Thursday, January 05, 2006
Brave New World
Well, I have dumped my Ommegang starter. I was too over-zealous in my approach, and should have started with a much smaller quantity of wort... 500mL is too much for even 3 large 750mL bottles. Next time I will actually try a different approach, and I will plan on it taking much longer to get to a pitchable volume - like 4-8 weeks, not 4-8 days. Lesson learned. I will not be dissuaded though - I shall reculture.
I have a large (1.5 gallon) starter of WLP833 German Bock yeast downstairs. I made the starter last night and am seeing the beginnings of activity tonight. I was really nervous about the long lag time, however after some research online I found that this strain is a notorious slow-starter. This will be my first ever "lager" beer, a Maibock, and I am more than anxious and a little nervous about how it will turn out. I'm probably psyching myself out a little. I also plan on brewing an Oktoberfest beer in March... so I'll use whatever I learn this time around to make improvements for that batch.
I have a new order from MoreBeer coming. My parents got me a gift certificate for $100, so I got a bunch of cool little gadgets and a couple of ingredients. I'll actually start bringing kegs to meetings in the future I think...
Next 3 batches are as follows (in order):
After that I have a huge laundy list of brews to get through during the first quarter of 2006, including:
And the list seems to be growing faster than my ability to remove items. Should be a great year.
I have a large (1.5 gallon) starter of WLP833 German Bock yeast downstairs. I made the starter last night and am seeing the beginnings of activity tonight. I was really nervous about the long lag time, however after some research online I found that this strain is a notorious slow-starter. This will be my first ever "lager" beer, a Maibock, and I am more than anxious and a little nervous about how it will turn out. I'm probably psyching myself out a little. I also plan on brewing an Oktoberfest beer in March... so I'll use whatever I learn this time around to make improvements for that batch.
I have a new order from MoreBeer coming. My parents got me a gift certificate for $100, so I got a bunch of cool little gadgets and a couple of ingredients. I'll actually start bringing kegs to meetings in the future I think...
Next 3 batches are as follows (in order):
- Initiation Maibock (5 gal)
- Choking Sun Stout (7.5 gal)
- Native Rage IRA (10 gal)
After that I have a huge laundy list of brews to get through during the first quarter of 2006, including:
- Bourbon Ale (Maybe a Stewart's McBride's Strong Ale clone>
- Scotch Ale
- Tupelo Honey Ale
- Rise & Shine Oatmeal Stout #2
And the list seems to be growing faster than my ability to remove items. Should be a great year.
