Joke

http://imgur.com/EGW0p

Nevermind

Never mind, it is now unstuck.

ARGH!

Damn stuck fermentation!!!!

Sow Brew

Well another new batch is downstairs getting started to ferment.  This was a use whatever ingredients I had left so the picture sort of tells the story.  It is going to be a malty bitter with 3 different grains and some fuggles for hops and an ounce of orange zest which I am not sure is going to come through in the end but we shall wait and see.  I used a new yeast, San Diego Super Yeast that was ready to get out of the vial it came in.  I opened it and it blew like a hot pepsi on a warm day.  I lost about 1/3 of the vial but I think it will be fine.  The yeast is supposed to be a monster and supposedly gets to work really fast.  I have the carboy in a plastic tub just in case it blows out the top.

I also was able to use the big snow storm to my advantage.  I built up a pile of it and when the boil was done, I moved it to the kettle to the snow and along with the immersion chiller I was able to cool the wort from 212 F down to 70 F in less than 15 minutes.  Much quicker than the usual 45 minutes.

I had good luck with clearing the wort with irish moss and I think the cold crash helped as there was a lot of crap in the bottom of the kettle.  I also used a new thick cotton strainer to filter the wort going into the fermenter.  There was minimal trub in the carboy.

We will see how this turns out in a few days, if the yeast works as advertised.

Later,

Tim

NEw Brew possibly coming this weekend

A new brew is possibly coming this weekend.  It will be something like the last bitter I did but with a few other ingredients.  It will also be snowing so it may be a frosty boil on Sunday.

New ESB turned out better than expected

Well it has been a week since I started drinking and passing out my newest beer.  It is a ESB (Bitter) that is on the strong side at 6.5%.  It has the smoked taste I was hoping for and my hop additions seemed to come through, without overpowering the beer.  It is also the clearest I have gotten a beer.  For a recipe I was only looking to try once, I am going to file this one away for future use.  I may fool around with the hops and go all English but for now, Simcoe and East Kent Goldings are going to stay.

Cannon Stout

So on Sunday, Chris and I brewed the Cannons first ever stout.  It was only a half a batch but it seems like everything went well.  We are both pretty stoked about it and trying to come up with a few names.  If we stick with the typical Cannon boat/cannon trend then right now we have a few ideas.  Crows Nest Stout and Powder Keg Stout.  They both beat the few that some of the customers have come up with but we won't get into that.  In the meantime, here are a few pictures.

Added bonus for first time callers

The stout is damn near official!  It has its own label!