Brew Day ahhhh

Another perfect brew day.

I had planned on an all- Centennial hopped beer for my 100th brew, instead I used Warrior for bittering and Centennial for flavor and aroma hops.  Mainly because it saved me a trip to the brew store.  I only had 2 oz of Centennial, and I wanted a 100 IBU beer, so Warrior made sense, right?

Somehow, my sparges are slow.  I don't know why.  Maybe grains are clogging up my manifold?  Maybe my crush is too small?  I'm not sure- but it's slower than it should be.  This is not a BIG deal, except for brew speed and if I'm using a "stickable" grain, it sticks immediately.  So- since I love the rye beers, I should address this.

The mash went great, the boil was 90 minutes, everything went just perfect.

So what did I learn in that brew day?  Well- let's see... It's a lot more fun if you're not rushing?  I took it slow and steady,  the brew day took about 5 hours start to finish, and it was a nice relaxing evening.

I just checked on the beer and it is not yet fermenting visibly.  That's odd to me, since I pitched it into a carboy from a prior brew which had 300 billion cells.  If I don't see anything when I get home from work tonight, I'll have to pitch a yeast packet on it.  Odd, I tell ya.

Happy Brewing!

Economies of Scale

A friend in the brew-gang organized a pallet- buy of grains from a wholesaler.

This results in about a 40% savings on grain.  I bought 7, 50-lb bags.

That's logical, right?

Also bought 5 lbs of hops from Niko Brew.

So- should be in good shape for quite some time to come :)

Now... if only I can get bulk yeast... or grow my own!

Yes, I'm still alive

It has been over a month since I brewed.  Isn't that the sadest thing you've heard?

Well clearly, I haven't gone away from brewing, I just got busy at work. And kids having concerts at school. And being sick for 4 days. And mandatory work parties.  And on and on and on.

Last night when I was packing up beers to mail to friends, I was talking with the girl child.  She said "Number 98, Daddy?  That means only 2 more brews and you are at 100!"  Which I replied "No, 99 is in the fermenter- my NEXT beer is 100!"

I know, it's just a number, but it is a milestone too.

So I'm making a 10%, all-Centennial hopped IPA as the next beer.

Another brew I have coming up is a "Game of Thrones" brew- I am House of Arryn.  Whatever that is.  I clearly need to do some research, but one of the guys said "I don't want to see a MILK chocolate stout! Ha ha ha"  If anyone can clue me in, that'd be great.

Our 12 Days of Christmas collaboration went great- we had a PERFECT get together.  So fun. I now have 21 homebrews which were crafted just for our enjoyment- pretty damn awesome.  We all had great looking labels, tasty brews- I mean- it was awesome.

Just bottled a Graf which is an 80% cider, 20% malt brew.  So the cider gets some body.  I really don't like homebrew ciders in general- too dry.  I added the malt to help bump up the boy and complexity.

Brew on my friends, and Happy Holidays!