so lazy

it is beer time once again
10/24/09:
A freeze dried packet of Safbrew S-33 (specialty yeast: belgian wheat/trappist. http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/HB/EN/Safbrew_S-33_HB.pdf) was added to a, first boiled, then cooled mixture consisting of ~500mL water, some malt syrup, and a few plugs of hops. This will be allowed to sit and ferment for a day, until pitching in a larger volume tomorrow.

10/25/09:
Added room temperature grain to ~3.5 gallons of water at 171dF in a room temp mash tun for a mash temp of 150-151dF.
10# american 2 row
2# munich
1# crystal (39L)
1/2# special roast (~50L)
1/2# caramunich (~50L)

After a mash of 2.5 hours, sparged with 4-5 gallons of water at 170-175dF.

Boiled wort, with hop additions at times T-60min (1/2 portion), T-30min (1/4 portion), and T-15min (1/4 portion),
where the total hops consisted of a mix of
1 oz ahtanum (substitute for cascarde) 4.5%aa
0.7 oz NZ green bullet 12.8%aa

Wort chiller used, then starter culture from yesterday was pitched to room temperature wort.

initial gravity = 1.079 (temp corrected)
initial volume = 4.5 gallons
initial temp = 84dF

Notes to self: Looks like the mash is still coming out at quite a high gravity, around 1.055, with additions of hot water. I was able to take a liter out, which I will store in the freezer for the next time I need to make a starter. In the future, with a mash this size (14#) it looks like there is plenty of extra sugar to go past five gallons. I also need a bigger brew pot, as this one (5 gallons) seems to top out at 3.5-4 gallons after leaving some space for a boil over and the wort chiller.

10/28/09:
Bubbling spontaneously. Added in a couple liters I got out of the mash by sparging some more, after boiling and chilling the aliquot. Volume is a bit over 5 gallons now. Temperature is around 72-74dF now.

dead guy clone brew
dead guy ale, kind of
6-26-09

a yeast starter of safale US-05 (http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/HB/EN/Safale_US-05_HB.pdf) was made, in 500mL of reconstituted malt extract and hops, and allowed to sit for 5 hours with frequent shaking

grain bill
8.75# maris otter (4L)
1.25# muncih (9L)
0.75# caramel/crystal (40L)
0.75# caramunich (56L)

aproximately 3 gallons water, with a slaking temp of 172dF giving a mash temp of 155-158dF, held for 70 minutes, and sparged with about 3 gallons of water, resulting in a SG of 1.056 (temp corrected) before boiling

this was brought to a boil and hops were added, given the following cumulative boiling times for each addition
mixed together: 1 oz northern brewer 8.1%aa
0.5 oz NZ green bullet 12.8%aa

1/2 portion for 60 minutes
1/4 portion for 30 minutes
1/4 portion for 15 minutes

wort chiller used, liquor transfered, then starter pitched with a final volume of 4.25 gallons, diluted up to 4.75 gallons

7-4-09: Racked and got rid of the trub. Looks like it is still actively fermenting. Volume is at 4.3 gallons now.
7-26-09: Bottled today. Noted a layer of white film on the surface in the secondary. Covered maybe 70% of the surface, not fuzzy, not hairy, so questionable if it is mold. Tastes as beer should taste. Anyway, siphoned around it and the trub on the bottom, added 3/4 cup sugar, and got 46 bottles out of it. FG=1.014. Nice and clear dark amber color, with only a small layer of trub on the bottom, as opposed to the much thicker one from the first racking. This one should be tasty!
8-1-09: Tried a few bottles. Still quite sweet with moderate carbonation. White bubbly/mucoid ring on the surface, similar to the previous batch of cider. It may be mold.
10-9-09: Have been drinking this steadily, both before and after vacation. Strong hoppy taste well balanced by a dark maltiness. I think this may be the best beer I have brewed, and a few people commented they could not distinguish it from brews that could be bought at a store. Will have to repeat this one in the future.

apfelwein / cider
cider time
5 gallons apple juice
1 packet Red star premier cuvee dry wine yeast

Yeast was dissolved in 50mL warm water, left to reconstitute, then after 10 minutes stirred and poured into the juice. Left at room temperature to begin fermenting.

update 6/6/09: Bottled today. Barely any sediment at the bottom now. Smells okay, too. There is some white moldly residue on the surface of the liquid. Mixed up 2/3 cup of brown sugar and 1 gram of potassium metabisulfite in boiling water and bottled. Got out the surface mold in a couple bottles--will see how this turns out.

