Testing

A section of brew related blogging from my personal page C&P to blogspot just to see. Is it worth putting all of my Inner Thoughts n' Feelings (hereafter referred to as ITFs) onto a public forum? Eh... dunno... some of those people are still alive...

090830 - AAA v3.0 bottled
I bottled the next version of my American Amber Ale yesterday and got a good bottle count. (12) 75 cl flip tops, (30) 36 cl bottles and (5) 50 cl plastic bottles for pressure testing. The last two had some bits in them. Seems that not all of the dry hops found their way down to the yeast bed. Hopefully none that I might enter into contests will contain bits, nor any that I share with people. I drank the beer that was in the tube that the hydrometer was in and it tasted a little bitter - and I couldn't discern any hop aroma. Hmmm.... Maybe that will taste and smell differently once the stuff is conditioned properly.

The previous version, v2.1.1 tastes and smells great and is ready to place into the fridge as is the case of Biere de Garde that I placed back on the shelves, tho' I may let that one condition another week or so.

I was going to brew the next version of Cream Ale (06A v3.0) on Thursday but Trish vetoed that plan on Dog issues, seeing as how she was fraught with fright over Dog Zeppo's condition. I'll try again on Wednesday, my day off - if nothing comes up, like a second interview at Precision Technology. A good trade of priorities, I say.

090824_ Back to Cream Ale...
I'll try to brew another batch of Cream Ale on my day off, Tuesday. Trish likes it and so do I, and I have the reserved yeast that I took from the Primary fermenter of my American Amber Ale in the fridge that can be used for Cream Ale. I want to get this recipe nailed down as I have for the AAA. More as it happens....

090802 - Batch 10.B v3.0
On Thursday, my day off, I brewed another batch of AAA, this time I got it within style guideline specs... I think. At least the calculated ABV is within specs. It might turn out a little high, but that is fine with me. Fewer beers to get a buzz. Wound up with 5.25 gallons in the Primary fermenter and there have been no problems so far. Knock on wood.

After this batch, I think I'll return to the Cream Ale recipes to try to get that nailed down and within spec. Trish liked the ones that turned out well; the one that I subsitiuted potatoes for the corn she didn't care for that much. It was potable but it wasn't as good as the ones where I used corn as 20% of the grain bill. Maybe in a couple weeks, after I bottle the 10.B v2.1.1 I will re-address that style. As for now, I added the gelatin to the secondary the other day and the v3.0 is still merrily bubbling away in the primary.

090522 - Amber Ale...
Sunday I will be brewing an Amber Ale. Nothing special, I've made one a time or two before. That's it. Come on by!

Final IPA bottled

Bottled the last IPA that I'll do... Got 54 12 oz. bottles and one 16-oz pressure tester bottle. Should be ready to test first week of August.

Only one thing left on my Bucket List...

Final IPA ready to bottle...

Virtual Wayne's 'FIZZ!" programme sent me a text telling me it was time to bottle my IPA. And so I shall, tomorrow after work. Tonite after work I will need to prepare the priming sugar water and leave it untouched til bottling time.
That's all for now. Work time is approaching...

Next day...
After checking my brewing software programme, I see that I need to bottle on the 8th of July, not today. Good thing I checked. More later....

Virtual Wayne's timer programme, FIZZ!

My pal Virtual Wayne wrote a beer timer programme called Fizz! (anything timer, really) that I use to alert me of when I have to make Hop Additions to my beer when I am brewing. I set up the hop schedule and when my beer is about to boil, I mash the start button and the line items are adjusted to the current time. THEN: when it is time to make a hop addition, I get a text message on my phone to make the addition! Cool, or what? I can also include a line item to give me the heads up to rack to the secondary & etc, and to bottle. And put the stuff in the fridge for whatever that is that you wanna call it: cold conditioning, etc. And when it is ready to start drinking on. Oh, this is such a handy programme, should I break my cardinal rule of not drinking while I'm brewing I get a text to remind me. And since I don't own a laptop that I can take to the brew site with me, I can still use the programme. Shiite! This is SO FREAKING COOL...

Bottling the latest batch on 2 July... will get a text to that effect.

Bottling 14B. American IPA ("CyberDave's v 1.3.1.1)

I forgot to heat the Primer sugar water this AM before work so I had to do it after returning... Just finished sanitizing the bottles (Clorox method) and awaiting the primer mix to cool to a safe temperature. This is the beer that I brewed at Teach A Friend to Home Brew at
Chris & Fran's shoppe.


While working at another store today I met a chap that works there that is interested in brewing. I'll take him a couple of V 1.2.1.1 when I return tomorrow, and I'll take a cooler full to the meeting after work tomorrow.

Now to chill while the mix chills.

Yet ANOTHER batch of IPA...

On Sunday I brewed yet another as above. This was using the grain that I received from BRH and HB supplies for attending the Teach A Friend to Home Brew day the other week. I racked to the carboy at around 100°F and left it to cool to room temp for a while, pitching the yeast before I went to bed. Couple days later I took a look and the airlock was fill of matter where the fermentation action was aggressive and began blowing bubbles up into the airlock. Here, on Thursday, the bubbling has ceased for the most part.

On the previous batch which is in the secondary, it is about time to bottle. I've shaken the carboy to encourage the hops to loft to the bottom of the carboy each day and they are about all gone from the surface of the wort. Tomorrow I shall bottle, after I get in from work. After cleaning that carboy I will await Sunday when I will rack the latest beer to the secondary.

I should have beer up into the fall should I live so long. We will see about that as well...

American IPA in secondary...

This is the one that I made at TAFTHB... The previous batch has been in the bottle for a week now... and I'm down to about 4 beers in the fridge... Going to have to brew more often.

El Jefe brought some Dortmunders from Great Lakes Brewing company with him from his trip to Cleveland and he gave me a couple. BOY! were they most excellent! I HAVE to get the freezer working again so I can make some more Lagers... and when I do, Dortmunder will be one of the first ones that I make...