck.
Later in the week I invited over Kevin and Poole to empty the keg since I wanted to get ready for Ellie's beer party and I need the space in the chest freezer. Kevin brought two growlers and Jonathon took one. Then five of us worked through at least a half gallon of what was left. It wasn't bad. The bitterness had calmed down and the citra was beginning to come through. It smelled great. Love that new yeast. It may become EKA new yeast.
So, the keg is empty and I'm working a couple of new beers to raise money for Ellie. Wish us luck.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Beer to make this year
Beer I'd like to make this year.
Pumpkin beer
Milk Oatmeal Vanilla Stout
SMaSH beer - Maris Otter and Amarillo
EFA with Nugget Hops
Pumpkin beer
Milk Oatmeal Vanilla Stout
SMaSH beer - Maris Otter and Amarillo
EFA with Nugget Hops
Sunday, June 24, 2012
100 Day Pale Ale
Ellie has just come home. She needed to wait 100 days post transplant. Thus the name for the beer.
Recipe:
10 lbs. 2 row
1 lb Vienna
1oz Chinook 60 min
1oz Citra 5 min
1oz Citra 1 min
Whirlfloc 10 min
Servomyces 10 min
WLP060 - American Ale Yeast Blend - Lot number 1060ITH7347331
We bought the good at More Beer in LA area. While there I also bought a pump with the idea of creating a whirlpool for faster chilling. That thing was expensive. The pump is not self priming but will pump boiling things. Also there were out of WLP001 so the shop guy recommended we try something new. It is a blended strain. So there are actually multiple yeasts in there.
The brewing began the night before with a starter. Two cups water and 1/2 cup DME. Boiled for 10 mins and then cooled. Then pitched the yeast. I put it on a stir plate but it didn't stir very well. I think what I need to do is make a controller that will maintain the rate.
The next day I began around 10am. I started cleaning the gear and Kevin arrived with the water. He supplied the water from his place. He also supplied the Citra hops. We got to heating the water right away and mashed in at around 154F.
While mashing we continued to clean more stuff and we thought to try and clean the pump. Ok when they say that thing is not self priming they mean it. I plugged it in without having liquid in it and it sounded horrible. I was scared. But luckily Kevin was there. I don't know what I would do without him.
After mashing for 60min we added two gallons of boiling water and stirred. Vorlouf. And then drain. Then added four gallons of 180F water. Stir. Let it sit for 5 mins. Vorlouf and drain. Nice.
Then we get it to a boil and wait for the hot break to settle. After it did I added the Chinook hops and the whole thing boiled over. What a mess! Well, now I know. The rest of the boil was uneventful.
Now we come to cooling. I attach the tube to the boil kettle and we carry it to the basin. We get the pump going and start running tap water through the chiller. Also, we get ice water in the basin. This works but we are really clumsy about it. It's our first time doing this. I bet we get better. In 10 mins we cooled to 100F. Then I put ice in a bucket and ran ice water through the chiller. In less than 30 mins we were done. But it was an ordeal.
We then transferred to the carboy. Maybe we use the pump for this next time. Pitched the yeast. Cleaned up. OG was 1.056. It tasted great.
Recipe:
10 lbs. 2 row
1 lb Vienna
1oz Chinook 60 min
1oz Citra 5 min
1oz Citra 1 min
Whirlfloc 10 min
Servomyces 10 min
WLP060 - American Ale Yeast Blend - Lot number 1060ITH7347331
We bought the good at More Beer in LA area. While there I also bought a pump with the idea of creating a whirlpool for faster chilling. That thing was expensive. The pump is not self priming but will pump boiling things. Also there were out of WLP001 so the shop guy recommended we try something new. It is a blended strain. So there are actually multiple yeasts in there.
The brewing began the night before with a starter. Two cups water and 1/2 cup DME. Boiled for 10 mins and then cooled. Then pitched the yeast. I put it on a stir plate but it didn't stir very well. I think what I need to do is make a controller that will maintain the rate.
The next day I began around 10am. I started cleaning the gear and Kevin arrived with the water. He supplied the water from his place. He also supplied the Citra hops. We got to heating the water right away and mashed in at around 154F.