My friend wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_metabisulfite)
Potassium metabisulfite is sometimes used in the brewing industry to inhibit the growth of wild yeasts, bacteria, and fungi. This is called 'stabilizing'. It is also used to neutralize chloramine that has been added to tap water at the source as a disinfectant. It is used both by homebrewers and commercial brewers alike. It is not used as much for brewing beer, because the wort is almost always boiled, which kills most microorganisms anyway. It can also be added to strike water (the water used to mash the barley) in order to remove chloramines which can cause phenolic off flavors in beer.

today's beer brewing adventure
9# American 2-row
1# Crystal 77
1/2# melanoidin
1/2# Special roast

Mashed at 155dF for 1.25 hrs
Sparged at 168-172dF
Boiled down til around 6.5 gallons

1 oz NZ green bullet (12.8% aa), -60 min
1 oz northern brewer (8.1% aa), -10 min

Dry pitched 0.25oz package of Vierka dark munich beer yeast

T = 78dF
sg = 1.048

1/21/09: finally started showing some bubbles through the blow off valve
1/22/09: bubbling a bit more, but I'm paranoid, so I put in a packet of nottingham yeast
1/24/09: strong, constant bubbling at this point. Ambient temp on outside of fermenter stable at around 70dF for last few days.
2/17/09: Putrid sulfurous smell evolving from the fermenter; turns out this is normal for lagers. Ambient temps dropped to around 65dF couple weeks ago. Looks like fermentation is done. I put the fermenter down in the garage yesterday--hopefully the lower temperatures will help it lager a bit quicker.
3/19/09: Botted today after taking a gravity measurement of 1.006. Aroma is rather pleasant at this point. A quick taste reveals a nutty, mildly sulfurous flavor.
4/17/09: Sampled yesterday. Still cloudy. Quite hoppy/nutty, with flavor of roast dark bread. Esterous and fruity, but with odd initial flavor.
6/20/09: At this point it has become fairly drinkable, for, oh, maybe the last few weeks. The esterous notes are still quite present though have largely become replaced by a more malty flavor. I think the high fermentation temperature messed up the brew from the get go, but it has recovered pretty well at this point. Lagers, after all, need to age for a long time before the sulfurous notes dissipate, so three months after bottling seems about right for drinking.

cider
5 gallons apple juice
1 can, grape juice concentrate
1360g turbinado sugar
1 pomegranate, juiced

Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast (http://www.lalvinyeast.com/images/library/71B_Yeast.pdf), 5g, dry pitched

It looks like I failed to make notes on my second batch of cider from a couple months ago. That time I used 2 lbs of brown sugar with a packet of some ale yeast. It turned out somewhat sweeter, still very alcoholic, and much less champagne like. It seemed to express the apple flavor better as well, perhaps due to ester production.

1-19-09: Gravity is at 0.994. Need to bottle.
2-17-09: Bottled perhaps two weeks ago with 3/4 cup white sugar. Just tried a bottle yesterday. Has poor carbonation. Sweet, fruity aroma, and a bit reddish perhaps from the grape and pomegranite. Mildly tart. Looks like the yeast did what it was supposed to do.

chocolate coffee brown ale
12# munich malt
1# biscuit malt
1/8# black malt

1/2 ounce kent golding (6.4 aa)
2 ounce fine ground coffee
1 ounce cocoa powder

boiled for around 3 hours

final volume of 4.5 gallons
FG = 1.069

dry pitched 10g packet of Safbrew T-58 yeast (http://www.fermentis.com/FO/EN/pdf/SafbrewT-58.pdf)

*updates*
09-21: SG = 1.010, added 1.3 lbs liquid malt extract in 2 liters water and 1 tbl spoon vanilla extract, up to 1.020 now. I'm thinking of adding some bourbon to make it insanely tasty, see: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f67/bourbon-vanilla-porter-ag-30185/
09-30: SG=1.0135. Agitated it and it started fermenting again. Still, tastes at the apropriate sweetness, balanced with the coffee flavor. Shake it up, let it go down again, and add more malt to get the alcohol up.
10-06: SG=1.012. Adding another 1.3 lbs liquid malt extract. Will shake it up to make it ferment some more.
10-24: Bottled sometime this week.
2-17-09: Here is a recap of this brew. It aged extremely well. Initially it was painful to drink: yeasty and overpoweringly coffee like. Upon waiting til mid January, it was much improved. The chocolate flavor was definately subtle, while the coffee flavor was still overpowering. Color was brownish-dark, but much less so than one would expect from the intense flavor of the thing. I suppose the lesson to take out of this batch is that coffee is a very potent ingredient, and chocolate much less so. My initial idea of substituting hops with coffee worked but it was far too powerful to be drinkable.

