Slipping on the Updates...Brown Ale is Bottled!

On 9/23 I decided to move the beer into a secondary fermenter and add maple syrup boiled in water to give it a little maple flavor and maybe boost the ABV a bit - as it was looking like a "near-beer" coming in around 3.4%.

After five days, and two consecutive gravity readings of 1.014, I decided to bottle it tonight.

Rachael assisted in the process - with me filling the bottles and she worked the capper.  Ended up with minimal spillage on the floor, 37 - 12 oz. bottles and 6 - 22 oz. bottles.  Hopefully they are not over-carbonated or filled to much resulting in a bottle bomb.  Put them in the basement just in case.

They will cellar for three or four weeks and be ready for sampling October 18th or 25th.

Had a small amount left in the bucket as bottling winded down so filled a glass as well.  Poured a nice dark brown, not too cloudy so think everything settled nicely.  Taste was obviously flat, but flavors were a pretty smooth brown ale -- not sure if I could pick up the maple or not.

Given that the status is now just 43 bottles sitting in a plastic tote in the cellar - I don't anticipate an update on this brew...however, the ingredients for the second batch have arrived - and I anticipate beginning that sometime this week possibly or at the latest the weekend.

May Have Figured Out What is Going On...

Think I may have not quite been using the hydrometer properly, and I still might be a tad off. However, tonight's reading was improved at 1.016 - giving us an ABV approaching 4%, which would make it a nice mild brown ale.

Drank the non-carbonated sample which had a decent flavor --- with no hints of the chili.

No Idea What Is Going On.....

Yesterday bubbles in airlock had greatly minimized and this morning non-existent, so decided to check the gravity.

Opened the lid and a great deal of foamy stuff high up the walls of the bucket, so it appears that yeast was doing its thing...

However, the gravity only read 1.020 --- if an accurate measurement (and I'm not certain it was) this would put it at around 2% ABV ---- apparently going for a "near beer" brown ale.

Will try again tomorrow and in an attempt to figure out what the hell is going on.

On the bright side, had a good flavor so maybe there's hope.

In other news, ordered ingredients for next batch, which will be a "partial mash" Strong Belgian Dark Ale - which I'm going to flavor with winter seasoning to make a holiday brew.

And lastly, because it seems like everybody on the brewing forums names their "brewery," and Rachael believes making the labels will be a creative adventure for her...we proudly introduce --- Coonhound Cellars Brewing Co. An image for an early logo:

Opening Night...Nut Brown Ale

After getting home from work, I decided I would begin the beer making process, assuring Rachael that this first step would only be an hour or so.

Around 6 p.m. I followed the advice of Trisha Pete and began to "sanitize, sanitize, sanitize." All equipment and fermenting bucket went in the bath tub and were cleansed with hot water and some magical chemical packet. To the kitchen we went, and the brew making process commenced. (Note the importance of enjoying a beer while working).




Clearly, the old wives tale of "a watched pot never boils" is very accurate. As evidence I present the following picture, taking 45 minutes after the pot was placed on the stove....clearly, I wasn't going to make my hour prediction.



So I waited, and waited, and finally we ate the chili that was heating behind the pot. (Note the proximity of the chili pot and spoon --- is this foreshadowing or something?)


So finally the wort (fancy brewer term meaning sweetened water and barley liquid --- yes, I'm a brewer dammit) resumed boiling and the clock was on. Even being mindful of all the sanitation warnings, this is the point where I might have screwed up the virgin batch of brew or developed a secret recipe. In a slip of the hand, I am 99% certain that I grabbed the wrong spoon and gave the wort a couple of stirs with the chili spoon rather than the sanitized utensil. Who knows if it will just be a nut brown with a little kick or a batch of shit (if the later, perhaps I can sell to Budweiser?) Nonetheless, after a brief 30 minute boil, the wort was united with some cool water in the fermenting bucket to begin their relationship.





After a brief cooling off period they needed some yeast to make the magic begin --- with the yeast probably being the most important ingredient in beer as it is able to perform some witchcraft science manuevers and change the glucose in the wort to sweet alcohol.


Final step of opening night was to seal up the fermenting bucket and let the waiting begin. In approximately 7 days I will decide whether to do a second fermentation or go right to bottling. Beer making store guy says he always does two fermentations. And then after three weeks of in bottle conditioning I will have some homemade brew to drink or dump down the drain if tainted by the evil chili spoon.




So 2 hours and 30 minutes after later, the fermenting bucket was put to rest in the corner of the dining room --- which I believe compliments the primitive decor perfectly --- after all Sam Adams and many other Patriots were home brewers.

The Beginning...

I like beer. Actually, I love beer. Probably only loses out to the wife and son. Though I might drop down on the wife's list with this new adventure and the fact that I'd rank beer above the dog.

I'm not a beer snob, but most of the stuff I buy costs more than five bucks a six pack and is not made by one of the big three -- Miller, Coors or Bud. But I still believe that there is nothing like an ice cold (as the Rockies?) Coors Light after mowing the lawn. After all you need to replenish the water that you lost working up a sweat. Then again, I don't mow the lawn much, so I don't end up drinking Coors Light much.

A few years ago I was given a Mr. Beer kit as a gift. Never had thought much about brewing my own beer but I tried it. It was kind of a simplistic operation --- sanitize equipment, boil some water, dump it all in a plastic keg and wait. It was an ale and drinkable. Drank the product and retired the plastic keg to the basement. A few other Mr. Beer kits arrived under the Christmas tree and found a home in the basement.

Then a friend got into more involved home brewing --- the glass carboys, messing up the kitchen, plastic bins, etc. Intriguing but seemed like a lot of work. Then I tried his beer and was pleasantly surprised. Same friend ended up giving me a more advanced ingredient kit, which I tucked away with Mr. Beer and never bought the equipment to make it. Until this weekend....

Something, maybe the beginning of football season, maybe the number of breweries that Rachael and I visited this summer, I had an urge to make that and more beer this fall/winter. So I took a quick trip to Kennebec Home Brew in Farmingdale, talked to the proprietor, who was a great guy and passionate about homebrewing and full of info, and invested in the next stage equipment.

So hopefully tomorrow, I will begin brewing my own beer. Sunday evening, just for kicks, I dusted off and then sanitized the old Mr. Beer and started an Irish Stout kit. It's fermenting now in the dinning room. But tomorrow, the real adventure will begin.

For no other reason then my own personal journal, I will hopefully be chronicling the process and many future adventures on this blog. I suspect a readership of one --- but maybe I will get vain like the rest of the blogosphere and believe that people really give a shit what I have to say and post beer reviews, brewery tour reports and other things here that no one in their right mind will care about.