While mashing we continued to clean more stuff and we thought to try and clean the pump. Ok when they say that thing is not self priming they mean it. I plugged it in without having liquid in it and it sounded horrible. I was scared. But luckily Kevin was there. I don't know what I would do without him.
After mashing for 60min we added two gallons of boiling water and stirred. Vorlouf. And then drain. Then added four gallons of 180F water. Stir. Let it sit for 5 mins. Vorlouf and drain. Nice.
Then we get it to a boil and wait for the hot break to settle. After it did I added the Chinook hops and the whole thing boiled over. What a mess! Well, now I know. The rest of the boil was uneventful.
Now we come to cooling. I attach the tube to the boil kettle and we carry it to the basin. We get the pump going and start running tap water through the chiller. Also, we get ice water in the basin. This works but we are really clumsy about it. It's our first time doing this. I bet we get better. In 10 mins we cooled to 100F. Then I put ice in a bucket and ran ice water through the chiller. In less than 30 mins we were done. But it was an ordeal.
We then transferred to the carboy. Maybe we use the pump for this next time. Pitched the yeast. Cleaned up. OG was 1.056. It tasted great.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Mead/Helles update
Just bought a new mechanical switch keyboard. I don't like the silly looking fonts on the keys but I like the way it feels. Nothing to do with homebrew but I using it for the first time now.
First of the strawberry mead doesn't not taste good. It ended up too dry. Wanna know what honey tastes like if you remove the delicious sugary stuff. Well, it tastes like crap. Note to self, don't coddle the yeast. Let them leave some sugar. I took a bottle over to Ellie's sister's place. I tried it. Illeana tried it. Lucy might have. Everyone agreed it was bad. Poole and his wife cam over one day after a trip to Kern River. His wife mentioned it tasted like bubble gum. I gave them a bottle. There are two gallons or so in the bottom of the bar area. I hope to forget about them for a long long time. Maybe they will improve. Although I think not.
Onto the Helles. In short it's going to end up too sweet. I overshot the gravity. That means that the bittering hops got all screwed up making it too sweet. Also, it make is not longer a helles since there is too much alcohol. It ended at 1.012 which is about 6-7% ABV. So I guess it is a helles bock. Or a blonde bock.
It was cool to see the lager age. As this is my first I've learned a lot. First, I set the chest freezer to 50F but the first few days the fermenter was likely 53F. I really need to make it cooler to account for the exothermic properties of the fermentation.
After two weeks I sampled the beer. There was a lot of DMS and I believe I detected some diacetyl. While I couldn't taste it, I felt a slick feeling on my tongue. After another week I upped the temp to 60F for a diacetyl rest. I sampled the beer at this point and I couldn't taste the diacetyl anymore but I figured I do the rest anyway. There was still a strong DMS presence.
After another week I moved the beer to the keg for lagering. I put it in the chest freezer at 34F. After another two weeks it was very drinkable. I gave some to Kevin, Ellie, Tuey, Jackie, and my dad. Everyone liked it. At this point the DMS character was beginning to subside and it tasted like a good MGD.
Now another week later the DMS has further subsided and is almost undetectable. Now all the flaws are out there. I can tell it is too sweet. Somehow the DMS covered up the flaws and made it more drinkable. So, a cleaner lager lends to more detection of beer flaws. For it is worth though I was going for a very clean lager. I love the Blonde Bock from Gordon Biersch. There are no beer esters in that beer. It shows me just how good these lagers can be if they are done right.
I think I might be able to make a good lager here. I need to get the gravity right. I need to control the fermentation better. Then I think we got something good.
First of the strawberry mead doesn't not taste good. It ended up too dry. Wanna know what honey tastes like if you remove the delicious sugary stuff. Well, it tastes like crap. Note to self, don't coddle the yeast. Let them leave some sugar. I took a bottle over to Ellie's sister's place. I tried it. Illeana tried it. Lucy might have. Everyone agreed it was bad. Poole and his wife cam over one day after a trip to Kern River. His wife mentioned it tasted like bubble gum. I gave them a bottle. There are two gallons or so in the bottom of the bar area. I hope to forget about them for a long long time. Maybe they will improve. Although I think not.
