Final addition

Mowed the lawn to pick up the leaves and got at least a little bit of grass clippings in there as well. Pile is now officially full. Center is starting to smell earthy and was a little steamy on the frosty day. Turned it up a little, but there is so much it wasn't too simple.

Bubbles

Bubble spacing for the porter:
Wed AM None (blowoff)
Wed PM 4 secs (bubbler)
Thurs AM 3 secs
Thurs PM 3 secs
Fri AM 4 secs
Fri PM 11 secs
Sat AM 28 secs
Sat PM 28 secs
Sun AM 32 secs
Sun PM 52 secs (secondary)
Mon AM 52 secs
Tues AM 1:45

Err, Toasted Hops?

Tonight was the night to brew a Porter. There are numerous reasons to thank the stars I am again single, but 2 boilovers on my own damn stove, now that's just fantastic. What exactly is the substance that will help me remove this carmalization??

Had 2 pots boiling at one point swapping liquid back and forth to leave headspace and cover evaporation. Worked pretty well. Note to self, do not put the lid on next time. Note to self, don't do it a second time either. I have a feeling I may have burnt something in the pot. 2 of the muslin bags came out with a dark spot on them. We will have to see how this turns out.



Finished the wort chiller while water was heating up and it worked like a CHAMP. Was down to 111 degrees at 7 minutes, though it slowed significantly after that getting to 72.

Put a mesh strainer in the top of the bucket and siphoned through it with height for aeration. Worked like a charm, ended up with 2 inches of thick head on the top. Assuming that is good.

Finally cracked open a brown ale to have while I brewed and it was freaking fantastic. I see another batch of that coming next I do believe.

Porter Recipe:
1/2lb Chocolate Malt
1/2lb Black Patent
1/2lb Crystal 60L
Steeped at 154 for 45mins

6lbs Muntons Plain light malt
1oz Bramling Cross whole leaf 7% 60 Mins
1oz Fuggles whole leaf 4% 15 minutes
1/2oz Fuggles 7 mins
1/2oz Fuggles 3 mins
1 Whirlfloc tablet at 15

Wyest 1028 London ale

OG 1.052

Soyanara

Off for some much needed vacation in the mountains. Tues - Sunday is the longest stretch in years. Weather is perfect and trap line is set supposedly. Giddyup. Ordered 25ft of 3/8" copper to make a chiller yesterday for $19.99. $77 at lowes for 50.

Bottling Day

So, I'm retarded. The line I measured on the primary fermenter was 4.25 gallons, not 5. I was wondering why there was so much headspace in the better bottle. Filth-flarn, filth.

Anyhow, bottled today, leaving tues am for the last week of archery and didn't want to wait until the following tuesday, though I probably should have. FG of 1.015. Broke a bottle capping, but other than that, got 22 16oz bottles capped and 15 12oz swingtops. (4.16Gals) If they hold carbonation just as well, I think it may be worth the investment?

Still a bit cloudy, should have gone the full week in primary and 2 weeks in secondary but had to get this batch in the bottle. Excited.

What next? Porter on the brain, but oatmeal stout running a close second.

Final stats:
Alcohol (volume) 5.5%
Alcohol (weight) 4.3%
Apparent attenuation 72.3%
Real attenuation 58.6%
Specific Gravity 1.023

Mmm, floaters

Such clever titles the last few days eh? I purchased 2 cases of 24 empty 16oz returnable bottles yesterday for a grand total of $3. Couldn't see spending $60 on the swingtops. I must say, the process proved a bit disgusting with some mold involved etc. I think all is well now. Soaked in double strength hot 1-step solution for 15 minutes for cleaning and label removal, then used the sink attached jet washer to clean them out (thanks Matt). After the first 9 bottles and the floaters in the sanitizer bucket, they got an extended hot jet wash before and after the soak.

Stegmeier bottles were fairly beat up and the glue was really thick like the barrel paste from elementary school. The Straub bottles had a much better box, nearly new bottles and the labels came off like a breeze. The 1 box of Straub they had there was full to the top with spider webs and leaves. Glad we looked before I picked that one.

Ick

For the first time, I in fact voted for a republican for president yesterday. Kind of a bummer. I think this guy is dangerous, a verified racist and fiscally irresponsible. He is now the commander in chief elect so I wish us all the best. So many chose to focus on the color of his skin or the fact that his party was different than Bush. I understand the displeasure with Bush, god knows I have it myself, but this dude is bad news. Does this mean it is acceptable now for a klansman to run for president? I certainly hope not, but it is quite a precedent. Not since LBJ's second term have we knowing elected an open racist. This is a huge step backwards for both America and the democratic party.