Upgraded: Sort of Broken
It was white labs WL550. they say it is more phenolic than estery (spicy, not fruity?). The reviews online also show it to be a really slow starter, which i did not observe. The local shop had two vials of it, one with a "best before" date of around mid march, the other with a date around late april. To be sure it was OK, we made a yeast starter using ~2/3C of the DME that was destined for the kettle. THat seemed to really do a lot for the "slow start", since it was vigorously fermenting 12 hours in, and is about done now, i think.
Took this last night. Might be the closest to actually needing a blowoff tube i've had in that fermenter.
Chill, be mellow, and be in a mood for embracing the sun.
"ooohhh, what is the malted liquor, what gets you drunker quicker, what comes in bottles or in cans?BEER!"
Prince of Fatness
This has been bulk aging since early March. Time to bottle. I still need to take it easy so I have recruited some helpers and created a mini event for this. My son, son in law, and son in law's friend help me brew when I do the big batches in the garage and I have asked them to come help me bottle this batch (usually I bottle myself). They are coming this weekend. They usually get paid in home brew but this time I am doing something more special. This will be called Potato Head Brewery Employee Appreciation Day. They will help bottle and I will open some special bombers to share with them. One will be Cigar City Hunahpu's Imperial Stout. Have not decided on the others yet, need to look through my stock. I'll order a few pizzas as well. Should be fun.
They usually get paid in home brew but this time I am doing something more special. This will be called Potato Head Brewery Employee Appreciation Day. They will help bottle and I will open some special bombers to share with them. One will be Cigar City Hunahpu's Imperial Stout. Have not decided on the others yet, need to look through my stock. I'll order a few pizzas as well. Should be fun.
We had a good time. I got 49 12oz units and 2 bombers out of this batch. I took a sample and you could definitely taste the Glen Livet. Had it with priming sugar added so in a couple of weeks I will take another test. I really want to stow most of this away for later in the year.
The helpers were happy. I opened a Cigar City Hunahpu's Imperial Stout, Bruery trade Winds Tripel, Straight To Ale Unobtanium, and Lawson's Double Sunshine. All were enjoyed.
Not at it at all.
Toasted some grain last night in preparation for my next brew, makes the house smell real good. It's a SMaSH, but with a Belgian Twist. To be brewed Friday.
Vienna / Northern Brewer SMaSH
5.5 lbs Vienna Malt
Hops all Northern Brewer (9.1% AA)
.25 oz first wort
.25 oz 60 mins
.25 oz 15 mins
.25 oz 10 mins
.25 oz 5 mins
.75 oz flameout
A few days beforehand, toast 1 lb of the malt at 325 for 25 minutes.
Wyeast 3942 Belgian Wheat yeast, no starter.
Mash 150 for an hour. Boil an hour, chill, and pitch yeast. Ramp up temperature into the 70's once fermentation starts.
Hoping for a nice Belgian Pale.
The wife is gone and does not like the smell when I brew so I will brew while she is not home. Boiling now.
Maris Otter / Mosaic SMaSH
5.5 lbs Maris Otter Malt
Hops all Mosaic (11.6% AA)
Wyeast 1272 American Ale II yeast, no starter.
Mash 152 for an hour. Boil an hour, chill, and pitch yeast.
These Mosaic hops smell delightful.
'15 Forumite of the Year
The wife is gone and does not like the smell when I brew so I will brew while she is not home. Boiling now. Maris Otter / Mosaic SMaSH 5.5 lbs Maris Otter Malt Hops all Mosaic (11.6% AA) .25 oz first wort .25 oz 60 mins .25 oz 15 mins .25 oz 10 mins .25 oz 5 mins .75 oz flameout A few days beforehand, toast 1 lb of the malt at 325 for 25 minutes. Wyeast 1272 American Ale II yeast, no starter. Mash 152 for an hour. Boil an hour, chill, and pitch yeast. These Mosaic hops smell delightful.
I am really enjoying brewing simple beers.
My motueka SMaSH was a pain in my ass because of various random mishaps (hops being left out of the shipment, bottling wand breaking). It came out pretty well, but now a month out from bottling and I feel like it has lost its body and some of its "umph". Oh well, in the words of a local (successful) nanobrewer, someone will drink it. (Someone=me)
Smoked wheat is fermenting now (will go into secondary on Sunday), I went conservative on the smoke but I am guessing I will brew it again and make it a higher % of the grist.
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My beer has gotten better as I have gained experience but one thing that really helped was when I started dumbing down my recipes. It is amazing that even some of the most supposedly complex styles can be brewed using only one or two specialty grains.
It came out pretty well, but now a month out from bottling and I feel like it has lost its body and some of its "umph".
