After taking my first gravity reading (currently at 1.035) from 1.066 original gravity) for the chocolate stout I just had to take a sample and I must pat myself  on the back on this one, it is pure  chocolaty goodness! I was a bit worried about the flavor profile for this  batch as I used  about a 1/4 of a White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004) due to the vial exploding all over  my hands when I opened  it! (shake gently and open slowly!!) To be sure  of proper yeast cell  count I added the only  yeast I had on hand at the time, the Safale US-05 which is a basic, nutrual ale yeast. Mixing two different yeast should in theory create a funky flavor profile that is not desirable in your beers. Although I may be missing some of the Irish Ale Yeast smokey flavors, the beer tastes great  with a huge chocolate backing. I think I will save  some of these for  the upcoming 2009 Valentine’s Day goodness!

I will update once flocculation is complete and I am ready to bottle, which should be soon. Pics from the brew day have been uploaded here!

Also, just a quick note regarding the self adhesive duct insulation (Frost King) that I wrapped around my 5 gallon mash tun, it worked like a charm! Held the temp steady for an hour with no additional water additions. Highly recommened as a cheap solution to buying a whole new cooler for your mash!

It’s time for me to brew again & this time I will be attempting my first chocolate stout! Should be a perfect recipe just in time for the fall & winter months to come! Here’s the ingredient list:

3 lbs. Dark DME (Dry Malt Extract)

4 lbs. Amber DME

1 lb. Chocolate Malt

1 lb. Roasted Barley

0.5 lb. Black Patent Malt

0.5 lb. Munich Malt

2 oz. Mt. Hood Hops

I will be doing a partial mash for this recipe & I may add more hops to play around with the hopping schedule a bit. Brewing tomorrow 08/09/08 I will post more either during the brewday or shortly afterwards.

Made another overhaul to my mash tun cooler by adding self adhesive duct insulation (Frost King) that I had in storage. Available at any hardware store, picked mine up at Home Depot for around 10 bucks. I will be testing it in the next few days to see how the temperature holds up. Also will be brewing a chocolate stout soon so look forward to that!

Finally had a chance to sample my Belgian Ale & I must admit it tastes pretty damn good for being such a young beer. What I mean by “young” is that it has only been in the bottle for one month, this beer should be bottle conditioned for at least 2-3 months to mature. I will keep you all updated when I sample once again.

This past Saturday I primed and bottled the Belgian Abbey Ale mentioned below. My effeciency was crap on this one (around 55%) and I will be revisiting this recipe soon. This beer should have turned out much stronger than it did.

With an OG of 1.055 and a finish of 1.010 this should result in just above 5% ABV. I’m not too concerned about the ABV really, it’s just that this style reflects a certian taste and alcohol strength that I wanted to match. I love Belgian Ales and will get this one right! Practice makes perfect!

Although I still think this beer will turn out great, it’s just not what I was shooting for.

Belgian Abbey Ale

Size: 5.16 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation:75.0%
Calories: 424.78 per 22 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.069 (1.026 - 1.120)

Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (0.995 - 1.035)

Color: 12.1 (1.0 - 50.0)

Alcohol:6.85% (2.5% - 14.5%)
Bitterness: 40.38 (0.0 - 100.0)
Ingredients:
1.0 lbs American Munich
4 lbs American 2-row
1 oz American Black Patent (490L)
6.6 lbs Liquid Light Extract
1 oz Willamette (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.5 oz Chinook (12.2%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Willamette (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.15 min

1 ea White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale

After buying the ingredients it shows that my ingredients are slightly different than what I wrote in the post below. I am using a Trappist Yeast (WLP500) and added a half ounce  of  Chinook only because it was leftovers from my previous batch. This did not affect the recipe hardly at all and needed to be used so I figured what the hell! Also replaced the 1oz of Chocolate Malt with leftover Black Patent.

I’ve been wanting to try a new recipe lately and thought a Belgian style would be fun. Here is the recipe and ingredients list:

Yeast: Wyeast 1214 or White Labs WLP500

Original Target Gravity: 1.062

Final Target Gravity: 1.008

IBU:24

Boiling Time: 70 minutes

Grain (partial mash):

6.6 lbs. light LME

4 lbs. American 2 Row

1 lbs. Munich Malt

1 oz. Chocolate Malt

Mash for 1 hour at 154 degrees

Hops:

1 oz. Mt. Hood at 60 minutes

1 oz. Mt. Hood at 15 minutes

Picking up the ingredients this week and will update when ready to brew!

My new beer label for my bastardized Kolsch recipe courtesy of Greg Barnett over at http://www.rocknmotion.com and http://www.thestudiobar.net/index2.php

Thanks again dude! Cheers to you!

Bottled my bastardized Kolsh on February 10th and will post an update after the first sampling in a week or two. As far as my American Style Bock is concerned (see below), it may be a bust. I used the Munton’s yeast that came with the kit and should have known better. I believe the off flavor, sour bitterness comes from that yeast strain. Next extract kit that I make, I will be sure to replace the cheap dry yeast with a good strain or simply go with a White Labs liquid yeast strain. I am holding on to hope wit the Bock and will sit on the bottles for another month or two to see if the sour bitterness settles out. Time will tell!