brew time
12# munich malt
1/2# special roast
1/2# victory

see http://www.ebrew.com/primarynews/about_specialty_malts.htm

mash at 145dF (to 172dF heated water, add the grain)

7/21/08: sg of 1.006, already racked once... needs bottling so that this can be converted into drunkedness
2/17/09: To reflect back upon this brew, I would say it came out very well. Solid ingredient base and very drinkable, but I ran out of bottles months ago at this point.

marzen-ish brew
mashed 12 lbs vienna malt, 1# special b, 1# special roast, together at 140-155dF for 1hr (for future brews, use 170dF initial water temp in mash tun)
sparged until ~6.0 gallons
added 1.5 ounce kent golding hops, boiled 30 min
added 1.0 ounce kent golding hops, boiled 20 min
added 0.5 ounce kent golding hops, boiled 5 min

end volume= ~5.5 gallons
IG = 1.062 (temp corr from 1.060)

pitched starter culture of antwerp ale yeast (http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp515.html), but lack of fermentation (these liquid cultures of yeast tend to have a pretty poor beginning). Contemplating addition of another german lager yeast I have: (http://www.fermentis.com/FO/EN/pdf/SaflagerS-23.pdf)

4-07-08: Pitched the dry yeast last night. Vigorous fermentation today, with temperature around 74dF, dropping to ambient. Quite a dark wort, with a pleasant nutty aroma.
4-09-08: Steady fermentation at around 70dF that slowed down and dropped to mid sixties this morning. Sulfurous smell--needs to hang out for a week, then rack.
4-24-08: Quite clear. SG of 1.011. Bottled with 3/4 cup sugar.

ye olde basic IPA
mashed 12 lbs domestic 2 row malt (this malt is quite old so may be poor in enzymes), at 155dF for 1hr
sparged until ~5.5 gallons
boil ~45min with 1 ounce summit (16.8%AA) hops, additional 1/2 ounce at wort chilling

volume= ~5.2 gallons
IG = 1.046

pitched starter culture of yeast (http://www.fermentis.com/FO/EN/pdf/SafbrewT-58.pdf)

3-2-08: This batch has been fermenting starting at around 62dF raising up to 70dF more recently. It is still bubbling upon shaking it, so I'm allowing it to keep going. Light color. Smells quite pleasant from the airlock, predominantly of hops versus the previous sulfury fermentation aroma around day 3-5 after pitching.
3-5-08: Transferred to secondary with 1 ounce kent golding hops (6.8aa).
3-17-08: Bottled today, and tried a bit. Seems to lack the high magnitude of hoppiness I was after, but pretty tasty still.

Apfelwein (German hard cider)
So Jeff convinced me to make some apple cider from this recipe he found online (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14860). I started it a few weeks ago but neglected to post it to livejournal, so here it is:

5 Gallons Apple Juice
2 pounds cane sugar
1 packet lavlin ec-1118 champagne yeast (http://www.brew-winemaking.com/ProductPDF/4401.pdf)

No need to boil or any of that hassle, since the juice I bought comes pasteurized. A really quick and easy recipe to do. The sugar was dissolved in half emptied juice containers by shaking, then poured in without sterilization. Possible contamination risk from the sugar (since its not boiled), but looks like mine worked out. It smelled awful during the fermentation, like a horrible sulfury aroma, but now that it is mostly done, it has a fruity apple aroma. People on the forum say the smell improves with aging, too.