Onto the Helles. In short it's going to end up too sweet. I overshot the gravity. That means that the bittering hops got all screwed up making it too sweet. Also, it make is not longer a helles since there is too much alcohol. It ended at 1.012 which is about 6-7% ABV. So I guess it is a helles bock. Or a blonde bock.
It was cool to see the lager age. As this is my first I've learned a lot. First, I set the chest freezer to 50F but the first few days the fermenter was likely 53F. I really need to make it cooler to account for the exothermic properties of the fermentation.
After two weeks I sampled the beer. There was a lot of DMS and I believe I detected some diacetyl. While I couldn't taste it, I felt a slick feeling on my tongue. After another week I upped the temp to 60F for a diacetyl rest. I sampled the beer at this point and I couldn't taste the diacetyl anymore but I figured I do the rest anyway. There was still a strong DMS presence.
After another week I moved the beer to the keg for lagering. I put it in the chest freezer at 34F. After another two weeks it was very drinkable. I gave some to Kevin, Ellie, Tuey, Jackie, and my dad. Everyone liked it. At this point the DMS character was beginning to subside and it tasted like a good MGD.
Now another week later the DMS has further subsided and is almost undetectable. Now all the flaws are out there. I can tell it is too sweet. Somehow the DMS covered up the flaws and made it more drinkable. So, a cleaner lager lends to more detection of beer flaws. For it is worth though I was going for a very clean lager. I love the Blonde Bock from Gordon Biersch. There are no beer esters in that beer. It shows me just how good these lagers can be if they are done right.
I think I might be able to make a good lager here. I need to get the gravity right. I need to control the fermentation better. Then I think we got something good.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
First Helles
Well it's been awhile since I've brewed beer. I've spent most my free time with my wife. She's got the cancer. All seems to be going well though. I drank some Sam Adams Alpine Spring which is a seasonal brew for them and got inspired to brew to lager. A light lager. Which is the most difficult beer to brew. It will be a true test of my brewing skill.
I stopped by More Beer in Riverside on the way to see Ellie who is now staying with her sister in Lake Forest. It took forever to get to it. The damn bridge just goes over the shop with no apparent way to get at it. Eventually I pulled over and looked at the More Beer website and found directions to get to the shop. Obviously I wasn't the only retard since they made a special note to give directions on the website. I got there just as it was closing. I've never helped myself to the gain before so I was a little leery. But they were cool and helped me out. The one guy stayed just a little let to help check me out. He was very friendly and we had nice chat about nothingness. He even gave me free hop candy. It was good. So here's the ingredients:
12.5 lbs German Pilsner
1lb Vienna
2oz Hallertau Mittlefruh 3.2% AA
Two vials WLP830. Date = June 16, 2012. Lot number = 1830PCC8378381 for both vials.
Servomyces.
Whirlfloc.
I intend to mash at 153F. We'll see.
Last night I made a starter. A large one. We need large starters for lagers. I made a 1.8L starter. Largest I ever made. I put it on the stir plate and it's been going on for 20 or so hours. The starter looks very active. It has a large krausen already.
One note was that the lager yeast is the first yeast I've smelt that actually smells like beer. All the ale yeasts that I've open up and smelled smell like a slightly sour yeasty smell but no "beer" smells.
3:43pm. Everything is cleaned and ready to go. Heating up the strike water now. Already hit our first snag of the day. The propane tank emptied. That's cool though. I thought ahead. Already got another one. I hooked it up and couldn't get it to give me some gas. I had to screw it in pretty tight and then it went. But for a few seconds I thought I was going to have to go and get another propane tank. Currently drinking my first Sam Adams Alpine Spring. Had breakfast/lunch at Midway Cafe. Got a sandwich from Albertson's and some chips. I'm ready. Let's do this.
4:06pm. Mashing. Seems to be going well. Beer Smith told me to get up to 170F for mashing. I put in about 4.2 gallons into the tun. The water was a little warmer at 172F. This is to account for the loss in temp in transferring from the pot to the tun. Once I got in the mash tun I threw a thermometer in and left for a few minutes. The temp was then measured at 167F. Looking back at Beer Smith, I changed the mash tun temp to 150 and and the mash water temp should be at 167F so I thought I was right on. I put the grains in and stirred it up and hit the mash temp of 153F. Nice! I took the pH of the mash and it looked a little high. I then added the 5.2 and sure enough it dropped the pH to what looks like 5.2. I took a pic of this if I get around to it it will be posted below. So all seems well for now. I think I'll clean the brewery up a little while a wait for the grains to mash.
