06A v4.0 has stopped bubbling....

I believe that I will rack to the secondary before I go to work this Ayem. Trish was not real happy with the dryness of the last couple batches of Cream Ale ("6A" as she calls it, a reference to the alpha-numeric style ID on the cap label). I'll rack to secondary sooner than usual and bottle after two weeks. Perhaps that will assuage her disappointment. And if this is the last batch of beer that I am ever able to brew, at least she will be happy.

Bonus Nachos!
-CyberDave

And remember what the Virtual Philosopher, (Wayne Patrick Hammond) 'Virtual Wayne' once said to me:

"Dave, it's too late to undo the past, but you can still undo the future!"

New Cream Ale brew: v 4.0 Münich Cream Ale

It's been a while since I brewed... I decided that this Monday was the day to do it yet again. I planned to make it from mostly Münich malt, but I only had 5.44 lbs. left. And so I used up the rest of my Pale Ale malt and 2.75 lbs. of my Pilsner malt to make up the diff. And this time, I am using Fermentis American Ale 05 dry yeast to ferment with. This also has 2lbs. of corn meal in the grain bill so I had to cook this adjunct prior to mashing the rest of the grains.

If you have never had the safety plug blow on your pressure cooker,let me tell you: It is a glorious sight and sound! I had 2 lbs of corn cooking on med. with the 10 lb setting on the pressure relief valve in place... but the thing didn't do it's 10-lb dance. When suddenly...
Pow~!
Trish had retreated to the back of the house to escape my 'right wing' tv program (C-Span) only minutes before the cataclysm and when it went off, she came sailing out of the bedroom yelling for the dogs to evacuate the area, amid admonishments aimed at yours truly. She didn't see the sweet geyser of corn ejecting from the safety hole, but when she came back from securing the WonderDog Continuum, she saw it's aftermath. Picture this: She wasn't a happy camper for she had spent the best part of the day before cleaning the kitchen. "No more pressure cookers for you!", she said, adding that to the list of forbidden objects she began for me years ago. Double boilers? Verböten! Pressure cookers? Verböten! Well, at least I can still play with knives and guns.... and brew beer!

I've left the scene of the crime to start the next rest and set the timer on my phone to alert me to go heat the next measure of water. Still have more cleaning to do as well. Whether I clean the site to the molecular level or just get the great gobs, it won't be enough. Trish will clean it again. It looks like it is going to be a long day....

After all was done, the carboy held 5 gallons of sweet wort and this morning it was merrily bubbling away. I removed the blow off tube and installed an airlock filled with Bowman's Vodka. I also have about 3 liters of wort the last of the runnings from the lauter tun, to can for starters. I'll just have to use a canning pot rather than a pressure cooker.

Tasting notes on Cream Ale 2.1.1

Trish said that the cream ale is too bitter... maybe next time I will either modify the hop schedule or reduce the secondary fermenter time (Probably that) to improve the balance. And I have 4 cases of the stuff to drink. On a different note, it does have a spicy taste, as I would like to see my Biere de Garde taste when I make that style. I like it! Trish will have to suffer thru this, I raccoon.

Cream Ale 06.B v3.0 Batch 2 is bottled

I left this batch in the secondary fermenter for 21 days as well, and I believe that next time I make cream ale I'll secondary for 14 days instead. Trish tasted the first bottle that was chilled and said that it was too bitter (she said hoppy...) and since I make this style for her I had better make sure that it pleases her palate.'

I did get (53) 12 oz. bottles, and the ABV calculates out to be 6.72%, which pleases me, but is outside style guidelines. I doubt that I'll enter this into a contest anywhere so I'll not worry about staying within style guidelines... the point of making your own beer is to make it to please your own palate, or to some parameter that is the goal du jour.

Have to brew more Americam Amber Ale... and soon: I only have 10 bottles left... I think that I gave away more than I usually do. I was really pleased with it and wanted to share.

First batch of 6A. v3.0 ready to test

Got home from a friend's house tonite (after stopping there on the way home from work) and poured a bourbon, and came down to the 'Cave to do computer stuff. The first batch of 06A v.3.0 is ready to taste this weekend. Altho' I DID put a bottle of it into the packets of smoked brisket as braising liquid over the past weekend, I am ready to actually chill & drink a bottle this weekend. Huzzah. The next batch is going to be bottled in about 3 weeks. I'm going to run out of AAA (10B) before then; I'll send a couple sixers of 06A to TAFTHB day when that arrives. I really need to brew more beer, and soon.

Bramwell Oktöberfest 2009

And as it turns out, I will be attending this year after all! My home brew Homeboy Bryan's wife canceled at the last possible moment and Bryan put the call out into the ether: does anyone wish to go with him? Sure, I said! And I'll take my 10B. v2.1.1 with me for entering into the homebrew contest. The OG is about 15 points higher than style indicates, but what the heck, I like it. And I'm sure that the judges will too! Bwa-haha! Maybe Bryan and I will clean up for the club this year, as we are the only two going. The rest of the brew crew will be attending Blacksburg's Brew Doo on the same day.(Did I just step in some Brew doo?) Maybe they will clean up at that festival.

I have my labels made & 'banded onto my bottles and I'll be ready to roll at the appointed hour. More on this after the fact.

Bottled Cream Ale v3.0 Batch 1 this AM...

This came out around 7.5% ABV, which is higher than I expected, even after adding water at secondary to lower the 'starting gravity'. Oh, well. I'll drink it.

Brewed the Batch 2 of Cream Ale, same recipe version on Sunday. Great day to brew. Added an additional gallon & change at mid boil and wound up with 5.5 g. in the primary. Adjusted my calcs accordingly.

And now, I have an issue: Looks like I'm running out of bottles! I have some with labels still on them, and I'll have to clean the labels off of them before I bottle the next batch of beer.

I'm also out of: Corn sugar; cap labels; and I broke the thingy that I use to clean the inside of the bottles before sanitizing. Got to get a new one of them. I'm also out of Pale Ale malt. 50 lbs sure doesn't seem to go that far.