Updates
12-9-07: Took the density reading today, the SG is 0.994. This brew is really dry and alcoholic, like champagne yeast would do. Next time maybe try ale yeast to leave some residual sugar.
1-25-08: Quite the dry beverage, but the sulfury aroma is now being replaced with apple. Perhaps next time use ale yeast to get it a bit sweeter? Though the sugar content now is quite barable.
3-2-08: Tried another bottle last week, but neglected to make an entry here. The cider is very dry and, I suppose, not too surprisingly, very similar in flavor to a champagne. This only reinforces the importance of yeast selection in final flavor--the apple flavor is there in the background but it tastes almost like a white wine. I think it would turn out much better with ale yeast (will have to try Jeff's brew after it is done).

doppelbock
15 lbs american 2-row
1/2 lbs special b
-mashed 116dF 2hr (sg of 1.045, neg starch test), 125dF 30min (sg of 1.065), 150dF 30min (sg of 1.090), sparged til 1.020

hops
1 ounce kent golding, 30 minutes while warming to boil
0.5 ounce kent golding (6aa), x minutes
0.5 ounce summit (18aa), x minutes

og 1.068

saflager s-23 yeast (http://www.fermentis.com/FO/EN/pdf/SaflagerS-23.pdf)
-500 mL starter culture, 4 hours prior

fun stuff about brewing I learned today:
do not misread your thermometer thinking C is F

Updates
12-9-07: It's still bubbling at around 58dF with an awesome lagery smell coming out of the airlock.
1-6-08: gravity of 1.014, so added 1 packet lavlin ec-1118 champagne yeast, will let sit for a week with daily shaking and recheck
2-14-08: turns out its pretty tasty. Was quite sweet for the longest time, but upon lagering in the fridge it is quite amazing. Prominent nutty taste.
3-2-08: it is even tastier now. The cloying sweetness is now gone, replaced by a slight hoppy bitterness and malty flavor. Aging seems to have improved the flavor tremendously.

brewing with ben
1/2# special b
1/5# caravienne
10# 2-row domestic

mash 1 hour w/ 12L water 155dF, sparge with 170dF water til 5 gallons collected

2 oz willammette whole hops, 5.5 aa, boil 30 minutes

safale yeast

chocolate oatmeal stout
8 lbs 2-row domestic
1/2 lbs roasted barley
1/10 lbs black malt
2 lbs quick cook oats

mashed together, 1 hour, 150dF, eluted with 170dF water til 4.5 gallons collected

2 lbs semi-sweet, cane juice sweetened, chocolate chips melted together with one pound cocoa powder, then mixed with the wort

2 ounces willammette, whole hops, 5.5 aa, boiled 30 minutes
0.5 ounces kent golding, pellets, 6.4 aa, boiled 15 minutes
1 ounce willammette whole hops, dry hopped

wort chilled, then transfered to fermenter and aerated by shaking

pitched lavlin ec-1118 (5g) champage yeast + expired safbrew american ale yeast (11g)

updates
10-29-07: OK, so this is the second nastiest thing I've tasted, after the date wine that is. I noticed it wasn't fermenting properly, so I let it sit for a few days and noticed the emulsion started to separate, with all the fat floating on top. Today I skimmed most of it off and cleaned out the inside. Looks like some film on the surface, could possibly be mold, in which case the whole thing gets tossed.
11-1-07: seems to be fermenting a bit more now. Smelling the airlock no longer induces the impulse to vomit, so maybe there is hope for the three some remaining gallons.
11-4-07: removed about a liter of fat from the surface. Currently 2.5 gallons. Bubbles upon shaking.
11-13-07: so it looks like after dry hopping with whole hops, a bunch of them float on the surface for what seems like indefinately. Maybe pelletted hops would sink to the bottom and join the trub? Sampled a bit today after skimming off more crap from the surface: it tasted not horrible, even somewhat decent. Next order of business is to rack the beast, maybe wait a week, and bottle. Racking shall commence tomorrow.
11-29-07: bottled yesterday with a SG of 1.011 after priming with 1/3 cup sugar for ~2.4 gallons. Tastes like chocolate, but should be even better when carbonated and cold.
1-25-08: Somewhat disturbing to drink, souring my appreciation of chocolate forever. Will not ever use chocolate in booze again.
3-2-08: I have to admit that it has become, as of around February, much more drinkable. The chocolate aroma remains, but perhaps what left was the yeasty aroma. It tastes like a very intense chocolate stout, but not as dark and bitter, with more chocolate flavor instead. Worth the work, but maybe would use less chocolate next time to avoid the fat filtration issue (maybe even a liquid extract?).

date wine
1.2 gallon volume
2 limes, quartered and juiced
2 bags of earl gray tea, long brewed
1/2 lbs raisins
5 lbs date paste
2 lbs white sugar

1 packet lalvin ec-1118 champagne yeast

update 10-29-07: I sampled a bit of this since the airlock stopped bubbling. It is, quite possibly, the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. I gagged when it touched my tongue. Still very sweet and also chunky. I filtered it out, and added 1tsp pectic enzyme and 1tsp acid blend. Looks like it is bubbling now, but I have little hope for it. Volume is now 1 gallon.

