August 25, 2006

I stopped at Shoreline last night and picked up a few nice-to-haves.  First, they’ve never carried it before (that I’ve seen), but they had a few Chouffe selections on-hand.  I picked up the “Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel”, sort of a tripel married to an IPA that sounds intriguing.  Also picked up a Fantôme Saison D’Erezée - Hiver (their “winter” offering from their seasonal line… this must be close to a year old at least!) and a Reissdorf Kölsch.  Also drank the Fuller’s London Porter last night, which was exemplary.  Now I’ve never really reviewed a beer, so don’t expect me to wax prosaic along the lines of “pours a dense black liquid beneath a fluffy brown cloud” cause I didn’t take notes or anything, just drank it and enjoyed it.  A very nice porter, indeed.

August 22, 2006

Finally got around to bottling the Rye IPA the other night (Aug 20), and boy is that sucker bitter!  I’m hoping it’ll mellow out a bit over the next couple weeks.  I was lower on bottles than I thought, so I had to mix it up pretty much.  Used 8 22oz bombers, 14 of my older, heavier, nicer 12oz bottles, and the rest the newer, lighter, cheaper, not as nice 12ozers.  Oh, and it did drop a couple more points in the three week secondary, so finished at 1.020.  Target was 1.018, so it’s close but no cigar.  From a start of 1.074, that gives… 73% attenuation.

July 30, 2006

Racked the Rye IPA to secondary last night, on top of 1oz Columbus dry hops.  As with my previous IPA, I probably should have taken a gravity reading BEFORE the transfer.  From a start of 1.074, it’s currently at 1.022, where my target was 1.018.  As I’ve said before, I rarely have luck dropping any further in secondary, but we’ll see.

July 28, 2006

I may have cracked into my Weissbiers a bit early.  They have a rather tart flavor profile to them that I wasn’t intending.  It may be that they just need a bit longer conditioning time, and that I’m just too damn impatient.  It hasn’t even been two weeks since I bottled them.

The Altbier, on the other hand, is extremely tasty.  Nice and smooth with a significant maltiness and little to no hop aroma or bitterness.

July 27, 2006

I’ve been thinking of joining a homebrewing club here on Long Island, but I can’t seem to find good information on them.  I know there’s one that meets at the Blackforest Brewhaus, which isn’t too far from me, but my wife’s schedule prohibits my evening freedom (she does a lot of volunteer work).  I’ve also been thinking about starting my own club of sorts, either of brewers or people I think would enjoy it, or just as a beer appreciation thing.  I don’t have a lot of guy friends that I get together with often at all, and I think maybe I’d like to change that.

July 24, 2006

A bit of catch up. I bottled the Weissbier on July 16, using the Speise and the yeast dregs from the Blackforest Hefeweizen (decanting off the beer first). I’ve tried a couple bottles since then (one only three or four days later!), and it’s nicely carbonated (allaying my fears that the Blackforest dregs were nothing but trub or dead yeasties) and quite tasty. Very cloudy, though, if you pour the whole bottle, but then, that’s to style.

July 13, 2006

Took a gravity reading on the Weissbier.  It’s at 1.014 (with a target of 1.012, or maybe a bit lower), so I’ll give it another day or two to drop a couple-few points.  I also removed the blow-off tube and affixed an airlock.  Using the carboy brush to clean up the tube, I REALLY got it stuck, and it took me a good 20 minutes and a possible hernia to get it back out!!

July 8, 2006

Brewed up the Weissbier today.  Things went pretty well, though I think I came in a bit low on a couple of the step temperatures.  Also, the first runnings were very cloudy, but seemed to be grain-free.  The sparge was pretty sticky on the second runnings.  Note to self: use rice hulls next time (or when there is significant wheat in the grain bill… maybe rye too).  Hit the OG pretty much dead-on (measured 1.052 at about 90 degrees, which is 1.056 once temperature-corrected, and that was the target).  Fermentation started within a couple hours, and the blow-off tube was filled with gunk by the next morning.  Oh, and the yeast starter smelled just like the hefe from Blackforest.  Set aside two quarts of wort for the Speise.

July 7, 2006

Haven’t told SWMBO yet, but I plan on brewing tomorrow when I return from the airport.  Wish me luck.  I’m going to straighten the kitchen, bring up equipment and crush grains tonight.  Perhaps she’ll get the hint then.

Also popped an Alt in the fridge this morning, and I’ll give it a taste tonight.  It’s only been a week, so it’s likely not fully carbed yet, but I just can’t control myslelf!!

July 5, 2006

Bottled the Alt last Friday (6/30).  Final gravity was 1.014.  That puts it right around 6% ABV.

Took the yeast pack for the Weizen out of the fridge last night and smacked it.  I’ll brew up a bit of starter wort tonight to get it going.  Hoping to brew this Saturday or Sunday, maybe making it a dual-brew day with the Rye IPA.

Also picked up a couple others over the weekend - Allagash Tripel, Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine.  Haven’t had the Tripel yet (though I may have had it before), but I’ve tried the others and they are very good.