Sunday, February 05, 2006
Canning Starter Wort...
... or at least today, brewing it. I didn't actually bother doing the canning today... I figure that can wait until tomorrow. I was impeccable (as always) with my sanitation, so I am not overly concerned that something unpleasant got into the starter wort. It should keep just fine (out in the cold, cold garage) until tomorrow night. I've got 2 cases of quart jars (2x 3 gal) and 1 case of pint jars at the ready.
I brewed about 5.5 gallons, with absolutely no break in the carboy, at 1.040 gravity with a mere 9 pounds of grain. Not bad... Not fantastic efficiency, but for keeping all of the break out of the carboy, I couldn't be more pleased. Now I just need to learn to do that with my lagers. I did a little math, and with this starter wort I should be able to hold out until summer without having to do more canning. Very cool. I also have this sneaking suspicion that I've been seriously over-pitching my beers. I also did the math to see what the ingredient savings is over using DME - Its about 1/3 the price of using DME. Of course... it'll take me a few years to pay off the pressure-canner. GEAR RULES!!
I have some WLP004 Irish Ale on the stir plate trying to re-activate. Its "best used" date was October 30 of 2005, so I'm a few months overdue... but it should wake up sometime tomorrow night and start doing the deed. I'll then take the cake and pitch it into a 1 gallon starter in preparation for my brew next Sunday (timing permitting). It'll be a 10 gallon batch of a strong stout, 5 gallons of which will go to my cousin Mosquito of Choking Sun in Atlanta. I promised him sometime ago to brew a beer for him, and its well overdue. Its loosely based off of Flying Dog's Gonzo Porter... With enough differences thrown in to make it my own.
I brewed about 5.5 gallons, with absolutely no break in the carboy, at 1.040 gravity with a mere 9 pounds of grain. Not bad... Not fantastic efficiency, but for keeping all of the break out of the carboy, I couldn't be more pleased. Now I just need to learn to do that with my lagers. I did a little math, and with this starter wort I should be able to hold out until summer without having to do more canning. Very cool. I also have this sneaking suspicion that I've been seriously over-pitching my beers. I also did the math to see what the ingredient savings is over using DME - Its about 1/3 the price of using DME. Of course... it'll take me a few years to pay off the pressure-canner. GEAR RULES!!
I have some WLP004 Irish Ale on the stir plate trying to re-activate. Its "best used" date was October 30 of 2005, so I'm a few months overdue... but it should wake up sometime tomorrow night and start doing the deed. I'll then take the cake and pitch it into a 1 gallon starter in preparation for my brew next Sunday (timing permitting). It'll be a 10 gallon batch of a strong stout, 5 gallons of which will go to my cousin Mosquito of Choking Sun in Atlanta. I promised him sometime ago to brew a beer for him, and its well overdue. Its loosely based off of Flying Dog's Gonzo Porter... With enough differences thrown in to make it my own.
