Golden Ale

Today Kyle and I did another batch. We pretty much followed this Full Sail Golden Ale clone recipe to a T.

I think we’ve gotten the hang of this pretty damn well. We can turn out a batch and be cleaned up in just over four hours, with plenty of video games during the day.

Even when we’re both hungover and tired.

Last week I dropped and shattered my hydrometer, so I don’t have any gravity readings or anything for this one. The wort tasted great, though, and since we’ve pretty much gotten the motions figured out, I’m sure this one will turn out well.

Ryle Pale Ale

Here’s the recipe I followed today:

http://www.byo.com/stories/recipeindex/article/recipes/112-specialty-a-experimental-beer/2169-rye-pale-ale

I followed it really closely, actually. Something I’ve rarely accomplished in the past.

One thing that went really well today was soaking and sparging the grains. I sparged with the exact right amount of water. Well, not technically the right amount probably, but when I rinsed the grains with the water I’d heated for sparging, I ended up with just about the exact amount that will fill my brew kettle.

The final product turned out darker than what I’d expected, but I did a vigorous boil for the entire thing, so that probably had something to do with it. Also, I couldn’t find Crystal 10L, so used Crystal 20L instead – adding to the color.

I’m hoping this turns out well as I really like rye.

Course Materials Arrived

The book for my course arrived by UPS yesterday.

I’m really excited to get to know more about this thing that I love so much. The book is quite thick and what I’ve read so far is really interesting and looks to be somewhat challenging. Which is exactly what I want, it’s just been a while since I had to try to read equations and understand them, prioritize readings, and schedule courseloads.

I know I have practically zero readers (Hi, Mego!), but this is where I’ll be posting information, updates, etc. as I go along.

Yes, I know Facebook exists. But that doesn’t really seem like the place for long, thoughtful posts about the educational process.

I’m going to School

I just submitted my registration materials to begin coursework at the Siebel Institute.

I can’t describe how excited I am.

Immigrant Bastard Experimental…beer

Ingredients

• Second runnings from Irish Imperial
• 1lb 2-Row
• 1lb 7oz Munich
• 1lb Light Malt Extract (Dry)

Notes

• Mashed in at 132F for 30min.  Previously added about 1qt of original irish imperial mash
• Conversion at 153F for 25min

Hops

• 60min 1oz Citra
• 45min 1oz Citra
• 30min .5oz Perle
• 15min .5oz  Tettnang

Imperial Irish Stout 2 – The Wreckening

Ingredients

• 9lb 2-Row
• 1lb 14oz Roasted Barley
• 1/2lb Black Patent
• 1/2lb Briess Chocolate
• 5oz Crystal 40L (4.6)
• 6lb Light Malt Extract (Dry)
• 2oz Centennial
• 1oz Cascade
• 1oz US Kent Golding
• 6oz Jameson
• 4tablets Beano

Notes

• Mashed in at 122F for 30min (temp was 127F at 15min and also at 30min)
• Conversion around 153F for 25 min
• So much grain.  Deciding to do a big beer and a little beer.  Sparging the grains for a second batch is proving to be an amusing challenge.
• 60min – 2oz Centennial
• 45min – 1oz Cascade
• 30min – 1oz US Kent Golding
• 15min – 1tsp Irish Moss

OG: 1.062

FG: 1.036