Saturday, October 16, 2004

Batch 4, The Pilsner, one more time

Batch #4, October 16, 2004, a repeat of batch #3, slightly less hops

Malt extract:
6 3/4 pounds Pilsner extract (bulk)

Hops:
2 oz Spalt, fresh
1 oz Saaz, pellets

Yeast:
Wyeast 1007, German Ale yeast

Cooking instructions:
The minute timer starts when the water comes to a boil.
Bring water to boil
0:00 Add malt extract
0:10 Add Spalt hops
0:50 Add Saaz hops and 1 tsp Irish moss
1:00 Remove from heat

OG: 1.042
FG: 1.008

Bottled November 4, 2004, with 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming.

This batch is flat after 2 weeks in the bottle, which concerns me. I skipped the cheesecloth strainer this time (maybe I strained out the yeast?) and rinsed out the bottles better. I've been putting the bottles in the dishwasher with some TSP, which will kill just about everything, I'm wondering if the rinse cycle isn't enough and that TSP was remaining in the bottles and killing the yeast. This time, I took all the bottles out of the dishwasher/TSP and rinsed them with the bottle washer. The flat beer tastes okay, but the lack of bubbles just isn't right.

... I've given up on this batch. I got a keg set, so uncapped all the bottles, poured them into a keg, and attempted to force carbonate. Nothing helped this batch, it wasn't flat, but I think all the handling made the taste go bad. Down the drain it goes... :(