Miscellaneous Updates

Wort Cooling:

Over the weekend I was finally able to brew the sticke altbier. It was the first time I had the opportunity to try a new wort cooling method using a submersible pump. To briefly restate the process:

Faucet water is run through an immersion chiller (IC) placed in a tub of ice water. The water flows through the IC to another IC in the boil kettle and then out into the lawn/garden. Then, once the wort is cooled to 85-90 degrees, a submersible pump is substituted in for the IC in the tub of ice water and hooked up to the IC in the boil kettle. Ice water is then pumped through the IC in the boil kettle and then recirculated back into the tub until pitching temperatures are reached. In this case, I was shooting for 60-65.

I'm pleased to say that getting down from boiling to 85-90 took approximately 10 minutes and then getting down to 60-65 using the submersible pump took less than 10 mintes. After pitching, temp of the (now) beer was 63. Active bubbling is currently going on at 65. Perfect! I'm very pleased with the results.

For the next time I brew and then ferment in the concial, I think I'll hook the submersible pump up to the counterflow chiller from the start (bypass all ICs) and see how low I can get the wort temperature. Using faucet water in the summer time, and controlling the flow rate of the wort being transferred, I can generally get the wort into the high 70s.

Apple Cherry Cider:

8 days after making, still actively fermenting on the countertop. I'm very curious to see how this one turns out given the honey, sour cherries, ceylon cinnamon and turbinado sugar. Prior to pitching sweet mead yeast, I mixed the turbinado with enough water to dissolve and simmered until half of it evaporated...essentially creating a turbinado syrup. The unfermented cider tasted really good. Though I'm anticipating having to backsweeten with apple juice concentrate prior to kegging. Can't wait!

Traditional Bock:

Ellen and I sampled a hombrewed bock at a beer tasting over the weekend that was quite good. Ellen really liked it and as such, a traditional bock (not a fine ale!) is apparently now on my list of beers to brew. I have most of the necessary ingredients already. I ordered the yeast and some specialty grain, melanoidin malt, in order to get this bock going. Current brew date is scheduled as the 18th.

Lightning Brewing:

My brother-in-law, Todd, was nice enough to bring by a beer (I believe it was a porter) from this new brewing company located down south in Poway. I'm not entirely sure of what this was supposed to taste like, but near as we could tell, it was infected something awful. Dumped.

Bottling From a Keg:

Todd and I bottled up a dozen 12 oz bottles (primarily for competition purposes) and four 22 oz bottles of our Coffee Russian Imperial Stout over the weekend. This beer has really started to shine after almost 7 months of aging. The bottling went extremely smooth and it's hard to imagine that I used to bottle from a keg any other way. No mess or waste, fast, and easy setup/cleanup. We entered this beer into the 2009 Doug King Competition sponsored by the Maltose Falcons Homebrew Club. Judging takes place at the end of the month. Hopefully we place in the specialty category. Though we did blend the coffee to out tastes and not the judges...

Monument Wines & Spirits:

I plan on hitting up this phenomenal store in Concord on Thursday. Looking to pick up beers from Port Brewing, Russian River, Lost Abbey and Fantome primarily. This is where I get to be a kid in a candy store.

Dark Day Russian Imperial Stout:

I recently tapped my RIS brewed in mid-November. A bit early I know, I just couldn't wait. As it turns out, I am really liking this (young) beer. Wonderful chocolate nose, no hop aroma or significant flavor, lots of roastiness, clean bitterness with a tremendously creamy mouthfeel. I can only hope this beer continues to improve with age. At this point, I plan on entering this into a couple of competitions including the national competition.

Wicked Sensitive Red Ale:

I also recently tapped the red ale I brewed as an homage to a great band, the Dropkick Murphys. It seems to taste like a fairly standard red ale with a touch of roastiness. Colorwise it's pretty dark and I'm not sure what happened there. Much too dark for the style guidelines. Too much roasted barley apparently. Hold a glass up to the light and you'll see a touch of red...All in all, it's a decent ale and unoffensive.

Brewing Efficiency:

Still having a slight efficiency problem. I think I'm in the final stretch of figuring out and nailing down all my numbers. At this point I believe my issue is that I'm using too much sparge water. Ballpark a gallon too much. We'll see if I'm right on the 18th.

Cheers.