iea at 1.018 still, ready to rack

70% attenuation (apparent). rack after nap? we'll see...

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.