ESB Bottleing

Little brother J came down from Rochester last night and we had a great time with some BBQ and broke open the first Malbec. BBQ was outstanding, and the Malbec hit the spot, though I must admit it is lacking a little something, it is a really easy drinking wine. I will enjoy the next dozen, but I think another couple months of aging is in order.

ESB cleared significanly, so it was time to bottle. FG was 1.010. Drinking one now flat and warm and it's pretty good. No hop aroma to speak of, I think it may be a dry hop candidate if I do it again.
ABV 5.5, abw 4.3 Apparent attenuation 78.1%, real attenuation 63.4%, calories 177/12oz.

Surgery is on wed am. This should be ready by the time I am off anti-biotics.

Secondary

Moved the fine smelling ale to a clear better bottle for secondary fermenting. This is my first time with this step so it will be interesting to watch how it clears. There was about 3/8" of trub on the bottom of the bucket and quite a caking on the lid and inside from all that fermenting. It smells absolutely fantastic. Taste was much better than expected, great even especially given the yeasty, flat and warm state of things. I am getting excited.

SG was 1.016. Still a little higher than I would expect but the next week or two should see that go down right? Perhaps should have waited a few more days, but wine needs to be racked tues at Bob's house and I didn't want to let this go until wed.

This project kicked a desperately needed side project of basement cleaning and organizing off and it is amazing how much nicer thing are already.

After only 5 hours in the secondary, some clearing occurred at the top with a layer of sediment forming at the bottom. Color went from a reddish to almost black.

Added a fair bit of leaves to Pyle, along with trub mixed in with approx 4 gals of water. It is supposed to rain tonight, I can't believe after all the rain we had over the last couple weeks how dry it is in the center. Smells pretty earthy, but no temp raised that I can see. I am not going sit back there with a hose to get it started..

Clouseau: Were you expecting one? A beaum?

Finished cleaning up around 11-ish last night and caught some shuteye. Woke up at 6 and had to check on things. Recipe said fermentation should start around 24hrs or so after pitching so I was completely unprepared for what awaited me in the brewery.

The fermenter was err..engorged and had become a beer bomb. It was foaming and making high pressure sounds as foam escaped around the rim of the lid and bucket. It looked a bit like an egg. Carefully removed the lid of the air lock which shot the airlock and a cup of foam several feet into a pile of junk that desperately needs to be cleaned. Vigorous fermentation achieved! I used a 3/8" drillbit and bored out the little pinholes in the airlock cap to let the pressure and foam come out while I was at work. It was a steady eruption. Any liquid I put in the airlock got blown right back out. Slightly worried about contamination, but at that steady pressure and foaming, little chance of something getting into the hole. I have succeeded in developing yet another hobby resulting in massive CO2 generation.

Went to Keystone as soon as they opened and got some advice and a length of hose to use as a blowoff and ran home at lunch to implement. Bubbles coming vigorously about every second through blowoff. Who needs solar? We should turn turbines with beer! Crisis averted. My house emits the glorious aroma of hops. I am digging this.

Thought for the day: What's the terrapass offset for explosive fermentation of an American Brown Ale? I wonder if they sell them for my 5 bean chili as well now that I think about it.

Smells like a brewery

October 28 2008 found the home brewery taken out of mothballs with a brown ale. This was the first in probably 15 years and the process wasn't bad at all. I had recently done 2 batches of wine with Bob and Kathy that need to be posted but not any beer in a while.

I got the recipe from Mother Earth News. Followed all directions and OG was 1.050, though temp was around 90 when I took it. Had an odd response from the digital thermometer after leaving the probe in the 1 step sanitizer solution for about a half hour. It was reading temps about 10 degrees off after being spot on all night. Pretty uneventful all in all. No boilovers, and I really liked the muslin boiling bags. Cooled the wort out on the front porch and just got too tired around 10:30 to wait any more so pitched the yeast and sealed it up. Temp read 101 degrees in the wort and 80 for an air temp which was really 70. Corrected OG should be 1.054 according to Brew Calcs. Recipe below, except I only used 1 packet of yeast per Keystone Homebrew Supply suggestion and the centennial hops were pellet form , not whole leaf.

3 ounces 60L (Lovibond) crystal malt
2 ounces chocolate malt
2 ounces biscuit malt
1 ounce 550L black malt
6 pounds Muntons plain light dry malt extract (DME)
1 ounce whole leaf ‘Cascade’ hops
1 ounce whole leaf ‘East Centennial’ hops
2 packets Windsor Ale yeast (or other dried ale yeast)