4:27pm. Done cleaning stuff. Guess I'll surf the internets.
4:32pm. My iPod shuffle appears to have died. Probably just out of battery. :(
4:46pm. Did I mention I'm on my second Sam Adams. Guess it's about time to heat the water. I'm going to try and add 2 gallons boiling water to the mash to raise up the temp and then vorlof and batch sparge. Let's see if that improves efficiency a little.
4:52pm. Shuffle seems fine now. I plugged it into the computer and it came up green. Plugged it in and turned it on. All seems well. It's such a beautiful day today. 74F right now. Clear. Slight breeze. Which everyday was like this. Wish Ellie was here enjoying a beer with me in the nice weather. She actually wanted a beer Friday. She saw people drinking on TV. She likes lagers. Before we got into craft beer she drank Corona like a boss. Two at a time. With lime and salt. I told her that she can have some of this Helles when its ready in a couple of months. Also, I wanted to note that I labeled it a Helles because it fit the style according to Beer Smith. It thought the ABV was high but since I have terrible efficiency I'll probably be right there.
5:29pm. Ok I added 2 gallons of 200F water to the mash tun and stirred it up. This got us to 164ish. I did a vorlof, and then opened the spigot and got like 3ish gallons. So, I added two gallons and change to the mash tun and am letting it set for a bit. I checked the gravity of the first runnings and it measured 1.068.
6:02pm. Sparge done. We got a lot of sugar. Pre-boil gravity 1.052 before adding third sparge (about 2/3 of a gallon). That's what Beer Smith says I should get with 60% efficiency. I should get an OG of 1.60ish. Which is a little much but we will roll with it. I did get about 7 gallons of wort. I did three sparges. I've left quite a bit of sugar still in the mash tun. I measured a gravity of 1.030 when emptying the mash tun. I want it to be more like 1.012ish. I guess I suck at efficiency and I have begun to just accept it. All in all I'm very happy with how things are turning out.
For the future it seems to be a good idea to add the two gallons of boiling for the first runnings. I would make the second runnings about 3-4 gallons and make it 185F.
6:24pm. Hot break done. Hops added. We'll call it 6:23 is the 60min mark. The malt looks and smells great. It smells better then the 2row I'm used to. Also, the hops are good. Not too bitter. Kind of earthy but too much so. When I added it to the boil kettle it smelled wonderful.
6:53pm. Mash tun cleaned. Made a mess. Ate my sandwich too. It was turkey. It was good. Got to clean the mess. On my third beer.
8:02pm. Wort is cooling. Currently at 82F. Need to figure out a way to cool faster. On my 5th beer now.
8:19pm. Wort almost done. Will siphon soon. Getting tired but still need to clean up after this. Shuffle died again. It is charging. Looking forward to kicking back with last beer and calling wife.
Took sample and measured with hydrometer. It measures at 1.060. It tasted wonderful. Be wort ever. Not bitter. Sweet and lovely.
9:22pm. All is cleaned. Brew day done. It was a good brew day. Would have been perfect if E was here. :(
I stopped by More Beer in Riverside on the way to see Ellie who is now staying with her sister in Lake Forest. It took forever to get to it. The damn bridge just goes over the shop with no apparent way to get at it. Eventually I pulled over and looked at the More Beer website and found directions to get to the shop. Obviously I wasn't the only retard since they made a special note to give directions on the website. I got there just as it was closing. I've never helped myself to the gain before so I was a little leery. But they were cool and helped me out. The one guy stayed just a little let to help check me out. He was very friendly and we had nice chat about nothingness. He even gave me free hop candy. It was good. So here's the ingredients:
12.5 lbs German Pilsner
1lb Vienna
2oz Hallertau Mittlefruh 3.2% AA
Two vials WLP830. Date = June 16, 2012. Lot number = 1830PCC8378381 for both vials.
Servomyces.
Whirlfloc.
I intend to mash at 153F. We'll see.
Last night I made a starter. A large one. We need large starters for lagers. I made a 1.8L starter. Largest I ever made. I put it on the stir plate and it's been going on for 20 or so hours. The starter looks very active. It has a large krausen already.
