Well it has been a slow news week, the President is confirmed to have conspired to out a CIA agent and orchestrate the cover-up - Ho Hum.
My US Rep. Jim Gerlach has (though not quite for the same reasons) has voted twice as I have urged him to: Vote for the impeachment of Dick Cheney and qagainst funding of the Iraq occupation. Wierd.... so let's pull the handle load us a nuce glass of home brew and see what's brewing this week..Join me just beneath the foam...
When I last blogged I was just beginning..the Celebration Ale that was to be completed before Thanksgiving finished right on schedule. Sine there were no bottles, the cornelius keg had to be prepared. This involved disassembling of the keg using a ratchet and small screw driver. Next I filled the keg with hot weater and dumped the correct amount of sanitizer and all the parts after removing the o rings.
The fermentor has stopped bubbling several days ago so I was confident I was ready. Popping the lid and taking a wiff I thought - ut oh. What funky poison have I created. Additionally it looked dark and cloudy and had a few small bubbles on the top. Oh well I will just follow the plan of kegging it up and see what happens.
Next I dumped the sanitizing solutuin into a 5 gallon bucket and my keg parts to a smaller container. I left the keg to air dry as the sanitizer is the no rinse type. I was supplied a bunch of new o rings by the home brew store (Keystone Home Brew) so I set out to reassemble the keg using the new o rings. Green o ring, grey fastener = Gas..Blue Black = Beer.
Ok now I am ready. I oriented the fermentor and the Keg so the siphon could happen easily. I gave it a pump and began filling the keg being careful not to stir the beer or pick up sediment. After about 10 minutes I had 1/2 inch of beer left in the fermentor. I had to taste it. (should have tasted the top) Much to my surprise it wasted pleasent. Not quite "Beer" yet. It has no bubbles or head and was more like a wine thingy.
I sealed up the keg and hooked up to co2 and bled off the air. Now for conditioning (carbonation) I hooked that bad boy up set the psi to 12 and let it sit. The next day...a few bubbles...A day more...some primortial head and then by day 5 Thanksgiving eve it was a full blown head! The head had staying power. And even though it was 10 AM I had the first tast of my own home brewed beer. It was absolutely delicious!
I followed the same procedure for an IPA and a Stout. Each came out as advertised! I can't believe it. What's more I am now able to detect flavors and nuances in beer that I never perceived before!
So...I have already started a Russian Imperial Stout (heavy gravity - hehe) and am aging a California Lager until a week before Christmas! The Russian stout should age 6-8 weeks so it should be ready for ski weekend at the end of January.
So tell me your tales of brewing good or bad. It is amazing that this is even possible! I am hooked!! YUM!!!!!