iea (inki's emma's ale) gravity

looks like we're at 1.018 from 1.060, which means the abv is 5.5% already! gonna wait till tomorrow, then rack. we'll be craving this soon, as we're almost out of the last batch of iba (inki's brown ale). may 26th will be my brewversary. not sure how to mark this occasion. perhaps a new brew?

new brown ale for inki ('emma's ale')

i'm making the 'emma's ale' kit from northern. steeped 30 min at ~160, pseudo-sparged again. following the recipe pretty much verbatim other than that since tis a new brew. OG 1.060. The yeast (wyeast 1275) was started two weeks ago (350ML) and put in the fridge because i didn't have time to do the boil. hopefully there's not too long of a lag.

hop head!

doesn't play well with others. the hop head is at its peak, i think. floral fruity nose with a citrusy, grapefruit bitter aftertaste. definitely lived up to expectations and is slightly surpassing them. mmmmmm.

barleywine told me it was ready to rack, taste of hop head

the barleywine has mellowed out quite a bit, still super sweet, but hopefully some time and carbonation will take care of that. she's ready for the 5 month carboy journey. i might just have really sweet not-so-high-alcohol beer, but i've got plenty of other more important shit to whine about. i can blend it with another beer or something, or make some nice bread if it ain't there in 5 months.

trying out a bottle of the hop head. still tastes a bit green. i'd give this a couple more weeks to a month to condition properly. carbonation not quite there, but i did plan on about 2.3 vols. ok, after a wine glass of the barleywine and about half a hop head, i can tell that one or both has quite a bit of abv. doesn't hurt

barleywine stuck?

got 1.032 again today. wondering if i should put some nutrients in there. it tastes good, though i'm only getting about 56% attenuation. hrmmm. not rushing it. gonna probably do at least 3 weeks primary and wait for the krausen to fall all the way. keeping it at 70° and swirling a couple of times a day.

worrying over the barleywine

gravity time...wow! this stuff smells like raisins and has some heat to it. i don't think it's messed up at all. probably ready to rack in a couple of days. gravity is still 1.032. krausen is back on top, with dirt patches that i thought were mold -- pretty sure it's just hop dust. gonna do some more research, keep it at 70° and not rush things.

bottled hop head double ipa

i bottled the hop head double, which has been dry-hopping for a little over a week and weighed in at 1.020. i'm starting to think that gravity readings for extract ales are only useful to determine when fermentation is stopped, and there's no way to get a good sense of the attenuation. at least i hope so (see barleywine below)...

inki's brown was bottled around the 16th and tastes pretty good, though she likes to let it rest for about 4 weeks in the bottle. probably sensitive to the sulfur that needs to condition out.

i've started in to the english bitter which isn't the most exciting of beers, but it tastes ok. it has a sour taste that it didn't have when it was green. very quick finish, low alcohol like a session beer.

barleywine was giving me fits as it seems to be mostly done bubbling, but was only 1.035 on saturday and sunday. it's down to 1.032-ish as of this post. looked it up in the bjcp style guide and searched around for how to un-stick a fermentation. i have a feeling it's done and that the high 1.020's might not be bad. it tastes good and seems really alcoholic though it only got ~56% attenuated if you believe the gravity readings. still a bit of yeasty-pasty krausen floating on the top, so the yeast may be goofin' on me. i've put it into the downstairs bathroom with a heater on low and have had it around 70° for the last 3 days, swirling occasionally. gonna rack when i get 3 days of stable readings and/or the krausen falls. thought i might have seen some mold on the top, but it could just have been some grain husks or hop dust.