Tag: Brew day

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A day late

But, I survived. Brewday went fairly well, considering–torrential downpours during the first half, with rather strong gusts of wind afterward. Probably burned through more of the ‘main burner’ propane tank than I really like. First experience with the new mash-tun, too; it’s nice, for being able to hold much more grain, but it’ll take some adjusting to. Efficiencies were somewhat low for what I’m used to (I was typically hitting around 80%; the 70/- got 70% efficiency). Didn’t hurt anything–the recipes were geared for 70%, so everything came out ‘as planned,’ sorta.

There ended up being three of us. My ‘usual’ partner-in-crime, my friend doing the barleywine, and my friend learning how to do all of this. All in all, I’d say the whole thing went fairly well. My next planned brew day will be the second weekend of October, I believe; I’ll have to re-set the countdown.

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Brewday, September 2008

Okay, so I’m all prepped (pretty much) for the brewday tomorrow. The plan, for me at least, is to brew up a nice Scottish 70/-; I’m aiming for an OG of about 1.038, but will probably go over. The plan is to go with Golden Promise for the base malt (a Scottish malt for a Scottish ale), and add a bit of roast malt (ground really fine) at the end of the mash–just in time for sparging. That should provide color, without adding a lot of roasty bitterness/astringency. We’ll see how that goes. Not much in the way of hops–3/4 ounce of Kent Goldings at 60 minutes, just for bitterness. Finally, I’ll ferment as cool as I can arrange (I may even empty out the lagering chest)–probably around 60F–with the Edinborough strain of yeast.

Then there’s the second batch: a nice Barleywine. This one looks to be interesting–it’s a ‘guest brew,’ being brewed by/with a friend of mine. The recipe itself is from a friend of hers, and it will be a real test of the new mash tun–it takes a whole lot of grain. It should be interesting.

Also, I’m expecting a couple of friends to show up (other than the Barleywine Brewer mentioned above)–one of whom *may* brew something; he might even be bringing someone new to watch. The other one is interested in beginning to brew himself; I’ve been trying to drag him to a brewing session for about 2 years or so now. Finally, success! My evil plan comes to fruition! (heh heh)

I’ll post more on this tomorrow, after brewing a bit.