Saturday, April 02, 2005
Big stuff man... big stuff
The gang returns today. I got a note from scott - apparently the crew is coming back from Germany today, loaded with pictures. I'm sure they'll chew thru a couple MB of space on the webpage's gallery.
Tasted my Rainy Day IPA. I apparently went way light on the late hop additions (15 minutes to 1 minute). Its probably just a pale ale with a little extra hop character rather than what people call IPAs these days - but then again I'm not a big fan of IPAs that strip the enamel off your teeth and burn the tastebuds from your tongue. Its a good beer - its just not an IPA. Oh well - next time I'll double my late additions.
My strong dark belgian is done fermenting - It was about 5 or 6 days after pitching which is unheard of for one of my beers starting at 1.080 - That servomyces is magical. I used it in the Nut Brown I brewed yesterday - with in an hour I had some airlock activity, and it was expelling CO2 like mad this morning when I got up (8 hours later). I am a believer. I'm not sure its worth paying $14 at HDYB for it, but you'd be crazy not to get some from MoreBeer at $8. The extra $1.50 per batch is soooooooo worth it...
Speaking of MoreBeer, my b-day stuff is on its way. It comes in Tuesday - BOOYA! I also put in an order yesterday for three new types of stir bars for my yeast starters - One is your standard 2" bar (I currently use a 1" and it is woefully inadequate in a 2000mL flask) and then two that are shaped like a + ... Check them out here. They should give a hell of a vortex, keep O2 disolved in the starter, and grow the hell out of some yeast.
I think one of my Cascade rhizomes from Jeff Ramberg is already sprouting... he he he. Growing your own hops is almost a moral imperative as a homebrewer - Even if they suck and you can't use them in your brews, just the act of trying to grow them deepens your connection to the hobby/passion and makes you feel good. Man... I'm turning into a treehugger... Time to go take a shower and scourge the liberal from me.
Tasted my Rainy Day IPA. I apparently went way light on the late hop additions (15 minutes to 1 minute). Its probably just a pale ale with a little extra hop character rather than what people call IPAs these days - but then again I'm not a big fan of IPAs that strip the enamel off your teeth and burn the tastebuds from your tongue. Its a good beer - its just not an IPA. Oh well - next time I'll double my late additions.
My strong dark belgian is done fermenting - It was about 5 or 6 days after pitching which is unheard of for one of my beers starting at 1.080 - That servomyces is magical. I used it in the Nut Brown I brewed yesterday - with in an hour I had some airlock activity, and it was expelling CO2 like mad this morning when I got up (8 hours later). I am a believer. I'm not sure its worth paying $14 at HDYB for it, but you'd be crazy not to get some from MoreBeer at $8. The extra $1.50 per batch is soooooooo worth it...
Speaking of MoreBeer, my b-day stuff is on its way. It comes in Tuesday - BOOYA! I also put in an order yesterday for three new types of stir bars for my yeast starters - One is your standard 2" bar (I currently use a 1" and it is woefully inadequate in a 2000mL flask) and then two that are shaped like a + ... Check them out here. They should give a hell of a vortex, keep O2 disolved in the starter, and grow the hell out of some yeast.
I think one of my Cascade rhizomes from Jeff Ramberg is already sprouting... he he he. Growing your own hops is almost a moral imperative as a homebrewer - Even if they suck and you can't use them in your brews, just the act of trying to grow them deepens your connection to the hobby/passion and makes you feel good. Man... I'm turning into a treehugger... Time to go take a shower and scourge the liberal from me.
