Bottled the Vienna Lager

So i bottled the Vienna Lager yesterday. Finished at 1.014 which is a little higher than i expected but right in the range for the German Bock yeast i used. I didn't have the autolysis character that i expected it would have which is a HUGE bonus. Instead it had a strong sulfur note to it that i must have mistaken for autolysis. It certainly wasn't bad at all. Now we go another week until the Dortmunder needs to be racked which will leave my primary open for business!

Happy Brewing,
Padge

Holdin' Steady

The Dortmunder is stayin' right there at 50-51 degrees which is kinda nice. Wish i had started there in the first place though. It'll probably still finish but it's certainly going to take all 3 weeks in the primary to finish it.

A new problem has arisen: what to brew next? Should i go for a hybrid like a Cal Common or Kolsch or go straight to the ales? So many choices!

Happy Brewing,
Padge

Up to Speed

OK people, lets get up to speed on current events.

My 21st batch, a Vienna Lager, is lagering in my garage. Has been for 2 weeks now. Probably will bottle in about a week. Unfortunately there's a hint of soap which means that it's probably yeast autolysis. Needless to say i'm pissed. All i can hope for is that i'm overreacting. May i also mention that this was on a batch of repitched yeast? Second time now with the autolysis on the repitches. This is getting out of hand.

Batch 22, a Dortmunder Export, is in the primary now and has been for about a week now. Me, like a moron, didn't control the fermentation temp and it skyrocketed from 52 to 58 degrees in one night. No thanks to a warm spell in March in Maine! That just doesn't happen! So instead of keeping it the same temp i crashed it over about 1.5 days back down to 50 degrees. Of course when i do that it's goodbye krausen. It'll probably be ok. It's just frustrating not to be able to control the temps. The yeast was all nice and happy at 58 and i had to go lowering it on them.

It seems that no matter what i do, something will go wrong on each batch. Or maybe i'm over-analyzing it. To tell you the truth i don't think anyone knows. So here's hoping the next one comes out ok.

Happy Brewing,
Padge

Beginnings

I've been brewing for a little over two years. And with 22 batches brewed, 20 bottled, 8 fully consumed and lost to all but my memory and my homebrew log I have finally started to write about it. It all started with a ready-made kit from the homebrew shop. Just like any other beginning brewer there were mistakes - even in an extract batch. The first, and most painful in hindsight, was that I used the yeast from the kit. It hurts just thinking about it. Since then i've moved on to liquid yeast and yeast starters and all is good in the hood. After the first kit it only took me one more batch to move to mini-mash brewing. Started with 3# a batch and moved up to 4# from there. 13 batches and 20 months - to the day I might add - later I started the inevitable move to all-grain. And with 7 all-grain brew days behind me I maybe now have a grasp of what i need to do.

So my plan is this: write about my homebrew life and all the challenges, frustrations, triumphs and pure ecstasies that come with this amazing hobby. My hope is to educate, entertain and maybe even excite you about a world that you may know all to well or not well at all. And maybe, if i'm lucky, educate myself. And thus begins my homebrew blog.

Happy Brewing,
Padge