I find that my SMaSH brews are best fresh. Usually don't start drinking them until 3 weeks, but after 6 or so I notice that the crispness of the hops wanes.
My SMaSH is happily bubbling away. I am now relegated to fermenting in the basement. A little warmer than I prefer but tolerable.
Vienna / Northern Brewer SMaSH ........ Hoping for a nice Belgian Pale.
........
Just bottled this. Not much flavor from the hops, which I expected. A little grassy. Flavor from the yeast is not very strong, definitely some fruity tones but could not quite figure them out. Really like the flavor I am getting from the Vienna. For now I will say it is good but I was hoping for some more flavor from the yeast (first time using it so maybe this is what you get). I guess I just need to wait a couple of weeks to get a good taste.
Scotch Oaked Wee Heavy
Have had several of these and think that I need to come up with a ration plan otherwise they won't last long. I get a nose full of malt. When tasting though the Glen Livet balances out the sweetness of the malt nicely. I don't think that I would use any more scotch than I did. It is a nice balance IMO. Any more and it might start to get over bearing (Glen Livet is good so I am not sure how terrible that would be). I think that it was the right amount of oak cubes, too.
I need to exercise self control so I can see how it ages.
I am going to try to bottle my smoked wheat tonight. I have been tasting the one with chipotles daily and it always seems to be "almost there" I added another chili last night, so hopefully it is ready today.
My homebrew stock is low. Hip surgery screwed it up. I have stuff that I can drink but it is all stuff that I would prefer to age for a while. That will change soon as the SMaSH that I just bottled will be ready soon and I have another SMaSH to bottle next week.
Turning attention to Labor Day, I am having another picnic and will provide homebrew. Last time I did 4 cases (it all got consumed). This time I am not doing that much as it is a lot of brewing to get done in a small amount of time. So, it will be a 5 gallon batch of Potato Cream Ale and a 11 quart batch of Galaxy Rye. I'll also decant some bottles of some stuff I have aging into growlers for some small samples. That should be enough.
This is the one instance where I wish that I had a keg setup.
Just got done bottling this. Mosaic hops are good.
Frangelico Oaked Brown Ale ........ After 3 or 4 weeks rack to secondary on top of the Frangelico and oak cubes. I want more Frangelico than oak so I am soaking a half ounce of the cubes in a cup of Frangelico. Bottle after 2 months in the secondary.
Frangelico Oaked Brown Ale
........ After 3 or 4 weeks rack to secondary on top of the Frangelico and oak cubes. I want more Frangelico than oak so I am soaking a half ounce of the cubes in a cup of Frangelico. Bottle after 2 months in the secondary.
Well this had been sitting for two months with the Frangelico and oak cubes so tonight I bottled. Did not take a gravity reading (did that after primary) but I did pull a sample. I am quite pleased. I definitely can taste the Frangelico but it is not overbearing. Frangelico has some sweetness to it but I expected that the yeast would ferment the sugar out of it. That must have happened because the beer is definitely not too sweet. Thinking that this will be a good one.
My for my next oaking adventure I am thinking of a Belgian Tripel and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. I will probably brew that next month.
Will Crew for Beer
Have had several of these and think that I need to come up with a ration plan otherwise they won't last long. I get a nose full of malt. When tasting though the Glen Livet balances out the sweetness of the malt nicely. I don't think that I would use any more scotch than I did. It is a nice balance IMO. Any more and it might start to get over bearing (Glen Livet is good so I am not sure how terrible that would be). I think that it was the right amount of oak cubes, too. I need to exercise self control so I can see how it ages.
You hit a home run with this one Finn. Damn tasty. Any idea what the ABV is?
Rule number one of a gunfight, bring a gun. Rule number two of a gunfight, bring friends with guns.
Thanks. The ABV is somewhere between 8% and 8.5%.
I am very happy about the flavor. If I have one gripe it would be that it is a bit over carbed. Hopefully it will remain as is. I have had over carbing issues with some of the beers that I have tried to age. Have not figured out why. Takes quite a few months for it to happen when it does.
Brewed the Potato Cream Ale on Saturday. Just now I am mashing the Galaxy Rye
3.75 lb 2 row malt
1 lb Rye malt
.5 lb Flaked rye
.25 lb Cara rye
All Galaxy hops 15% AA
.25 oz 60 min
.25 oz 15 min
.25 oz 10 min
.25 oz 5 min
Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast (no starter)
Mash 150 for 60 minutes. Boil 60 minutes. Chill and pitch yeast. I want to ferment cool so I will put the bucket in a cooler with water and swap out frozen water bottles. I only need to do this during active fermentation. Should give me 55-60 degrees.