(Past) time to dump this sour stout/old ale blend. It no longer tastes like a mildewy basement but it's still not good tasting. 8 years is too long to mess with stuff hoping it might magically become delicious.
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17 posts17 participants0 posts today
So one positive for today - the Master Homebrewer Program March newsletter is out, and my name's on the Novice tier.
One badge down, and so many more to go... and some of my beers at another competition this weekend.
Oh, and a brew day Tuesday. Something to distract me from my other problems...
Just got a great demo of how flocculant a yeast Nottingham ale yeast is.
I had built a starter and was mixing it with some sterilised glycerin solution for freezing and I swear, I could not get it to mix in. Even after vigorous shaking, mere minutes would pass before the yeast is separating into chunky layers
It shouldn't be a problem. Probably. Slight chance it isn't as protected against the freezing because it separates from the glycerin.
Remarkable yeast for #homebrewing, though.
Got my results from first-round NHC judging. No beers going on to the final round (I am not surprised - it's all good). And nothing too horrible - a 27 for my rye IPA, 33 for the NZ pilsner, and 31.5 for my schwartzbier.
All in all, it's not bad in my book.
What should I brew next?
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Yesterday, while half the city was losing power and limbs off their trees…I decided to brew Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone (did not have ingredients for cream ale as suggested by poll)
My RAPT pill must be broken or need calibration (or I’m impatient) reading still at 1.025 after 18 hrs… regular hydrometer showing about 1.052
This is a new strain of yeast I’ve never tried from a Canadian supplier
My efficiency and volume was garbage though and I needed to add about 212g of DME
Got a new batch of #mead going. Local wildflower honey and SafAle US-05 yeast. And yeah, that's half a pink grapefruit. #homebrewing
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Transferred the California Gewurztraminer wine to a carboy for degassing and clearing. It is day 22. It was still fermenting slowly and it was about 1.001 a week ago and wasn't bubbling at all yesterday and measured 0.996 today. It gets the chitosan and reserves tomorrow.
I have taken gravity readings of my Amber Ale yesterday and today and I have tried a sip each time to see how that German terroir would change the character of the Cascade hops.
I'm getting that typical Cascade-y bitterness with pine and grapefruit notes but mixed with a lot of Mango. It's quite lovely. I hope that all makes it through to the final beer.
That terrible "the fermentation isn't complete yet" grainyness has to go though 
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It was around 36-43 hours for the beer to get actively fermenting at less than 60F / 15.5C with US-05 yeast. Looked like about 20 mm of krausen on top and the Speidel was bubbling about every 3 seconds.
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Chickens love the spent grains. Second half done same as first except only the boil was cooled and then added to the fermenter and then topped up with cold water. OG is about 1.052 which is a bit higher than the 1.048 target but it was at or above the 8 gallon mark. Lifted 
to the bench, and cleaned up and sealed and airlock filled. Suppose to keep it 60-62F 15.5-16.5C for fermenting.
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Only boiled 25% of the DME with a half volume boil. The rest added at 50 minutes which cools it down to almost 170F. Used an old keggle to put the boil pot in to cool, it worked ok, I didn't use any ice so it took a while to cool it off but the hops was in a bag so it wasn't lingering at high temps at all. Yeast pitched on the first half when it was cool.
Beer making day. An extract Scottish Ale 80. Pale DME, Caramel 40Land 120L, Chocolate Malt, and Kent Goldings plus some leftover Saaz.
This won't surprise anyone: I ferment the Amber Ale in an open vessel. I use Lallemand Nottingham dry yeast at 16°C. This is the Ol' Reliable of the homebrewing world and I was always super impressed by how clean it ferments almost any beer under almost any condition.
I am also excited to see the effect of Kräusen-scooping on the hop notes. West coast hops like Cascade can get a little grating and by scooping the hop resins off, this should make the beer a bit smoother.
Brewday at Brudi Bräu!
Today I am making an American style Session Amber Ale. I think this is an underrated and underbrewed style. Plus when I had Madtree's Amber Ale in Cincinnati last year, I thought I should drink this stuff more often. And since this style is even harder to find in Germany than the US, I have to make it first.
A 
I decided to open a bottle of the latest beer I'd brewed tonight. I'm not *huge* on Belgian beers - I'm not big on the funk and all that - but it was different and something fun to do for once, making a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. And I missed my OG by quite a bit, so it isnt' quite as alcoholic as I'd hoped... and...
So before i continue - I stopped at a local brewery on Tuesday, so I could sample another example of the style before I opened mine tonight. So I'd have a recent example in my head and...
It's not often that tasting a beer gets me to rename it. But WOW.
It's estery, and dark, and malty, hints of dark fruits, and just fantastic. (And my wife even drank some without making the horrible beer face she makes.)
And now it is called Oh. My. Quad.