arrogant bastard clone (9/20/07)
10 lbs american 2-row
1 lbs crystal 120
1/2 lbs crystal 60
1/2 lbs pale chocolate

mashed with 13L water at around 152-155 dF for one hour, sparged with water at 176 dF til 5 gallons eluted
(near end of sparge, elutant was coming out at gravity of 1.020)

2 oz chinook 14.4aa hops:
1 oz at start til boil
1/2 oz during boil
1/2 oz before wort chiller

OG: 1.064 (temp corrected)

coopers ale yeast pitched evenly on surface
vigorous fermentation next morning, less than 12 hours after pitching

updates
9-29-07: fermentation stopped: solid trub at bottom, sg of 1.020, rack to new container with packet of red star pasteur champagne yeast, target sg of 1.010 or lower
10-5-07: solid trub, fermentation looked stopped, sg of 1.016, but upon shaking, fermentation started again. Let go longer with daily shaking.
10-9-07: sg at 1.010, still bubbling a bit upon shaking
10-24-07: first bottles sampled taste a bit sweet, malty and honey characteristics, excellent yeast sedimentation
10-29-07: tasted a few bottles at this point. It turned out rather sweet and bitter, similar to a chocolate porter. Wrong target, but an alright beer. It is a bit strongly flavored: next time, I will use less specialty malts or maybe even none and see how it turns out.
11-1-07: sampled two more bottles, from the fridge, slightly less sweet, flavors have mellowed out, a bit more bitter now, doesn't taste like a porter anymore, a dark bitter beer, much better with aging
11-13-07: ended up sweet. Damn. Still a porter.

links o' clock
hydrometer temperature correction: http://www.ebrew.com/primarynews/ct_hydrometer_temp_correction.htm

the unnamed belgian beer of awesomeness
started 7/29/07

soak specialty grains (1 lbs aromatic malt, 1 lbs special belgian malt) at 165dF for 30 minutes

put in 12 lbs Maris Otter malt and 1 lbs munich malt with 3 gallons of water, keep at 140-160dF for 1 hour

sparged til almost 5 gallons of wort

boil with northern brewer hops for 30 minutes

wort chiller for 15 minutes, put in more hops near end

IG = 1.068 (note temperature correction in the future)

pitched Trappist Ale Yeast (WLP500) when at 85 dF, slow to start vigorous fermentation... took maybe 40 hours

mash tuns construction did not finish... too bad because it sucks to mash 10+ pounds of grain in a 5 gallong kettle (not nearly enough volume). I still need a ~12 gallon cooler, but the exit pipe is complete. (yay!)

for next time, consider yeast nutrient and a yeast starter to get fermentation going faster

08-28-07: the FG is 1.010, bottled with 3/4 cup o' suga and some lovin' from the fine people of the climbing wall who also love beer. Matt's brew of just a couple weeks yore is being consumed as I type, vigorously.
10-24-07: the beer was finished earlier this month. Very poor floculation. Started out with a strong belgian character, eventually mellowing out and developing a touch of fruitiness.
11-07: the beer is long all consumed. It was quite tasty, but very belgian in character, partly from the yeast origin, partly from the high ambient temperature.

pomegranate melomel
9 lbs honey
6 cans frozen of grape juice +
1.25 L pomegranate juice
1 grapefruit, juiced
1 lemon, juiced
4 limes, juiced (for acidity)
grapefruit peel, 1/8 fruit
lemon peel, 1/2 fruit
lime peel, 3 fruits
earl gray tea, 2 bags in 1 cup water, long brewing (for tannins)

boiled, froth skimmed off

wort chiller for 15 minutes

transferred to bucket, then brought up to ~5 gallons with filtered water, lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast (link), put sweatshirt around vessel

IG = 1.065 (taken 5/10)
currently bubbling, off the hook with a frothy surface layer

updates
5/23/07: gravity is now 0.995, and since (IG-FG)/7.5=ABV, it's about 9% strong
5/24/07: added three more pounds of honey. And now, the brewing lesson of the day, or how to calculate % alcohol, as excerpted from an email:
"
Yesterday I measured the gravity of the mead I was fermenting. Now, you may ask, what is the purpose of that? The gravity is the density of the brew, where 1.000 is water. Sugar increases this number, and when fermented into ethanol, causes the density to decrease. A typical original gravity (OG), before fermentation, is around 1.040 for beer. The final gravity (FG), measured after fermentation, could, for such a brew, be 1.010. Then we use a handy equation to calculate % alcohol, (OG-FG)*1.32. So for that brew, it would be around 4% ABV. The mead started out at 1.065 and ended at 0.995, placing it at around 9%.
"
11/13/07: sampled a bit today. It is mellowing out nicely. From this one and previous batches of honey, it seems like meads need a year or more to mature to optimal flavor.
1/25/08: It is still getting better with time. Somewhat drinkable at this point, but not enough to warrant.

