Proper Oktoberfest

This past Thursday was another brew day. This time, it's an adventure into brewing days of yore. A proper Märzen was the recipe and the procedure: brewed in March and ready to go in September.

Brief synopsis. Before the days of refrigeration, brewers were forbidden to brew during the warm summer months. The final product was subpar and frankly rancid due to the heat. So in March, before the weather turned, a large batch was brewed and stored (lagered) in cool caves over the summer. In the fall when the mercury drops, these barrels were brought out in a massive autumnal celebration. So, my beer was brewed in March and will lager in my fridge until September. My second lager beer, so we'll see how it goes.

In a strange twist, one of my college buddies from ol' Founders Hall at ONU was traveling from Charlotte to Virginia on business, so he stopped off in Greensboro for brewday and then dinner at Natty Greene's. So I have ZERO photos from brewday since we bullshitted and caught up during the afternoon. But I have two: one from Natty's and one afterward with the start of the lagering.

The recipe:

1 lb. Weyermann Caramunich II malt

2 lbs. Pilsen Dry Malt Extract (DME)

6 lbs. Amber Liquid Malt Extract (LME)

1 oz. German Hallertau hops, 3.7% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

Saflager W-34/70 dry lager yeast

Great seeing Kurt after 15 years! And with a possible move much closer to Greensboro, the hilarity may ensue in earnest....

Common Cleveland Steamer

The homebrew bug hit yet again, mainly to get through these final extract-based recipes to start to dive head first into "all-grain" brewing. Basically, as a metaphor, instead of making brownies from a boxed mix, I would add the flour, cocoa, etc. myself. All-grain is a more "from scratch" version of brewing and one where you have more control over every aspect of the recipe and final product.

So anyway, next on the docket was a California Common, alternately known in the beer world by Anchor Brewing's trademarked flagship Steam Beer: basically, a lager yeast strain used at a warmer ale yeast temperature to bring about more fruitiness. So, being from Cleveland, and as a childish play on words, I titled my homebrew "Common Cleveland Steamer". Insert your eye-rolling and groaning [here].

Here's the recipe I had:

8oz. Munton's Dark Crystal

6.6 lb. Light liquid malt extract (LME)

2 oz. UK Pilgrim Gold hops 11% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

1 oz. UK First Gold hops 7% AA @ 1 minute

Saflager S-23 dry lager yeast

And now it rests in the kitchen sink next to the British Bitter with my markedly non-electronic temperature control method: wet t-shirt in water bath. Time to rinse dirty dishes in the half-bath sink for a few more days!

British Bitter

Time to brew again. On Valentine's Day. I swear it was an act of coincidence, but the style brewed on this day of romance and love was a....bitter. Rather appropriate.

The recipe:

1/2 lb. Simpsons Caramalt

1 lb. Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)

3.15 lb. Gold Liquid Malt Extract (LME)

1 oz. Kent Goldings hops, 5.0% alpha acid @ 60 min

1 oz. Kent Goldings hops 5.0% AA @ 1 min

Danstar Windsor Ale dry yeast

Easy to brew, should be easy to drink. Session pub ale.

Bitter on Valentine's Day....go figure.

Colonial Amber

The snow was a-comin' this weekend, and my day off for the week was Thursday. It was 58 degrees outside. BREW DAY! The next in line for my little Brewery-That-Could was a basic amber ale. I titled it Colonial Amber well, just because. Early colonial American brewers probably brewed something similar to this, and North Carolina was an original 13 colony, and I wanted to wear my 1754 Albany Plan "Join or die" t-shirt. Makes perfect sense.

The recipe:

1 lb. Briess Caramel 20

6.3 lbs. Amber Liquid Malt Extract

2 oz. Cascade 7.1% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

1 oz. Cascade 7.1% AA @ 1 minute

Safale US-05 dry yeast

Easy peezy lemon squeezy. Another successful brew day on an unseasonably warm day right before a LOT of snow would be coming.

Farmers' Almanac Maple Porter

A couple months ago, Duke confessed to me his retirement from homebrewing. I was sad. I understand his time constraints and the lack of inspiration, but still, he won a freakin' medal and got a photo in the homebrew journal Zymurgy! Anyway, last month I was bequeathed some of his equipment (House of Gordon kegging coming soon!) and ingredients.

