10 Beers in 6 months!

Just realized after my last post that I hit double digits for brews! Thats gotta be a milestone worth noting. First brew was May 1st, number 10 was October 30th, 6 months 10 brews of about 5 gallons each, thats 50 gallons. Hmmmmm one would think to make things come out even it should have been 60 gallons, 10 gallons a month sounds right.

Must step up production and make that goal!

Three more beers and a stuck sparge!

Made an American Brown with flavor/aroma hops from a friends yard, shes not sure what kind they are but the beer is good! Kegged it on Oct 21st.

Father in law was up from GA. and wanted to brew so we made JB's Special Wheat on Oct 5th, bottled it on Oct 30th. Hope to drink it with him when we meet in TN. later this month.

Then disaster stuck! On Oct 30th I tried an all grain American lager. Used 2 lbs. of flaked corn in the mash and could not get it to drain! Took FOR! EV! ER! Sparged as well as I could but it ended up quite light. Had an OG of 1.040, shooting for a 1.050, oh well, it should still taste better than what you can buy in a can right? I'll let you know in a few months.

Overdue Update.

Have not updated the blog in quite some time, here is a quick catch-up.

My Helles Bock had some issues with carbonation. Tried to force carbonate in a keg, then bottle. (note to self, if you are entering bottled beer in a competition, bottle carbonate!) I overcabed then when bottled it actually came out undercarbed. All in all, I liked the beer and for my first stab at a lager I took 5th place in the "Border Worts II" Mia bock-Helles bock competition. (6 beers entered but hey, not last!)

Kegged "Red Ass Ale II" Killed the keg earlier this week. (yes I had some help) Never compared it to the original, didn't think I could go thru it so fast. Good beer though, everyone liked it.

Kegged "Proud to be an American Pale Ale" for the festival of flavors taste testing a couple of weeks ago. Went over well, wasn't as hoppy as some like but I liked it. Not a lot of testers so I came home with most of the keg. Guess I'll have to drink the rest. :-)

Brewed "My Brown Eyed Honey II" honey oat brown ale on Aug, 19th. Secondary on Sep. 8th and bottled on Sep. 20th. Should be ready to taste when my inlaws come for a visit next week.

Plan on brewing something tomorrow or Sunday, not sure what but the FedEx guy just delivered my new Barley Crusher so I feel obligated to try it out. Maybe another try for a blonde ale or American brown. Hmmmmm.....

Hippo Helles Bock is in the Keg!

Transfered the Helles Bock to the keg. Sample tasted great! Nice and smooth and clean, hope to transfer some to a few bottles for entering in the Border Worts II competition. Must have the bottles turned in by the 21st. Hope I can get the carbonation right, if it's wrong I may have to drink the whole 5 gallons myself.....

American Pale Ale

Brewed an American Pale Ale on Sunday. Plan on kegging it for the brew clubs sample day in Sept.

So at the moment I have a Helles Bock lagering in the fridge, a Red Ale in the secondary, an American Pale Ale in the primary and a Blonde Ale bottle conditioning. I HAVE NOTHING DRINKABLE!!!! What's up with that? Must do better scheduling! Oh well, I'm on call this week anyway, the Blonde should be ready next week. Tried it last week but it had little to no carbonation.

Red Ass Ale II to the secondary.

About 5 days over due but it's finally in the secondary. Could have just bottled it I suppose but I want it to clairify some, plus there seemed to be about a half gallon of trub. I'll give it a week or so and keg it. It'll be my first keg.

Aslo put the Blonde in refrigeration, may try one tonight.....

Bottle Bomb?

OK, I've read about bottle bombs on brew boards and heard people talk about them but it's always been while the bottles were sitting and bottle carbonating (too much sugar seems to be the main cause.) Hadn't had this problem myself, but I took out a bottle of the blonde ale that is currently bottle conditioning. The last bottle I filled was only half full, I figured that would be a good one to check the carbonating progress. Didn't refrigerate, just took out a frosted mug to put it in. Applied the bottle opener and the thing started to gush! Pushed the cap down with my thumb and ran for the sink. Lifted my thumb and the thing went off like a shook up champagne bottle, almost lost an eye! Anyway, cleaned up my mess and tried the beer, not bad, tasted kind of flat for all the carbonation.

Not sure if it was the half bottle, not refrigerating or something else, I'll wait till the weekend and try another, open it OUTSIDE this time....