Oh yeah and everybody who's reading this didn't qualify for the "rapture". I guess I'll be seeing you around until the end of October. If I didn't have to work, I would've brewed some sort of Apocalypse Brew. Now I have to start planning for that in August.
That Apocalypse Brew from AHS looked interesting. Memorial day BBQ went well, until the beer got the better of them. 1 family member (at least) swore off my beer. Hop brown ale ~6%. Another one does not think I know how much alc. is in it. Funny stuff. I think I will brew lower %, because I prefer to drink more beer anyway. I have found pouring your own tap is still cool, and encourages copious amounts to be drinking. There's no bottle caps to count, or beer to run out. I am considering building a Gatorade Kegarator with a 3 gallon keg (they cost $120), just to go camping in lake george this summer. Oh, and get my family member who swore e off drunk.
Brought some of my homebrews to my cousin's Memorial Day party. Note to self: They are stronger than regular beers. You can't quaff them the way you'd normally at a party on a hot day. You'll get too drunk too fast...
My northern brown ale from ahs came with dead yeast. I made a starter 30 hrs ago, that has done nothing. I thought this to be the case, anyway. Luckily, I am racking a Summer I. ale, and the summer rye. Both have suitable yeasts to repitch on (1st time). I bought the "carbonator," and when I rack a beer I can take a sample in a soda bottle to carbonate/taste that day--pretty cool. Yeah, I am dropping the alc % down a bit. I like to drink all day. Above 5.5% I have to drink water. The one above was 6.1. I had 2 pints last night, and 3rd would of been bad. I have cut down my consumption--you have to have will power with a kegerator.
My new Project: Washing Yeast
1. Boil 4-5 cups of water for 20 min. to rid it of Oxygen (yeasts will sleep better)
2. Rinse now cooled water on the yeast cake (swirling)
3. Let settle (~10 mins)
4. Pour into a Pint glass, careful to not include the yeast cake. Cap with Saran wrap.
5. Let settle (~10 mins)
6. Pour in Gerber Jars
Good thread about the above on homebrewtalk.com but I think this is the way to go. 1 guy said after a year in the fridge/freezer he got they starter going after 48 hours.
Pro's:
$8 per batch
You don't have to worry about a heat wave destroying your $8 yeast
Yeast on hand will be helpful and interesting to "study." If I did have a yeast cake to pitch on I could be screwed/driving to LHBS, or I could open up another kit to steal the yeast
Cons:
Time
Explaining my yeast collection to wife
More crap in the house to keep track of.
Verdict: Keep some for a rainy day.
FYI: Just bought a Bayou 185btu burner. It's in the mail, and I am brewing today--bummer. Oh yeah, I am out of propane as well. I think the new burner may get me down to a Mini Mash brewing session to 3h.30mins (from 4h with a turkey fryer 55k btu.) IDK what you cook with but a stove top is 11k btu, so you may want to spend $58 on amazon for a burner. I forget what one I bought but did a lot of research and thinks it's the best one. That one on the AHS website goes up to 215k BTU.
Walt, I've been doing all my brewing on an electric stove. My brew time averages 3 1/2 - 4 hours, set-up to clean up. I bought a turkey fryer last year and have yet to try it out. I've got two tanks with a small amount of propane in each. It's probably waiting until I've got a barbeque with company to run out.
Yeah, I've decided after these AHS kits go, no more 1% alc. boost. That schist can be a killer.
I did a 2 qt. starter for my batch of Skeeter Pee. First time for the starter and SP. Got an AHS Summer Irish ale and Anniversary IPA brewing as well. My bottling days are at the end of the month, 3 days apart. I hope I have enough empties for bottling. I'll just have to do my part to make sure I do.
My English Yeast came alive: 70 hours in a weak starter. I pitched the N.Brown on the Summer I. Ale (Not so summer) I used the 7lb extract in that and not the 5lb. So my summer rye is ~4% and a Light beer.
Yeast Harvesting Great Idea: I will not be much yeast. I harvested in 4 gerber jars a clean dynstar yeast. Now I will have 4 Gerber of the English, and plan on using 4 of the Wyeast Irish labs. If you look them up they are very generic and applicable to most types of ales. That's a lot in yeast savings.
Earth science/physical science were always my favorite back in HS. Actually science in general was my favorite.
I have a bit of a problem with my skeeter pee. They say that you shouldn't rely on airlock activity to determine when fermentation is done (or has even begun, for that matter). SP starts out at about 1.07 and finishes at about .995. I took my reading two days ago and realized that my hydrometer only starts at 1.000. There was a little nub of hydrometer sticking up out of the SP. If my SG drops any further, I'll have to fish it out. Airlock activity has slowed down by about 75%. I'm cleaning my last fermenter (sp?) and some bottles, so I guess early on Father's day, I'll rack it to that.
Speaking of, I have to decide what I want to BBQ up. I already got some filet mignon (I picked it up for $4.85/Lb.) and have to decide if I want some prawns or go for lobster. My wife would rather we go out to eat somewhere, but for the money we'd spend, I can make a much better meal at home and not have to deal with the crowds.
went out to "brunch" at 1pm, left at 3pm before dessert. Then got the bbq going--much better. What exactly is skeeter pee. Sounds like it might get a skeeter drunknly. I kicked the hop brown, and need to keg the summer rye. I am thinking about buying some of those session beers, so I can keep pulling my own pint. Maybe 3.9% will drive me nuts, but I may like it better than 6.1% due to the drinkability aspect.
For the Record:
Keg 1: kicked
Keg 2: AHS Belgium Rose ale
Primary: N. brown ale (for lake george in bottles)
Secondary: Summer Rye light
Secondary: Summer I. Red
Kits: Summer IPA and I. Red
Yeah, brewing is becoming more than a hobby. So many beers to brew.....
Walt, Skeeter Pee is sort of a lemon wine Skeeterpee -
I'd read about it on another website and decided to give it a try. At my last hydrometer reading, it was looking to come in at 11% ABV. I got a red wine "must," the beer equivalent of trub, from a friend who makes wine. It's now got a light purple color to it. I can bottle it around the fourth of July. I'm scheduled to be working mids that week, so maybe I'll bottle it when I get home before I drop off to bed. If you're a teacher, you should be getting ready to start your "vacation" soon, right? Any plans? My wife works P/T in Miller Place SD and four of my neighbors are teachers...
nly. I kicked the hop brown, and need to keg the summer rye. I am thinking about buying some of those session beers, so I can keep pulling my own pint. Maybe 3.9% will drive me nuts, but I may like it better than 6.1% due to the drinkability aspect.
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