On another note, The Farmers' Almanac has an interesting little tidbit called "The Best Day(s) to Brew Beer in the Next 60 Days". Sweet. The website is here. It happened that the most recent good days were January 1 and January 2. Now January 1 I had to work 8-4 then there was Ohio State in the Rose Bowl at 4:30, so that was out. But Saturday January 2? Score!

Put the two together, and I'll brew Duke's ingredient gift on a great Farmers' Almanac day!

One glitch, it was COLD. 30 degrees cold. I hooked up my garden hose for my Therminator plate chiller and....something in the hose was clogged or it was downright frozen inside. No water flow through the hose. Water came out of the spigot just fine, just nothing through the hose.

Shit.

I thought about canceling the brewday, but there was not another good Farmers' Almanac brewday in the next 60 days. And I just HAD to test the Farmers' resolve. So, it was cold enough that a chill plate or an immersion chiller would not be needed. Observe the simple setup to the right! I'll go old school: stir occasionally and allow the natural heat exchange to go from hot liquid to stainless steel to outside ambient temperature. Took forever, and frankly I was a little fearful of wild yeast or bacterial infection, but screw it....the Farmers' Almanac is on my side!

The hodgepodge makeshift recipe:

4 oz. Briess Special Roast

4 oz. Caramalt

4 oz. Belgian Debittered Black Malt

4 oz. Chocolate Malt

4 oz. Caramel 60L

2 oz. Caramel 40L

6 lb. Gold LME (Liquid Malt Extract)

1 oz. Cluster hops, 7.2% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

2 lb. Grade B Maple Syrup @ 0 minutes

Munton Dry Yeast (the Activator Smack Pack of London Ale did not activate nor swell)

In one week upon transfer to secondary fermentation, another pound or so of maple syrup will be added for more mapley aroma in the finished product.

OG (original gravity) 1.055. In the "robust porter" range in the grand scheme of things. Good to brew again. It's been a while. Even with the time consuming cooling scenario. Good brewing karma...the Almanac said so.

Spiced Winter Ale

In order to have this ready for the winter holidays, I went ahead and brewed this one up Saturday. Instead of my usual yeast starter in a growler and a vigorous shake whenever I walked by it, I got myself a new toy for the job: a magnetic stir plate. A constant stirring to introduce oxygen and get the highest cell count possible for brewday. And I have to say, after brewing was complete, it was an astounding 30 MINUTES before bubbling occurred in the blow-off tube. Wow. A good investment.

This holiday brew is spiced with a potpourri-esque concoction right at flame-out. Smelled delicious with all sorts of cinnamon and mace and nutmeg....your basic Christmas potpourri aromas.

As far as brewing environment, I was desperate for some fun and levity and brighter moods, so even though it was drizzling and at some points a steady rain, I set up my brewery regardless in the backyard by the patio and went to work. Well, "work".

The recipe:

1 lb. Simpsons Dark Crystal malt

6.3 lb. Gold Malt Syrup

1 lb. Light Dry Malt Extract

1 oz. East Kent Goldings hops, 5.3% AA, at 60 minutes

1 Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes to clarify

1/2 oz. mulling spices at 0 minutes

Safale S-04 yeast

Smelled delicious. The mulling spices came in a 1 oz. bag, so I am debating using the second 1/2 oz in secondary. This kit was from Northern Brewer, and after customer reviews, it was determined that a full ounce of spices at flame-out resulted in drinking perfume. I'm wavering on adding just a smidge more into secondary, but we'll see how it smells upon transfer next week.

Booker's Porter

Saturday had all the trappings of a busy day: various Big Ten college football games on TV, finish labeling the 3 batches I recently bottled, a 5:30pm 2010 Dominican trip meeting, and the primetime Ohio State game vs. USC. I wanted to brew up a beefy porter to be ready for the cooler months too. So instead of cramming more into my Saturday, I went wild and enjoyed a night brew session on Friday.

I have been ordering a lot of supplies from Northern Brewer up in Minnesota. Flat $7.99 shipping no matter how much I order. A lot of a la carte ingredients and grains to formulate my own recipes. Well for the winter months, I wanted to do a robust porter and a spiced winter ale. These are higher alcohol brews and are definitely warming sippers for those "cold" NC nights. They require about 2 months of sitting to mellow out the fire and round out the flavors. As a result, to have them ready for cooler weather, I need to brew them now. Anyway instead of a la carte, for these styles I figured I'd give Northern Brewer's kits a try. Boxes with all the ingredients ready to go.

