This beer is definitely one of the best ones that I have brewed. The bitterness is nice and not too sharp, but seems to finish a little too strong. Once the beer warms to room temp, the bitterness does not seems to fade away. I am hoping that the bitterness characteristics will blend some with age. I like the subtle fruity flavors from the Nottingham yeast. It allows the malty profile to shine through. It could be a bit more malty though.
Taste update
Beer/Wine Blending calculator
I found the following calculator and used it to figure out what the ABV of my FSS is(or should be) after bottling
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/blending.asp
The adjusted ABV should be 4.2 % based on the SG of the beer before I added the priming solution. The SG measurement of the primed beer seems to have been off by quite a lot.
FSS Bottled
I bottled the FSS this evening. I siphoned off 4.65 gallons @ 1.008 @ 77F (1.010 corrected) 4.6% ABV. I used 2 quarts of water (pre-boil measurement) combined with 4.3 ounces of corn sugar for my priming solution. After dilution SG was [email protected] This should give 2.2 vol CO2 once conditioned. Total bottled was 53 bottles, 636 oz (4 short of 5 gallons exactly). The only thing that I have not been able to figure out is how much the .45 quarts of water diluted the beer. I have been trying to figure out the ABV after dilution, but I have not been able to work it out. Maybe Miftik with her GoogleFoo skills can dig up an answer(or formula).
On a different note this beer is darned tasty. The aroma and flavor from the EK goldings is right there. Bitterness is good as well as the nutty malt flavor. I can’t wait for it to age (but I must)
Installed Airlock
The krausen has fallen completely. I removed the blow off tube and installed an airlock. Airlock is bubbling at a rate of one bubble every 6 seconds.
Krausen falling
The krausen has peaked and is slowly receding back down. Bubbles are still coming from the blow off tube at a rate of 3 per second.
Random Beer Name Generator
Looking for a few things today I ran across the Random Beer Name Generator on www.strangebrew.ca I decided to name my latest brew Flying Squirrel Special Bitter. I hope the name is not already being used somewhere.
Active fermentation
The beer is actively fermenting now. Observed clumps of yeast being carried up by CO2. Krausen is high, about 4 to 5 inches, but is not in danger of blowoff.
Krausen is up.. Temp is down
The yeast on the top has fallen into the wort. The krausen is starting to come up, but I don’t think I will need the blow off tube. Temp on the freezer was set down to 64 F.
Bubbling
Just checked on the brew. It is starting to bubble. There is still a lot of yeast sitting on the top. Signs of foam starting to come through the yeast layer. Freezer temp 71F.
Not actively fermenting yet
No bubbles being made, however there is a nice looking colony of yeast forming on the top of the wort. Should start bubbling in a few hours. Bumped the temp of the freezer up to 70F @ 8:30 AM (Almost 2 hours ago). I forgot to set it last night to tis temp. Had I done this, it may have already been bubbling.