One note was that the lager yeast is the first yeast I've smelt that actually smells like beer. All the ale yeasts that I've open up and smelled smell like a slightly sour yeasty smell but no "beer" smells.
3:43pm. Everything is cleaned and ready to go. Heating up the strike water now. Already hit our first snag of the day. The propane tank emptied. That's cool though. I thought ahead. Already got another one. I hooked it up and couldn't get it to give me some gas. I had to screw it in pretty tight and then it went. But for a few seconds I thought I was going to have to go and get another propane tank. Currently drinking my first Sam Adams Alpine Spring. Had breakfast/lunch at Midway Cafe. Got a sandwich from Albertson's and some chips. I'm ready. Let's do this.
4:06pm. Mashing. Seems to be going well. Beer Smith told me to get up to 170F for mashing. I put in about 4.2 gallons into the tun. The water was a little warmer at 172F. This is to account for the loss in temp in transferring from the pot to the tun. Once I got in the mash tun I threw a thermometer in and left for a few minutes. The temp was then measured at 167F. Looking back at Beer Smith, I changed the mash tun temp to 150 and and the mash water temp should be at 167F so I thought I was right on. I put the grains in and stirred it up and hit the mash temp of 153F. Nice! I took the pH of the mash and it looked a little high. I then added the 5.2 and sure enough it dropped the pH to what looks like 5.2. I took a pic of this if I get around to it it will be posted below. So all seems well for now. I think I'll clean the brewery up a little while a wait for the grains to mash.
4:27pm. Done cleaning stuff. Guess I'll surf the internets.
4:32pm. My iPod shuffle appears to have died. Probably just out of battery. :(
4:46pm. Did I mention I'm on my second Sam Adams. Guess it's about time to heat the water. I'm going to try and add 2 gallons boiling water to the mash to raise up the temp and then vorlof and batch sparge. Let's see if that improves efficiency a little.
4:52pm. Shuffle seems fine now. I plugged it into the computer and it came up green. Plugged it in and turned it on. All seems well. It's such a beautiful day today. 74F right now. Clear. Slight breeze. Which everyday was like this. Wish Ellie was here enjoying a beer with me in the nice weather. She actually wanted a beer Friday. She saw people drinking on TV. She likes lagers. Before we got into craft beer she drank Corona like a boss. Two at a time. With lime and salt. I told her that she can have some of this Helles when its ready in a couple of months. Also, I wanted to note that I labeled it a Helles because it fit the style according to Beer Smith. It thought the ABV was high but since I have terrible efficiency I'll probably be right there.
5:29pm. Ok I added 2 gallons of 200F water to the mash tun and stirred it up. This got us to 164ish. I did a vorlof, and then opened the spigot and got like 3ish gallons. So, I added two gallons and change to the mash tun and am letting it set for a bit. I checked the gravity of the first runnings and it measured 1.068.
6:02pm. Sparge done. We got a lot of sugar. Pre-boil gravity 1.052 before adding third sparge (about 2/3 of a gallon). That's what Beer Smith says I should get with 60% efficiency. I should get an OG of 1.60ish. Which is a little much but we will roll with it. I did get about 7 gallons of wort. I did three sparges. I've left quite a bit of sugar still in the mash tun. I measured a gravity of 1.030 when emptying the mash tun. I want it to be more like 1.012ish. I guess I suck at efficiency and I have begun to just accept it. All in all I'm very happy with how things are turning out.
For the future it seems to be a good idea to add the two gallons of boiling for the first runnings. I would make the second runnings about 3-4 gallons and make it 185F.
6:24pm. Hot break done. Hops added. We'll call it 6:23 is the 60min mark. The malt looks and smells great. It smells better then the 2row I'm used to. Also, the hops are good. Not too bitter. Kind of earthy but too much so. When I added it to the boil kettle it smelled wonderful.
6:53pm. Mash tun cleaned. Made a mess. Ate my sandwich too. It was turkey. It was good. Got to clean the mess. On my third beer.
8:02pm. Wort is cooling. Currently at 82F. Need to figure out a way to cool faster. On my 5th beer now.