The recipe:

1.0 lb Simpson's Chocolate Malt

0.5 lb Simpson's Dark Crystal Malt

0.5 lb Simpson's Black Malt

2 lb Wheat Dry Malt Extract @ 60 minutes

6.3 lb Dark Malt Syrup @ 15 minutes

1 oz Chinook hops, 11.1% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

0.5 oz East Kent Goldings hops, 5.3% AA @ 15 minutes

0.5 oz East Kent Goldings hops, 5.3% AA @ 5 minutes

1 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes

Danstar Nottingham dry yeast

This was my first experience with adding malt late in the boil. Usually all the malt is added after the specialty grains steep and are boiled for the full 60 or 90 minutes. Adding LME with 15 minutes to go is a new one for me. We'll see how it changes things.

The beauty of this beer will be in the secondary fermenter. There I will add bourbon-infused oak cubes and a full PINT of bourbon. Toasty oak wood plus bourbon on top of a firm porter? This one should be good.

And as far as brewing at night in the backyard instead of during the day in the garage/driveway? Definitely much cooler, and easier to clean up. I might move brewing operations to the backyard more often...

Double Brew Day #3 - Gordon Original Pilsner & English Dark Mild Ale

Wednesday saw a much beloved day off, so it was decreed that it would be a brew day. A double brew day. Knock out two batches. On the schedule? My first stab at a pilsner, a clone of my adored Czech beer Pilsner Urquell ("Pilsner Urquell" = "original pilsner"), and an easy-drinking low alcohol English Dark Mild Ale. Milds are so difficult to find around here, and bottled varieties seem to suffer on the trip across the pond, so the only alternative is to brew your own.

The green hat? One of my September 2008 German souvenirs. A green felt hat made in Germany, with the requisite feather in it. Granted the pilsner I'm brewing is based on a Czech recipe, but the German vibe can only help when brewing a lager. Always going for good brewing karma.

I received inspiration for tackling a lager through my cold-conditioning of my Duvel clone, which saw the carboy keep at a steady 42 degrees in the garage fridge; plus from a blog I follow, Homebrew and Chemistry and his inaugural foray into lager brewing. Figured, what the hell, give it a try. Can't know how it will turn out until I try.

The pilsner recipe (the lightest [in color] beer I've ever brewed):

2 oz Vienna Malt

2 oz Carapils Malt

8 oz Crystal Malt 10L

6 lbs Pilsner Dry Malt Extract (DME)

2 oz Czech Saaz hops 2.5% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

1 oz Czech Saaz hops 2.5% AA @ 15 minutes

1 oz Czech Saaz hops 2.5% AA @ 5 minutes

WLP800 Pilsner Lager yeast

Notice the absence of my usual Whirlfloc tablet to clarify. At 15 minutes I throw one in to help clear the beer. And of course, in the lightest colored beer I've ever brewed where a bright clear yellow finished hue is desired, I forget to throw one in. Dammit.

Lager temperatures and fermentation times are much different from ales. MUCH different. For the usual ale, it's one week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, then bottle. The cold-water bath in the sink that I've been doing lately keeps it within the ideal 68-72 degrees. Before I just left it alone in the ambient temperature of the house and it would be 76-78 degrees. Lagers, such as this pilsner, require much colder temps for the lager yeast to thrive. Here's my planned fermentation schedule for the pilsner:

One day in the sink's cold-water bath.

Move the primary for 2 weeks into the garage fridge.

Remove for two days to allow the temp to rise in a "diacetyl rest".

Transfer to secondary and move back to the garage fridge for 2 months.

Diacetyl is a buttery off-flavor. Some styles yearn for a butterscotch flair. In a crisp and bright golden yellow pilsner, absolutely ZERO diacetyl is desired. The 2-day rise in temp is supposed to burn off the diacetyl and have the yeast "clean up" the beer for a short time before it's back to the cold.

Lager yeasts ferment at colder temps (obviously from the planned schedule) and for longer periods of time. So no mere 3 weeks before bottling like the ales.

So after the pilsner, it was a darker brew: a mild. Milds are low alcohol, sessionable beers that can be consumed in mass quantities with no noticeable drunken stupor resulting. Going down to the English pub for a pint o' mild. So challenging to find a good mild on the shelves, so I did what any good homebrewer who wanted a particular style of beer but couldn't find it would do: brew my own.

