Fat Tire: bottled!

Very excited about this one.  Phat Tyre from Northern Brewer.

Also very excited about a couple of brown ale kits I ordered from Midwest Supplies... Should be brewing them soon...

Kolsch bottled and Phat Tyre racked!

Need to order a new one... I'm thinking a Nut Brown.

Blonde: first impressions

Clarity is 7.5/10, carbonation is same.  Taste is a bit on the bitter side so far, hopefully will smooth out as time goes on... Overall way better than the IPA so far!

Kolsch racked to 2nd fermenter...

Phat Tyre: garage brewed!

Can't wait for this one!

First Outdoor Brew: Kolsch

Picked up this sweet turkey fryer kit at cabelas the other day, and used the burner to brew on today.  Worked pretty slick.

Blonde: bottled

And... Labelled this time!

IPA: mixed feelings.

Well the IPA turned out with mixed results.  Some bottles flat, but most turned out good.  Didn't fully mature until 2-3 months.

In other news, I just brewed the Blonde finally yesterday, took 3.5 hrs total.

IPA bottled

Yep, true.  Took 2 hours today in total, including sterilizing bottles and clean up.  Not too bad.  

Also, my Hefeweizen has gotten markedly better after it aged a few more weeks after the last post, both in taste carbonation balance and alcohol.  Lesson learned.  

Now, it's time to start thinking about the next brew to do...

New brew: Mindbender IPA

Just brewed my second batch! Started at 11am, finished at 2:30pm cleaned and all.

California ale yeast (liquid) this time. Also used wort chiller. Took 40 mins without stirring. Lesson: STIR!

Specific gravity looks to be 5%.

Also used strainer this time, no tshirt! We will see how it turns out this time.

In other news, my Hefe turned out pretty good, though I wish it had deeper flavor and more alcohol. The same seems to be true of Sean's beers so far... We still have a few things to learn methinks.

Oh, 1 more thing. I am quite crafty, for those who don't know. I couldn't find my muslin bag for grain steeping. But I did find a zippered bag of some type of plastic, tested it in a boil, then confirmed that I have found myself a new, awesome, reusable grain bag!

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to this IPA!

Hefe: bottled!

With help from my good buddy Sean, we have now bottled my Hefe yesterday. Obi Wan has taught me the ways of the force.

So, it was fermenting 3 weeks to the day we bottled it. It stopped bubbling sometime between the 2 and. 3 week mark. OG yesterday was 1.012. Oh, and correction on the starting OG: it was 1.04 not 1.4. Doh! I bought flip top bottles and 22oz bottles for this first batch. I mean, how often do you drink just 1 12 oz beer?

Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoy the hobby so far, I'm quite excited to brew my next one: an IPA!

Cheers,
R

1: Wize Guy Hefeweizen

First brew. Began at 11:30am. Finished steeping grains and brewing wort at 1:30. Using ice from freezer in sink, finally finished cooling to 80 at 3:25, changing water several times. Really need to get a cooling coil. Now on to transfer to fermenter and be done. Wow that took from 3:25 until 4:00 to siphon and filter through my tshirt cloths. Had to rinse them off and switch about 4 times. Need to get a good filter!

Finally, all done cleaning by 4:30. Specific gravity reading of 1.4.

Whew. Long process. Need a couple of upgrades to make this more efficient. Fun though!

Let the games begin!

Henceforth, I declare this to be my journal of brewing experiences.  Many reasons, many of which will likely evolve over time. 

Welcome!  I hope this will last for more than 2 posts!

Cheers,
R