Comments | banzai2326: If I'm posting to LJ....

banzai2326

If I'm posting to LJ....

Apr 08, 2009 21:41

...it must mean BEER!

Yes, like many of you I find myself posting less to LJ and spending most of my time on Facebook. I know it ain't right, but...

So, I'm brewing beer on a school night. This is a first. And maybe a last. We'll see. Given the day that I had today, I can hardly believe that I have the energy to do this. But chite is out ( Read more... )

beer

Comments 4

ubiq31 April 9 2009, 13:07:04 UTC

Good deal :) I need to get my 3rd batch started and then pick up some stuff to do a non-kit batch next.

I still need to get better about it all...I took hydrometer readings at the appropriate stages of this second batch and I swear it was 1.020 and 1.020...so obviously something wasn't right ;) It's been a week in the bottle, so I could start sampling, but I think I'll leave it. I have 6 or 8 of the first batch left and I think those are mostly being saved, they'll apparently age well.

banzai2326 April 10 2009, 01:05:32 UTC

If your hydrometer readings are flat, you could have a stuck fermentation. Basically the yeast stop doing their thing. Your alcohol content would be low and the beer would be sweeter than it should be due to the unfermented sugars.

Was the yeast part of the kit? Dry or liquid?

ubiq31 April 10 2009, 01:50:26 UTC

Yeast was part of the kit, dry, but I made sure to proof it first.

This beer is definitely lower alcohol than the first batch (where I would've loved to have seen the OG/FG, considering it kicks like a mule now). It's a bock...dark but not heavy. I could drink this for far too long :) It's got actual flavor, which the first batch didn't. I can't say it's any sweeter than I'd expect for a bock, but I'll likely keep it bottle conditioning for another couple weeks before being too critical just yet :)

banzai2326 April 10 2009, 11:19:29 UTC

Yeah, I'm a wimp in that I only use liquid yeast. That way it comes with its own nutrients and I don't have to worry about making a starter. It does run the risk of having dead yeast, but so far I've had good luck.

If you send me the recipe you used for your first I can try to calculate OG for you. Then you could take an FG reading from one of your remaining bottles.