The recipe:

5 oz Crystal Malt 60L

5 oz Crystal Malt 120L

4 oz Black Patent Malt

4 oz Chocolate Malt

4 lbs Extra Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)

1 oz East Kent Goldings Hops 5.4% alpha acid @ 60 minutes

1 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes to clarify

WLP002 English Ale yeast

This one will stay in primary for one week, then with no real need to clear up in secondary, will go directly into the bottle and be ready to drink a mere month after brewing. Nice and easy. Plenty of flavor in a low alcohol brew. Roasty and tasty with minimal bells and whistles. I enjoy a good mild.

So Wednesday was an enjoyable day in the garage with pleasant temperatures in the low 70's, almost the high 60's. Comfortable. And, for brewday entertainment, I watched and made sure no one fell off the water tower on the corner as they repainted it:

Double Brew Day #2 - Orange Pale Ale and Gaius Plinius Secundus

Thursday saw a much-revered day off from work, and consequently an entire day full of brewing adventures. Two beers on the docket: Orange Pale Ale and a clone of Russian River Brewing Co.'s uber-hoppy IPA Pliny the Elder, named here by his Latin moniker Gaius Plinius Secundus.

First off, a pale ale infused with the essence of orange peel for a hoped-for juicy kick. With the variety of homebrew soon to be had in inventory, I wanted a basic pale ale for the masses to consume. But why make a "normal" pale ale? So I searched and researched and found some things to my liking that I cobbled together and hope will please.

The Orange Pale Ale recipe:

8 oz Crystal Malt 60L

8 oz Vienna Malt

9 lb Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)

1 oz Cascade hops 7.1% alpha acid (AA) @ 60 minutes

1 oz Cascade hops 7.1% AA @ 10 min

1 oz Cascade hops 7.1% AA @ 5 min

1 oz Cascade hops 7.1% AA @ 1 min

1 Whirlfloc tablet to clarify @ 15 min

1 oz coriander seed @ 5 min

2 oz sweet orange peel @ 5 min

WLP001 California Ale yeast

After primary fermentation is complete, for 2 additional weeks the carboy for secondary fermentation will include:

2 oz Cascade hops 7.1% AA

1 oz sweet orange peel

Hopefully the general public will approve.

Once that batch was racked over and the yeast pitched, it was time to do a quick clean-up and sanitation to begin brew #2, the Pliny the Elder clone. This is a huge double IPA with bursts of hops for the most addicted hophead of the bunch. If you've been following my homebrewing exploits, you may notice a common theme with hop additons: 1/2 to 1 oz of hops at minute 60, 15, and 5. Done. Usually 3 oz total. Wait until you get a load of THIS recipe!

8 oz Crystal Malt 40L

8 oz Carapils malt

9 lb Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)

0.4 lb corn sugar (to give extra fermentables and dry it out)

4 oz Columbus hops 14.2% AA @ 90 min

1 oz Columbus hops 14.2% AA @ 45 min

1 oz Nugget hops 11.2% AA @ 30 min

1 oz Centennial hops 8.0% AA @ 0 min

3 oz Nugget hops 11.2% AA @ 0 min

Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 min to clarify

WLP001 California Ale yeast

Then, once primary fermentation is complete, we transfer to secondary and in this fermenter we add:

1 oz Columbus hops 14.2% AA for 14 days

1 oz Centennial hops 8.0% AA for 14 days

1 oz Nugget hops 11.2% AA for 14 days

Then, after 9 days, for the final 5 days we add:

0.5 oz Columbus 14.2% AA

0.5 oz Centennial hops 8.0% AA

0.5 oz Nugget hops 11.2% AA

Whew. Hops galore for the boil. I mean, LOOK AT THEM!


A glorious full day of sanitizing, brewing, cleaning, racking, pitching. Now my kitchen sink is rendered out of commission for one week due to the "keep the primary fermentation at properly reduced temperatures" trick (notice the Maple Pumpkin Ale and Coffee and Oatmeal for Breakfast carboys in the background):

Due to the enormous amount of hops added to Gaius Plinius Secundus, 8 gallons of water were added for the initial boil to compensate for absorption and volume loss. Once the threat of horrendous boilover ceased, the result? The boil rocked. Hard.


The inventory and variety grows...

Coffee and Oatmeal for Breakfast (stout)

Brewday on Wednesday. Brewed up a chocolate/coffee/oatmeal stout patterned after Founders Brewing Co.'s Breakfast Stout. A big beefy beer with plenty of slick gooey oats and blocks of baker's chocolate. Smelled w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l while brewing, especially during the final 15 minutes when the chocolate and coffee were added. Yum.

