Miss American Update

So the Miss American Pale has been bottled now for about three weeks. I'm a little unsure about this one. Definitely has the hop characteristics of a Sierra Nevada, though may be just a little too dry and/or astringent and lacking a bit of malt character. Perhaps this will smooth out with a little more age and be perfect by around July 4.

And there is a terrible chill haze, which I am attributing to my use of the dried seaweed instead of the Irish Moss. Theoretically it should work, but I think it didn't pull out the proteins that cause the chill haze. When warm, the beer is incredibly clear. So Back to Irish Moss for the next batch.

Speaking of the next batch! I started a yeast starter yesterday of Whitelabs Irish Ale yeast. Today the starter is very active and I should be brewing tomorrow. This batch will be my own recipe, which I will post later. It should be a darker version of an Irish red.

The Joy of Fermentation

Here is a short video of the primary fermentation of my Miss American Pale. Video was one day after pitching at 68F degrees. It stayed constant at this rate for about 4-5 days before transferring to secondary....

Brewing Software

So I downloaded some software for brewing a while ago from beersmith.com. I've just started playing with it a bit more and having some fun. The software is pretty good for a beginner like me, and I expect it will be even more valuable as I get more advanced and start doing all-grain brews. It has a lot of sample recipes, as well as conversions and calculators for all aspects of the brewing process. What I really like is that you can choose/add different ingredients for your own recipes and it will show you the estimated color and alcohol content of your beer. Note: I am NOT endorsing this product, nor do I get paid anything for the link or anything like that. Just thought I would mention it as a tip for anyone interested.

Miss American Pale

For my birthday my sister gave me the ingredients and recipe for me to do a new batch. It's called Miss American Pale, and should be similar to a Sierra Nevada. Ingredients and recipe came from Olympic Brewing at http://www.olybrew.com

Here are the recipe ingredients:

7 lbs Light Malt Extract

1 lb Crystal 20 L Malt

1 lb Munich Malt

1 1/2 oz Columbus Hops 25 HBUs(Boiling)

1/2 oz Columbus Hops(flavor: 30 min)

2 oz Cascade Hops(flavor: 2 min)

Wyeast American Ale


So for this third brew I have tried a few things different. First I used tap water filtered through my refridgerator filter and then boiled rather than the Glacier Peak bottled water that I used for the previous two batches. Second, I'm using Roasted Nori Seaweed rather than Irish Moss to clarify during the end of the boil. And third, I'm dry hopping for the first time. I added the 2oz. Columbus Hops to the secondary fermantation to get the extra hoppy aroma of a Sierra Nevada style pale. We'll see how it works!

Some specifics on the brew so far:
- OG was 1.057 prior to pitching the yeast
- Primary fermentation lasted 7 days and was very vigorous
- Transferred to secondary fermentation after 7 days at which time gravity reading was 1.015

I'll be bottling this weekend which will put the secondary fermentation at about 17 days.

An Inspirational Moment.....

Things to do with beer...

This is an interesting article I found about things you can do with beer - other than drink it.

32 Things to do with Beer

The Porter is on the way!!

Yesterday I sent out a 220z Porter to friends and family. (You know who you are!!) You should get it hopefully on 3/5 or 3/6 depending on where you live. I hope it makes the trip without bursting or leaking! I sent them ground so hopefully that should be ok.

So let me know what you think of my second effort at homebrew. Either leave me a comment here on this post, send me an email, or vote on the right hand side of this page.

Cheers!!!

Samples & Sam Adams Contest

OK, sorry to those of you who I said I would have some samples of my new Porter out to last week. I have slacked off and didn't send them out yet. They are coming I swear.

In other news, Samuel Adams is holding their 2007 LongShot American Homebrew contest and I am going to submit one or two entries. If mine gets chosen as a winner, they will brew and distribute it with other winners in different categories.

http://www.samueladams.com/promotions.aspx

The Land of Smithwick's, Guinness, & Jameson!!!

So the wheels have been set in motion for Erika and I to travel with some old friends to Dublin!! The band James is reuniting after 6 years in hiatus and are playing their opening night in Dublin on my birthday. Thank God and my employer for airline miles - I'll likely be using all my accumulated miles to make the trip.

You know what a trip to Ireland means - great beer. We visited the Guinness Brewery and Jameson Whiskey last time we were in Dublin in 2004. Hoping to go to the Smithwick's brewery in Kilkenny this time around as well as some pubs I'm sure. If anyone happens to read this and has any suggestions please share.

Easy Labels

Much Thanks to my sister for a tip on how to do easy labels. And they're eco-friendly too! It seems there is a protein in milk that acts as an adhesive. So, for an easy label, just print out a label on your inkjet and then brush a bit of milk on the back of the label and stick onto the bottle. As it dries it glues to the bottle. Here is a picture of a couple bottles of my Sumatra Porter I just bottled. Brewed with Sumatra Coffee.