8:19pm. Wort almost done. Will siphon soon. Getting tired but still need to clean up after this. Shuffle died again. It is charging. Looking forward to kicking back with last beer and calling wife.
Took sample and measured with hydrometer. It measures at 1.060. It tasted wonderful. Be wort ever. Not bitter. Sweet and lovely.
9:22pm. All is cleaned. Brew day done. It was a good brew day. Would have been perfect if E was here. :(
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Mead Mead and EKA II
Yesterday I transferred the strawberry mead to a glass fermenter. I got two glass fermenter from a plant/homebrew store in Hisperia. It was a little weird. Anyhow, I transferred it over to the glass and what I noticed was the auto siphon didn't work too well towards the end. The consistency of what remained was sludgy and thick. So I left it in. This appeared to give me like three gallons (maybe less) of mead. It tastes pretty good. I had a sample of it the night before with Kevin and Jim. It has serious potential. Just needs to age.
One alloying thing about the glass is that it is slippery when wet. This means I can't shove a stopper into the thing without it popping out. I said screw it and put a silicon hood on the thing and called it good. I need to be very careful with the glass. You can google up some pics of homebrewers sending themselves to the ER with these glass carboys. I guess the thing is that when you know the carboy is going down, just let it go. If you try to grab it, you will get cut. Just let it go. We can make more mead/beer.
The other thing I did was bottle EKA I from the keg. I filled 5 bombers. I then cleaned that keg and filled it with EKA II. I force carbed it and put it in the chest fridge. Jim sampled it yesterday and said it tasted a little sweet. When I drew the sample from the fermenter it was very clear. I drinking it now. There is a bitterness that is mild but clingy. It clings to the sides of my tongue. It does taste a little sweet. It much darker than any EKA. It does have more body. It has a nice white head. There is good lacing on the glass. The esters are mild but there is some there. It fermented cool which is likely why there are little esters and why it is so clear. There is no hops in the nose. But you can smell the maltiness and esters. If we had this beer with a little Amarillo hops in the nose we would have a winner.
Ellie would like this beer.
Also last night I brought over a glass carboy to Kevin's place and we transferred his mead. The gravity measured 1.000 which made me sad. I was hoping for a sweet mead. I think the lesson here is that for a sweet mead you shouldn't use any nutrients. I made a sad face and it discouraged Kevin.
I brought the rubber stopper which we attached his air lock to. And it wouldn't stay in the freaking glass bottle. So we duct taped that shit down. Oh yeah.
Also, I ate one of the oranges from his fermenter. It was boozy.
If you're reading this wife I love you. I'm sorry I snapped at you about the TV shows.
One alloying thing about the glass is that it is slippery when wet. This means I can't shove a stopper into the thing without it popping out. I said screw it and put a silicon hood on the thing and called it good. I need to be very careful with the glass. You can google up some pics of homebrewers sending themselves to the ER with these glass carboys. I guess the thing is that when you know the carboy is going down, just let it go. If you try to grab it, you will get cut. Just let it go. We can make more mead/beer.
The other thing I did was bottle EKA I from the keg. I filled 5 bombers. I then cleaned that keg and filled it with EKA II. I force carbed it and put it in the chest fridge. Jim sampled it yesterday and said it tasted a little sweet. When I drew the sample from the fermenter it was very clear. I drinking it now. There is a bitterness that is mild but clingy. It clings to the sides of my tongue. It does taste a little sweet. It much darker than any EKA. It does have more body. It has a nice white head. There is good lacing on the glass. The esters are mild but there is some there. It fermented cool which is likely why there are little esters and why it is so clear. There is no hops in the nose. But you can smell the maltiness and esters. If we had this beer with a little Amarillo hops in the nose we would have a winner.
Ellie would like this beer.
Also last night I brought over a glass carboy to Kevin's place and we transferred his mead. The gravity measured 1.000 which made me sad. I was hoping for a sweet mead. I think the lesson here is that for a sweet mead you shouldn't use any nutrients. I made a sad face and it discouraged Kevin.
I brought the rubber stopper which we attached his air lock to. And it wouldn't stay in the freaking glass bottle. So we duct taped that shit down. Oh yeah.
Also, I ate one of the oranges from his fermenter. It was boozy.
If you're reading this wife I love you. I'm sorry I snapped at you about the TV shows.
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