I've always been a fan of Breakfast Stout. A smooth coffee stout with just the right hint of chocolate. This recipe utilizes plenty of chocolate in the boil (and will in a week or so in secondary also) and coffee. I cold-pressed the coffee in the French press. Why not just throw in beans or grinds? Why not just brew a pot of coffee? Bitterness. In the boil, the beans or grounds would elicit bitterness. The heat of a coffeemaker would elicit bitterness. I just want coffee FLAVOR. So I scooped Dominican coffee from one of my relief trips into the French press and added cold water. I let it sit in the garage beer fridge for a day, then pressed down on the plunger and let it sit for a 2nd day. Then at the appropriate time I just poured the liquid in. Hope it works...

A smaller amount of hops were used here. A full ounce at the beginning of the 60-minute boil as usual, but then a mere 1/2 ounce at minutes 30 and 0. Want to be sure the coffee and chocolate flavors are apparent in the end. Cacao nibs were called for in addition to some baker's chocolate. But the ONLY place I could find nibs (Williams-Sonoma) ceased carrying them. Drat. So I used 3 oz of unsweetened and 3 oz semisweet blocks in the boil. Hopefully the oils won't kill any head retention once it's in the glass, but we'll see. Half the fun in homebrewing (besides throwing in odd ingredients) is the experimentation in process to see just what happens.

The recipe:

22 oz. flaked oats

1 lb. chocolate malt

12 oz. roasted barley

9 oz. debittered Belgian black malt

7 oz. Crystal malt 40L

9 lb. Light dry malt extract (DME)

1 oz. Nugget hops, 11.2% AA @ minute 60

1/2 oz. Willamette hops, 4.4% AA @ minute 30

1/2 oz. Willamette hops, 4.4% AA @ minute 0

3 oz. blocks baker's unsweetened chocolate @ minute 15

3 oz. blocks baker's semisweet chocolate @ minute 15

1 Whirlfloc tablet @ minute 15 for clarifying

1 Tbsp yeast nutrient @ minute 15

1 French press cold-pressed Dominican Republic coffee @ minute 0

WLP001 California Ale yeast

Secondary fermentation will require:

1 French press cold-pressed D-R coffee for 2 weeks

1.5 oz cacao nibs for 2 weeks (I will use Scharffen Berger cocoa powder)

Uh-oh. Looks like a storm's a-comin'!

Rain! Thunder! Boiling wort! A storm-nervous dog! Hootie! A little bit of everything:

(Sorry it's so dark, the boil really was impressive. Really.)

Once brewing was done, I transferred into the "fermentation area", in your home you may call it a "kitchen". To keep off-flavors away at higher fermentation temperatures (butterscotch, fruity esters, etc.) I wanted to keep the temp in the appropriate window of 68-72* F. If I just leave the carboy in ambient temperatures of the house, the internal reading would be 78-80. What to do? I want nothing but coffee, chocolate, and oatmeal in the flavor profile; no esters. I tried a homemade "carboy cooler" I read about in my books and online. Have the carboy sit in cool water, place a t-shirt over it to wick the water up into the shirt and keep it moist, then blow a fan onto it. The water wicks up the shirt, evaporates, and voila! Cooling! This really works! Fan on? 68*. Fan off? 70*. NICE!!!

Can't wait for this one! Looks delicious just sitting there!

Double Brew Day!!! Blanche de Greensboro and Maple Pumpkin Ale v.3.0

Thursday. A day off. A day that I crammed with plenty of brewing fun. Two, count 'em, TWO beers brewed up. The first on the brew schedule was the third installment in my summer brewing Belgian line: Blanche de Greensboro, a clone of Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly. It's one of the finer Belgian witbiers you'll find...and it's brewed in Canada. The second beer was an unprecedented THIRD brewing of one of my particular creations: Maple Pumpkin Ale v.3.0. This one takes about two months to clear up and finish, which will take us right into football season where this beer is enjoyed most.

It was a busy day, so we'll do a timeline:

7:00am

Up! Yes that's right. Up at 7:00am on a day off. Inconceivable.

8:00am

Dry cleaners. Hey, there's chores to be done before all the fun starts.

8:30am

Clean out and defrost the garage freezer.

