November 30, 2007

Bottled

Category: Winter Warmer — Josh @ 11:10 pm

Bottled this one tonight. I used 6.5 ounces of corn sugar in 2 cups of water for priming. SG was 1.010 @ 71.3F (1.011 corrected). This calculates out to 6.1% ABV. It tastes really good. Some of the spices are a little strong…I think enhanced by the higher alcohol content. This should age and blend well by Christmas.

airlock installed

Category: Dunkelweizen 2 — Josh @ 8:35 pm

I removed the BOT tonight and installed an Airlock. SG reading was 1.019 @ 70.5 F. I sampled and it tasted much better than the first Dunkleweizen. This one has more bubblegum banana flavor and less clove flavors.

November 25, 2007

Beer Brewed

Category: Dunkelweizen 2 — Josh @ 8:31 pm

I Brewed this one tonight. Here is the recipe that I settled on.

1 lb Munich Malt
1 lb 40 L Crystal Malt
1 lb Wheat Malt
1/2 lb Cara-Pils
1/2 lb Maris Otter Malt
1 ounce Black Patent Malt
6.6 lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
17.5 ounces (500g) Muntons light Dried Malt Extract

1 oz Hallertau boiled 60 min
1 tsp Wyeast yeast nutrient 15 mins
.75 oz Hallertau boiled 10 min

4 lbs of grain was mashed at a ratio of 1.3 quarts of water per lb of grain. Initial mashin was with 5.2 quarts of water(Half distilled and half spring water w/ 1/8 tsp gypsum). Mash temp settled at 158F. Total mash time was 2 hours. Mash was stirred every 30 mins.

Temperature drop over 2 hours was 15 F. I acheived much better temperature retention by wrapping 3 towels around my mini-mash tun(9 quart coleman cooler).

I sparged with 8 quarts of 175F water(half distilled and half spring water w/ 1/8 tsp gypsum). A total of 10 quarts was collected. SG was 1.032 @ 80.2F

The wort was boiled per the schedule above. The wort was cooled in an ice bath in the sink (10lbs ice). The ice bath can’t get the wort down cold enough to pitch the yeast. The wort was sparged into the carboy with 2 gallons of chilled water (half distilled and half spring water). After wort was sparged, the carboy was topped up with half distilled and half spring water to the 5 gallon mark. Yeast was pitched. Wort was then aerated for 40 mins with air stone and aquarium pump. After, the the carboy was topped up to the 6 gallon mark with half distilled and half spring water. Blow off tube installed and placed into the fermentation freezer.

The SG of the wort after pitching the yeast and topped up to 6 gallons was 1.059 @ 68.2F

Tasted

Category: ESB 4 — Josh @ 12:18 am

I tasted this one tonight …and It is really really good. It should age well.

November 23, 2007

Yeast starter made

Category: Dunkelweizen 2 — Josh @ 7:43 pm

Yeast starter was made today. 7 ounces of malt sugar in 2L of water (half distilled and half spring water) and some Hallertau hops. I forgot the Wyeast nutrient this time. I hooked up the airstone and dialed in a small steady stream of air into the starter.

November 22, 2007

yeast activated

Category: Dunkelweizen 2 — Josh @ 11:12 pm

Wyeast 3056 Bavarian Wheat yeast activated. Manufactured 10/30/2007. Lot number 1208289

November 21, 2007

Bottled

Category: ESB 4 — Josh @ 10:21 pm

I bottled this beer tonight. Primed with 6.5 ounces of corn sugar. The beer tastes awesome. The FG was 1.014 @ 70F ( 1.015 Corrected). This calculates out to 4.8 % ABV. I can’t wait to try it. next time I will try a little less water so that the ABV is higher, and maybe I will loose a little less through the blow off tube.

Airlock installed

Category: Winter Warmer — Josh @ 9:48 pm

I removed the blow off tube and installed the airlock. The SG was 1.014 @ 70F (1.015 corrected). This tastes really good. I am planning on bottling this next Wednesday.

November 20, 2007

Fermenting away

Category: Winter Warmer — Josh @ 11:32 pm

It took a while for this brew to start fermenting, but this afternoon the krausen fell. So far it looks and smells good.

Fermentation update

Category: ESB 4 — Josh @ 9:52 pm

Fermentation has slowed down to almost nothing. I am getting a bubble every 40 seconds through the airlock. I started cleaning bottles today and plan on bottling tomorrow.