Sealed in steel

The St. Patrick's Day Stout is primed and kegged. It is a nice, light drink, with a final gravity of 1.010 or 2.5 ºP. I expect the abv to be about 4%. That should make it eminently quaffable. I enjoy a full-flavored beer that is low in alcohol because I get to drink a lot more of it in one sitting!

a.d. IX Kal. Mar.

Racking the stout

Racking means moving the beer. In this case, fermentation is over and I want to get the stout off the yeast sludge (trub) at the bottom of the carboy. Yeast starts to feed on itself (autolysis) after it is done feeding on the wort, so it helps the flavor to get the new beer into a fresh vessel. I happen to have a lovely Better Bottle carboy (with valve) for this very purpose. Today I moved the stout from the primary fermenter. It will be ready for the keg this weekend.

a.d. XV Kal. Mar.

Stupor Bowl Stout

I made beer today, and managed to catch a little of the 2nd half of the Stupid Bowl. I have to admit that I was rooting for New Orleans. I'm proud of the fact that I watched NOT ONE SINGLE FOOKIN' COMMERCIAL. A television event that celebrates advertising is not one I can get excited about. Football is pretty dull stuff--I can handle about two games or so per year. It was a relatively warm and sunny day here in the State of Jefferson. I put together a very simple dry stout for St. Patrick's Day. I used only 9 lbs. of Pilsner malt and 1 lb. of specialty malts (1/2 black malt, 1/4 Carafa 2--German chocolate, 1/4 roasted barley). I infused the grist with 175 ºF liquor (10 quarts) and the mash settled in at 152 ºF. I have some high-alpha (14-15 %) whole Belgian Admiral hops, and it only takes a half ounce to to get 30 IBU with a 60 minute boil. The yield was just short of 5 gallons with an OG of 1.040 (10 ºPlato). I pitched a package of dry Safale US-05 right on top. It was an easy brew day and everything went smoothly. I'll probably rack the beer to another carboy later this week as the Safale strains are pretty fast-acting. Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in only SEVEN DAYS!!

a.d. VII Id. Feb.

Draft handle update

I'm currently pouring two fine and lovely brews, and we sampled them both this evening. Mark's Pale Ale (MPA) has settled down nicely after some early troubles. It is a hop-flavored, honey-colored beer with a crisp finish that goes down much too easily. The Fifty-fest has a more complex profile, with some subtle spicy-floral notes and a rich malt flavor. It is a potent (6% abv) dark beer but, again, goes down too quickly. This one has a dark amber color that is evident when a pint is held up to a strong light source. At first glance, it looks like a porter or stout but lacks the black color and opacity of those brews. It is a deep brown overall, a little darker than I wanted, but not far from the red I was shooting for. The MPA has amber tones highlighting the golden color, and it was not quite as red as I was shooting for. Ah, the elusive red ale--I shall nail one perfectly very soon, I think. Otherwise, I've got two delicious beers on tap for the holidays. Who can complain about that?


a.d. III Kal. Ian.

Forever Fifty

I've been having such a good time turning 50 I think I'm going to stay 50. No more counting. Just say "fifty" when anyone asks about my age from now on. Whaddya think? Speaking of 50, I tapped into the Fifty-fest today. Rick and Nancy were here for the first pints of this dark, lager-like ale with the curiously spicy flavor and smooth, dry finish. So far, so good. I expect this brew will open up a bit with time, and I know I'll get lots of chances over the holidays to dive in and give it a thorough evaluation. It's Christmas Eve eve, and the fridge is stocked with some seriously tasty homebrew. What could be bad?


a.d. IX Kal. Ian.