Thursday, September 22, 2005

Batch 24, Cascade

Batch #24, Sep 22, 2005

Malt extract:
14 lbs pils extract

Malted grain:
2 lb crystal 20L


Hops:
1 oz Perle60 min
1 oz Nugget30 min
1 oz Nugget15 min
2 oz Cascade10 min
1 oz Mt. Hood10 min


Yeast:
Wyeast 1056

OG: 1.045
FG: 1.008


3 tsp Irish moss at 10 min.

Kegged:

Comments: A double batch, used the new burner and converted keg boil pot. I'm not dry hopping this time, just to see what the difference is by adding the hops in the boil rather than later on. I'm sure the beer will be good, even if it isn't quite as hoppy!

I've been drinking this one for a while now, the first keg is close to gone. I like the dry hopping better. This one is hoppy, but the flavor is not as "fresh" as when dry hopped. Part of the reason for not dry hopping was that I'm using a keg as a fermenter. The top is not cut out, I just pulled out the tap connector. I wasn't sure how to put the hops in, and figured it would be difficult to take them out. Next time, I'll do primary fermenation in the keg, then secondary in 2 buckets, then I can dry hop in the buckets.

29 Oct 2005: I entered a few bottle of this batch into a brewing competition at Larry's. I don't think this is my best batch, but it's all I had on hand. It will be good to get some non-biased feedback, anyway. Too bad the last batch of Amber was gone, that was most excellent! The judging is on Nov 6, 2005.

20 Nov 2005: The judging results are in! I didn't win, but didn't do too bad, either. This beer was judged "very good", and this wasn't my best batch by a long ways. I put together a counter-pressure bottle filler to fill the bottles for this competition, since I have it, I'll be filling a few bottles from future batches just in case another competition comes up.

10 Dec 2005: The second keg is near empty. This one has just gotten better and better as it has aged. The clarity is better too.

Sunday, September 4, 2005

Batch 23, Amber Ale

Batch #23, Sep 4, 2005

Malt extract:
6 1/2 pounds pils extract (bulk)

Malted grain:
1/2 pound crystal malt 40L
1/2 pount crystal malt 60L


Hops:


1 oz Cascade60 min
1 oz Mt. Hood15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss15 min


Yeast:
Wyeast 1056, American ale yeast, extracted from batch #21.

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.008

Kegged: 17 Sep 2005


Comments:

10 Dec 2005, I'm updating comments, and see that I never actually completed this one -- I filled in the FG and kegged date, this beer is long gone and I'm missing it. It was excellent! It is based off of a recipe for Alaskan Amber, which has been one of my favorites for some time.