Continue reading]]>

Top Drop Pilsener

Tonight I decided to bottle all my beer, which is my Pilsener I’ve had in my fridge for 2 months, and the Oatmeal Stout I did a week and a half ago with my friend Mike.

Bottled the Pilsener first, getting 46 out of it.  Final gravity came out to be 1.012, giving me an alcohol content of 4.7%.  One thing that worried me was that I was seeing a lot of carbonation in it.  Bubbles coming up to the top.  I wonder if my fridge was too cold for proper fermentation after I transferred it to my secondary.  The hop pellets had completely dissolved in the beer, and were swirling around in it, which will create a bit more sediment in the bottles than I had planned on.  There is definitely a chill haze to it, but it has a nice, light color and a smooth taste to it.  As long as it doesn’t get over-carbonated in the bottles, it should be nice.

Brett's Oatmeal Stout

The Oatmeal Stout is the one I’ve been drooling with anticipation for.  Final gravity on that came out to be 1.016, giving an alcohol content of roughly 4.5%.  Tasting it, it was dark and nutty as I remembered it, plus it had a hint of sweetness in the after taste.  Not much, just a little tease saying “Hey, there’s more going on in this beer than you think.”  This will have to sit in the bottles for 2 weeks, as that’s just the way it is with stouts.

I’ve got plans for making a mead next.  I have everything I need for it already, except the honey, but let’s just say I’ve got a connection on getting that for no cost.  I may do more Oatmeal Stout too, if I can find an investor who will front the cash, as I’m broke.

Continue reading]]> According to Papazian, this wonderful beer should be transferred to a secondary fermenter after 2 weeks of lagering.  Given that it’s 2-1/2 weeks (roughly), it was time to do the transfer.

I desperately wanted to keep using the same fermenter that it was currently in, so I transferred it to my bottling bucket, cleaned and sanitized the fermenter, and then transferred it back into the original fermenter- all the time praying that I didn’t introduce too much oxygen into the beer.  The recipe calls for dry hopping 1/2 oz of crystal hops, but I decided to use 3/4 oz of Saaz instead.

I also took a gravity reading, and got 1.016.  After sampling the beer and cleaning out my hydrometer, I realized I didn’t let the temperature of the beer get up to room temperature before taking the gravity reading.  Oops.  Lesson learned.  Taste wise, the beer is really good.  Can’t wait till the final product.

Got 4 more weeks with this lagering till it’s done, which should put it out to October 14th for bottling, then another 2 weeks to bottle condition.  So, I won’t be enjoying this one till close to Halloween.  Sad thing is, by then I’ll be craving an oatmeal stout and not a pilsener.