10:00am

Boil 1 pound of corn sugar in 1 pint of water, cool, then add to secondary fermenter. Then transfer "The Devil's Bats" Belgian Golden Ale from primary to secondary on the sugar water. Kick up a second fermentation and dry the beer out a touch more.

Now that the Duvel clone is transferred, clean and sanitize both primary fermenters.

Clean and sanitize the brewing equipment.

11:00am

Set up my brew station in the garage.

11:30am

Fire up the brew kettle to boil 7 gallons of water. First on the brew docket: Blanche de Greensboro.

12:15pm

Turn off the burner and add the wheat malt to the water. Brewing's begun!

12:40pm

BOIL!

12:45pm

Start charcoal on the smoker.

12:50pm

Go inside and roast 5 cans of pure pumpkin for Maple Pumpkin Ale v.3.0

1:10pm

Add soaked hickory wood chunks to the coals.

1:25pm

Meat on!

1:30pm

Add orange peel and coriander to the Blanche de Greensboro.

1:45pm

Pump witbier through plate chiller to primary fermenter.

1:55pm

Carry primary to kitchen.

Stir roasted pumpkin.

2:00pm

Back rinse plate chiller and clean up some equipment.

2:30pm

Add 8 gallons of water to kettle for Maple Pumpkin Ale v.3.0.

2:40pm

Roasted pumpkin is done.

3:15pm

BOIL!

Ahhh, and my first fuck-up. You see, the witbier had no crushed grains to steep so I could go directly to the boil. Here, I have 3 pounds of cracked grains to steep, and it needs to do so at 153 degrees. Um, I shot straight up to 212. Dammit. Let's wait for the 8 gallons of boiled water to cool down to 153 in North Carolina heat....

4:50pm

Freezer cleaned out completely. The food goes back in.

4:55pm

The 8 gallons make their way down to 153 degrees, so let's steep!

5:00pm

Pull meat off smoker.

5:20pm

Steeping done, to the dry cleaners we go to pick up my clothes.

5:30pm

Fire the kettle up to boil.

6:00pm

Turn off burner. Add malt, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, and roasted pumpkin flesh.

6:15pm

BOIL! (Again.) Always such a rollicking and vigorous boil with this recipe. 8 gallons plus all the pumpkin flesh, maple syrup, and spices in here and it just wants to GO!

7:25pm

2nd addition of spices and maple.

7:45pm

Final addition of spices and maple.

7:50pm

Pump through plate chiller to primary fermenter....sloooooooowly.....

8:05pm

Pump transfer STALLS with one gallon to go. Too thick and gooey. Just look at the kettle's false bottom!

8:20pm

Carry primary into kitchen then manually strain remaining liquid in brew kettle into a Pyrex dish and a large mixing bowl. Place said containers in clean freezer to chill down from freshly boiled to pitchable yeast temperature (around 80 degrees).

8:25pm

Do final cleanup of garage.

9:55pm

Liquid in freezer has cooled sufficiently. Add to primary fermenter to top off to 5 gallons.

10:00pm

Scrub brew kettle. Clean hoses and parts. Set up blowoff tubes for both primary fermenters. Watch Blanche de Greensboro begin bubbling and fermenting....already!

10:45pm

Dry equipment. Wait for the yeasty magic to happen in both fermenters.

-----------------

Whew, a long day. But quite a fun one. TWO beers fermenting away as of Friday morning. The rubber cap for the blowoff tube couldn't quiiiiiiite grab hold to the carboy's neck for the Blanche de Greensboro. I mean, just look at what the yeast starter did building up towards brew day:

So big deal, some goop oozed out the top and down the fermenter. Seeing this could happen the night before with the quick fermentation, I put the witbier in the sink to minimize cleanup. Worked well.

So for the recipes. the Maple Pumpkin Ale v.3.0 is basically v.2.0 posted here with 8 oz of maple syrup added with each addition.

Maple syrup in v.1.0 = 8 oz @ 90 min, 4 oz @ 20 min

Maple syrup in v.2.0 = 8 oz @ 90 min, 4 oz @ 20 min, 4 oz @ 2 min

Maple syrup in v.3.0 = 8 oz @ 90 min, 8 oz @ 20 min, 8 oz @ 2 min (plus 8 oz into secondary when it's time)

And as for the Blanche de Greensboro, another Belgian from the eponymous book Clone Brews:


What a day! Slowly but surely it seems I'm rediscovering that joy has NOT indeed perished from the earth!