January 21, 2006
The Labor of Love Continues
Mmmm, beer…
The pipeline is full. In the rear is the Irish Red Ale, which spent 2 weeks in the primary fermenter, and has now been transferred to the secondary fermenter. In the front is the Phat Tyre Amber Ale, which I just started brewing today. In two weeks, I bottle the Irish Red and transfer the Amber to the secondary. Two weeks later, I start drinking the Irish Red while bottling the Amber.
Based on what I learned the first time around, and since I didn’t need to spend as much time reading directions, I managed to cut the time to brew from about 3 hrs 45 min down to under 3 hrs. And that included transferring the Irish Red to the secondary fermenter, as I was able to do that while the Amber was boiling. And despite a bit of water-spray all over the kitchen due to a loose clamp on the wort chiller (note: don’t tell the wife about that!), the Amber seems to be off to a great start. I used the advice in the book I bought, and actually strained the particulate matter out of the wort when putting it into the secondary, so I should get more actual beer when I make the transfer in two weeks.
But the best part of the whole process? When checking the alcohol content of the Irish Red using a hydrometer (it’s around 4%), I took a nice long sniff of it. It’s really starting to smell like a very, very nice beer. I thought about tasting it, but quickly thought better of it.
The most interesting part of the process? Trying to decipher what confusion was occurring in the dogs’ minds… I swear that Guinness, living up to his namesake, told me it smells like beer and he wanted some!
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I’m glad you are having fun, Brad.
Brewing beer is a lot of fun. I’ve done it in the past and it’s great. It’s fun to do and fun to drink your own beer. Now, you just need to brew yourself a real beer, something that will put hair on your chest! A Czech pilsner. There’s nothing finer!
I’m thinking a Belgian Tripel. I’m sure two of those would knock me silly…
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Two Irish guys are sitting at home, drinking their bathtub whiskey. The first one says, “Shamos, this is some good whiskey!” The second one says “How can you tell, Sean?”
“Because I’m blind.”