In our first IPA news... fermentation like whoa. It looks to have finally died down and we are looking at an ABV of around 6.8% right now... we'll see if that keeps up.
We moved it from secondary fermentation with dry hops into another carboy to allow some sediment to settle. This is the "gunkiest" beer that we have brewed yet, and it's unbelievable the amount of sediment and yeast that has settled to the bottom so far, and somehow more keeps showing up!
The dry hopping and extra yeast really seems to have added some interesting layers of flavor, but right now the nose is VERY heavy on the grapefruit. We are really excited to see how this turns out in the end with some carbonation and some clarity, because the color is absolutely fantastic at this point.
As always, we'll keep you posted as we go along, right now I'm just getting ready for the Top Chef season finale... GO KEVIN
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Santa Claus is coming to town
In addition to brewing the chocolate oatmeal stout and transferring the IPA to yet a third carboy (more on that later), we also bottled our Christmas Ale (name to be determined, suggestions welcome, comment away people!!)
In the end, we have 3 swing top lite bottles and about 14 22oz bottles of the Christmas ale currently carbonating with some priming sugar. We also took 2 liters and force carbonated with CO2 and chilled it that night... and wow, it was really good! Definitely the most interesting beer we've brewed to date and BY FAR the most experimental. Somehow, the cinnamon, nutmeg, flaked oatmeal, vanilla, honey, maltodextrin, and oak chips came together and was really refreshing. We even got the thumbs up from Sonia, which is apparently not easy (or so Brad says...)
In about 2 weeks we hope for the Christmas Ale to be properly conditioned and ready to drink... at which point we'll be giving out some bottles to friends to try and give us some feedback!
Beers we drank tonight:
Mayflower Thanksgiving Ale - just delicious. Brad and I are both completely enamored with Mayflower's beers. So glad they are starting to bottle their seasonals so I can enjoy them at home.
Olfabrikken Porter - Holy smokiness, the scandanavian countries really know how to brew porters.
Founders Backwoods Bastard - Woody, sweet, warming, delicious. Founders is magical when it comes to wood aging beers, and one of my favorites didn't disappoint again in this year's run.
In the end, we have 3 swing top lite bottles and about 14 22oz bottles of the Christmas ale currently carbonating with some priming sugar. We also took 2 liters and force carbonated with CO2 and chilled it that night... and wow, it was really good! Definitely the most interesting beer we've brewed to date and BY FAR the most experimental. Somehow, the cinnamon, nutmeg, flaked oatmeal, vanilla, honey, maltodextrin, and oak chips came together and was really refreshing. We even got the thumbs up from Sonia, which is apparently not easy (or so Brad says...)
In about 2 weeks we hope for the Christmas Ale to be properly conditioned and ready to drink... at which point we'll be giving out some bottles to friends to try and give us some feedback!
Beers we drank tonight:
Mayflower Thanksgiving Ale - just delicious. Brad and I are both completely enamored with Mayflower's beers. So glad they are starting to bottle their seasonals so I can enjoy them at home.
Olfabrikken Porter - Holy smokiness, the scandanavian countries really know how to brew porters.
Founders Backwoods Bastard - Woody, sweet, warming, delicious. Founders is magical when it comes to wood aging beers, and one of my favorites didn't disappoint again in this year's run.
Sissy Bitch Stout
"What's that you're drinking over there?"
"Oh, this? It's a sissy bitch stout."
This was a theoretical conversation Brad and I had involving the naming of our new stout. In one of the more disastrous filled brewing evenings in recent memory, a few highlights include:
1) splashing the pot when the grain bag got stuck on the kettle thermometer... all over the kitchen. I think we got about 3 feet of distance on a few splashes
2) my face having a near death experience... while stirring in the LME to the boil, the can slipped through my hand splashing the boiling water into my face. luckily, due to him being tall (bastard), brad was spared.
3) clogged ball valve in transfer to the carboy. not once, not twice, but about 8 times. damn cocoa nibs.
In good news... my face is fine after a brief scare involving some red leopard-eque spots for about an hour or so.
"Oh, this? It's a sissy bitch stout."
This was a theoretical conversation Brad and I had involving the naming of our new stout. In one of the more disastrous filled brewing evenings in recent memory, a few highlights include:
1) splashing the pot when the grain bag got stuck on the kettle thermometer... all over the kitchen. I think we got about 3 feet of distance on a few splashes
2) my face having a near death experience... while stirring in the LME to the boil, the can slipped through my hand splashing the boiling water into my face. luckily, due to him being tall (bastard), brad was spared.
3) clogged ball valve in transfer to the carboy. not once, not twice, but about 8 times. damn cocoa nibs.
In good news... my face is fine after a brief scare involving some red leopard-eque spots for about an hour or so.
Monday, December 7, 2009
We're watching and listening, I promise
So for those of you out there who read this regularly and have voted on the beer... let it be known that we are paying attention!
Brad and I will be back brewing this evening, making our first attempt at a stout. The plan is to age it with some Chocolate covered cocoa nibs (Tazo, yay for promoting local companies) and try to get a nice chocolate undertone. This is the last beer we've actually planned at all, and from here on out, will probably be brewing specifically to fill a need for a friend throwing a party or bbq or general hootenanny.
The IPA is also hopefully done fermenting and we can rack it to another carboy to let some sediment settle and hope for a nice golden color with at least an attempt at clarity.
I'm sure we'll have a couple fantastic beers too... going to start using this as a bit of a forum for our beer thoughts and musings
Brad and I will be back brewing this evening, making our first attempt at a stout. The plan is to age it with some Chocolate covered cocoa nibs (Tazo, yay for promoting local companies) and try to get a nice chocolate undertone. This is the last beer we've actually planned at all, and from here on out, will probably be brewing specifically to fill a need for a friend throwing a party or bbq or general hootenanny.
The IPA is also hopefully done fermenting and we can rack it to another carboy to let some sediment settle and hope for a nice golden color with at least an attempt at clarity.
I'm sure we'll have a couple fantastic beers too... going to start using this as a bit of a forum for our beer thoughts and musings
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