January 18 » CHAPTER 28. Ahab.

I know it sort of looks like a chemistry lab. Oh wait. It sort of is a chemistry lab. That's a wort chiller. 212°F down to 75°F in 12 minutes. Some more copper would probably be even better. So I was talking to Julie the other day and she was drinking a Harpoon Winter Warmer. Having tried a few spiced beers back in college I was pretty turned off by them so I haven't really gone back to them Alas ...

January 16 » Alt-ercation Amber

You know, I'd be much better at taking photos if I ever remembered to take photos, which is rarely. Like this for example. Had many opportunities to take better photos of the racking process. When do I remember? When it's in the fricken fridge. Oh well. So I racked* my Alt Bier (yes it's called Alt-ercation Amber) over to the secondary fermentation vessel; a 6 gallon better bottle. True, I'd be better to be in a ...

January 15 » Don't Call it a Keggerator

Not pictured: beer. Lets not call it a keggerator. That just sounds so "college," and let's face it folks, I'm way too old to still be in college. Keggerator brings up immediate images of some massive device with a 15.5 gallon metal container of swill and a plastic tap. No, good sirs and ladies, this is something entirely different. Well, not entirely, but, come on, you get the idea. See — it almost looks classy. Right? RIght.

January 12 » Foaming Yeast Makes the World Go 'Round

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM So I came home from Vermont last night to see an awesome sight. The airlock was full of gunk (foam) showing that I had a very vigorous fermentation while I was away. This is an awesome sign. Well, I mean, you don't really want gunk in your fermenter, but like, it's better than no activity what so ever. It was encouraging to not have any mess outside the airlock, meaning I didn't have much to clean up. I figured this would be a good time to take a gravity reading as ...

January 07 » North German Altbier

My home kegging equipment came today, which is awesome (yay for no more bottling), but the bigger part was that the next set of ingredients came so I could make a North German Altbier (think Alaska Amber or Otter Creek Copper Ale). Sadly the camera is out of batteries and I can't find the charger right now so there are no photos of it, but here's the run down of the recipe (it's from Brew Your Own magazine; it's the homebrew version of Alaska Amber). 2 lbs 2 row barley .5 lbs Crystal 20°L .5 lbs ...