We now have 4 beers in the making... I've written about the Gold Ale, and the Honey Amber Ale... but have since brewed a Chocolate Stout 1.5 and a Hefeweizen.
The Gold Ale has been in bottles for nearly a month now. We tasted a bottle last week and it is coming along very nicely. If I were to do this beer again, I would most likely lighten up on the finishing hops as it has a rather bitter after taste. This is all personal preference, however, because I know plenty of hop heads that would thoroughly enjoy this beer... but I am no self-proclaimed hophead.
The Honey Amber Ale, my brainchild, is also coming along well. The honey added a fantastic touch to this beer. We tasted a bottle of this last week also, however it's only been in bottles for two weeks. It's not quite done yet, as it has a higher sugar content. The gravity of this beer will ring in at about 6.5% when all is said and done.
We are trying to get prepared for the warmer weather with the Hefeweizen. It has been racked into our new 6.5 gallon primary fermenter. We are going to try something different with this one and leave it in the primary for about 3 weeks, and skip secondary all together. Our past two batches we have used a two step fermentation process, but according to many at The Brewing Network, our method is rather old-school and unnecessary so we're going to try it this way. I am also thinking of adding a bit of orange zest to the carboy soon to add some extra flavor to the beer. I think the fruit will be a nice touch.
I know what you're thinking.... adding fruit to beer violates man laws. Well, the Belgians have been doing it for years and have created some fantastic beers, and the group that came up with such man laws was Miller Brewing Co. I think I'll take my instruction from someone who knows how to make a beer with flavor.
The Chocolate Stout 1.5 has been in the plastic 6.5 gallon fermenter, and we're going to transfer it to the glass 5 gallon. This way we have the opportunity to brew another beer and rack to primary, as well as have the plastic bucket ready for bottling when the time comes.
More to come soon... please leave comments!
Keep on Brewin'
1 comment:
If you want to add orange that is fine do so in a future batch, but as you are just getting started brewing, establish baselines before throwing in extra ingredents. Know what you are going to get before you go changing. That way if you make a mistake you can track down the issue more easily.
Other advice on the Hefe, remember drink'em young, no aging.
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