Disasters, check

Well, I hit the gravity. I also shorted out 3 digital thermometers via various assininities, and managed to be more worried about the gravity than the wort flowing into the primary and the hose blocked up on the hop bag i was running it through and spewed 1.5 gals onto the garage floor. Dang. 4.5 gals in the fermenter at 1.057.

Note to self: Put 5 gals of darn near boiling water into the cooler the night before.
"": Buy a waterproof thermometer.

Better yet, figure out how much heat loss occurs overnight and preheat the strike water the day before so brew day starts with the dumping of the grain, right after the de-spackling of the teeth.

Supplies, check

It's brewing weekend. I have to say that makes me happy. The idea of keg #2 in the kegerator just makes me plain ol giddy. There is certainly question as to whether keg #1 of WKE Wheat will pull a Michael Jackson on me in the next 3 weeks, but hey, it would delay me dropping another $75 on a faucet, shank and gas splitter. It should be ready to tote along to the finger lakes as well. I win.

Shopping list complete for Pale Ale #3

Box of chalk for cool new blackboard painted freezer door to identify the liquidy goodness within.
11 lbs American 2 row Pale malt
.75lb Malted Wheat
.5lb Munich
.5lb Crystal 20

New Yeast: Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale
I don't know squat about this yeast and don't read much about it, so it should be interesting.

Hops bill has been all over the place for this one. Had some Nugget left over from Uber PA so that was the bittering. I wanted Amarillo again, but needed to mix it with other varieties so it was not so one dimensional. Originally it was Cascade, Glib suggested Centennial which is how I went to Keystone. I got there and Judy says, stick you head in there and smell some bags. That was the start of a good night in college, but a perfect suggestion in my current state. Oh what glorious scent is this? Chinook? I thought old bay for some reason, which seems ridiculous, but anyone who knows me in summer, knows I have a weakness for the sodium laden yellow can. That's a nut tickle from Madam Karma, so into the basket with you.

New MLT will make the maiden voyage tomorrow. I picked up a 70qt Coleman Extreme for $38 or something and converted it over using the 5gal igloo parts.

Getting stoked already.

Oh, I built the latest iteration of the brewing spreadsheet which now includes a standard brewday variable log to make it easier to find things, and hopefully remind me to take all the measurements.

Also put together a strike water calculator and liquor:grist ratio calculator which should both come in quite handy.

Keg legs

I am swooning, weak in the knees, and laughing at memories of nicknames from college girls past all at the same time. There could be no other title for this post.

Last Wednesday Jun 17, 2009 was a banner day in the annals of Imbecile Brewing Co, it's memory shall be celebrated every day, in perpetuity. My lemon WKE wheat had been in primary long enough. My bottle supply was a tad low. My unused refrigerator in the garage was on my nerves and my thrift (aka vacation account paid a week of expenses instead of the general fund) had left a budget surplus in May. My uber pale ale is having some carbonation issues in random bottles. What a bummer to reach for a cold one after a long hard day of interweb surfing and find a slightly syrupy, flat as a pancake, pale ale greeting me. Hmm, how do these things merge into a single vortex of pleasure say you? Read on.

"Mmmm, Draft Beer" says Homer.

Yup, after some research on the topic and yet another visit to Keystone to see Josh, I walked through downtown Bethlehem on my ergo break with a Cornie under one arm, a #5 co2 tank in the other and a box chock full o regulator, hoses, clamps, seals etc squeezed between. A gigantic shit eating grin plastered upon my melon left no question as to how the mood ring would glow.

"Late lunch" he quips to boss man as the door hits him in the ass. Co-workers nod their knowing approval. 7 miles later, refrigerator fires right up after 2 years, got cold and stayed that way. Turn and burn back to Paycheckville, USA.

Oh the joy, oh the pleasure, oh the ease of pumping primary directly into keg, sealing said device, snapping on an air hose and walking away to paint! Ok, you got me, I checked it and rolled the keg around every 15 minutes to hear the regulator say "splurrsh" as it pumped it's 30lbs of goodness into the whoreish and greedy wheat. 24 hrs later, lots of pressure and head, still somewhat flat underneath. Next morning, woohoo! (It was only a small glass boss man). Backed pressure back to #12 and have been enjoying the goodness ever since.

Now for the beer review of WKE Wheat.
Outstanding shaving creamesque head, beer is very very turbid, almost with a touch of grey, but to be expected with 60% wheat. Lemony nose comes through, head has a slightly bitter and familiar flavor with it, and to a lesser extent the finish. It reminds me of the lemon pith, which I will not do again and stick with just the zesting. It is drinkable though with very low alcohol, as was expected with the wke OG. In the words of Hanna Montana who I listened to 50 times this weekend, next time i need to pump up the party a little.

Verdict? Another $34 to the coffers of Keystone along with my grain bill so my Amarillo Pale Ale this weekend can be keg #2 on tap.

Projects:
Rip out crisper drawers and replace with wooden bottom so it will support second keg.
Pick up #20 co2 bottle from Jimbo that had a previous life as a nitrous tank in the parking lot of the Electric Factory. Ah the irony there.
Get a shank and faucet so the door doesn't have to be opened 50 times a week, err I mean occasionally. Me thinketh this one. Shall I buy 1 or 2?

The mantra RDWHAHB just evolved.