Current Music: Grateful Dead - Uncle John's Band

biscuits n' toast ale
6 lbs pale malt extract
1/2 lb victory malt 15°L (biscuit and toasted flavor, 5-15% rec, ~5%)
2/3 lb special roast malt 50°L (toasted malt aroma and flavor, 3-10% rec, ~5%)
1/3 lb caravienne malt 24°L (toffeeish toasty caramel flavor, ~5%)

steep grains @ 160F in grain bag for 20min,
remove grains and increase to boil
add malt extract, and hops in grain bag (1.5oz 6.8% AA northern brewer hops, 25 minute boil)

wort chiller for 15 minutes

70-80°F fermentation in plastic bucket, nottingham ale yeast, put sweatshirt around vessel

at bottling prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar

IG = 1.0?? (not taken)
FG = 1.020 (reading taken 3/03/07)
final volume = 4.6 gallons

updates:
11-13-07: Reviewing my old batches: this one turned out very well. Very pleasant and balanced biscuit flavor. I should make this one again...

Current Music: Eels - Tiger In My Tank

unnamed as of yet
8 lbs pale malt extract
1/3 lb pale chocolate malt 225°L(nutty flavor and dark color, 3-12% rec, ~3%)
1/2 lb victory malt 15°L (biscuit and toasted flavor, 5-15% rec, ~5%)
1/2 lb special roast malt 50°L (toasted malt aroma and flavor, 3-10% rec, ~5%)
1/2 lb caravienne malt 24°L (toffeeish toasty caramel flavor, ~5%)
1 lb Crystal Malt 60°L (sweet malty/caramel flavor, ~10%)

1.5oz 6.8% AA northern brewer, 60 minute boil (long boil for bitterness extraction)
0.5oz 6.4% AA kent golding, 20 minute boil
0.33oz each, 2 minute boil (late hopping for aroma)

1tsp irish moss, 10 minute boil (helps clarify beer)

*steep grains @ 155F for 30min, increase to boil at which point remove grains, then add extract/hops and boil, 5 gallons volume post boil
*70-80°F fermentation in plastic bucket, coopers ale yeast, prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar

should turn out to be a brown nutty biscuity and hoppy ale with hopping a weee bit less than an IPA (if all goes to plan)

EDIT: that was the plan, but LJ blacked out during the brew, so it got changed a bit. Here's my log:

heat 2 gallons water to boiling, chill with wort cooler, put in primary

heat 2.5 gallons water to 150 dF, add:

lbs milled malt
-----------
1/3 pale chocolate
1/2 crystal 60 dL
1/2 victory
1/3 caravienne
1/3 special roast

(all in grain bag)

maintain 150 dF for 60 minutes, then raise to 170 dF and strain bag, add 8lbs extra light malt extract

raise to boiling, add 1 tsp irish moss and 1.5 oz kent golding hop pellets (6.4AA), boil 25 minutes

add 0.5 oz KG, boil 10 min
add 0.5 oz KG, boil 5 min

use wort chiller to reduce temp to ~90, mix with previous 2 gallons of water

add 0.5 oz KG, add dry yeast on surface (safbrew s-33) (5:30pm sat, 11/4/06)

FG = 1.074
final volume = 4.5 gallons

update 12/06: put on a sweatshirt around the vessel and am keeping it in a warm place to ensure full fermentation.
update 12/13/06: took a sample: turbid, fermenting very slowly now, gravity of 1.022 (SG-FG*129=ABV, so that is 6.7%), keep warm, recheck on Saturday, then bottle? tastes very bitter, perhaps too much so
update 1/04/06: took a sample, sg of 1.020, racked and added rehydrated lavlin ec-188 champagne yeast, then put next to heater with sweatshirt on.
update 1/05/06: after agitation, airlock shows bubbles aproximately once per four seconds

Current Music: The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray

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