Red Clay
Well-Known Member
My first batch finished burping this weekend, so I took a sample this evening. It's been fermenting 12 days and has been in secondary for about seven days.
I'd say it tastes like warm, flat, hoppy ale. I suppose that's what it supposed to taste like. I'm just glad there are no noticeable off flavors or smells yet!
My wife refused to taste it until later...she wanted to see if I survived and didn't want to leave the kids completely orphaned!
The FG was dead nuts on at 1.015 (based on QBrew).
It was a Extract / Steeped grain recipe from Radical Brewing (Yellow Diamond Belgian Pale Ale). I don't think I hit the color right, as it looks a little dark to me to be a pale ale. I brewed a little concentrated and then diluted, so I guess that might explain the darker color. Here's a picture of it in the Hydro tube.
I figured I'd leave it in the secondary for another 12 days or so, then bottle it off. I'm still not sure why conditioning in the fermenter is different than conditioning in a bottle, but I'll not question experienced advice!
Here's the recipe for those that are interested:
Recipe Belgian Ale
Style Belgian Specialty Ale
Batch 5.00 gal
Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.059 OG Estimated FG 1.015 FG
Recipe Bitterness 41 IBU Alcohol by Volume 5.9%
Recipe Color 12° SRM Alcohol by Weight 4.6%
Ingredients
2.00 lb Amber D.M.E. extract
3.00 lb Light D.M.E. extract
0.50 lb Crystal 30L steeped
1.00 lb Belgian aromatic steeped
1.50 lb Belgian candi sugar extract
1.00 oz Northern Brewer pellet 85 minutes
1.00 oz Saaz pellet 85 minutes
1.00 oz Saaz pellet 10 minutes
I'd say it tastes like warm, flat, hoppy ale. I suppose that's what it supposed to taste like. I'm just glad there are no noticeable off flavors or smells yet!
My wife refused to taste it until later...she wanted to see if I survived and didn't want to leave the kids completely orphaned!
The FG was dead nuts on at 1.015 (based on QBrew).
It was a Extract / Steeped grain recipe from Radical Brewing (Yellow Diamond Belgian Pale Ale). I don't think I hit the color right, as it looks a little dark to me to be a pale ale. I brewed a little concentrated and then diluted, so I guess that might explain the darker color. Here's a picture of it in the Hydro tube.
I figured I'd leave it in the secondary for another 12 days or so, then bottle it off. I'm still not sure why conditioning in the fermenter is different than conditioning in a bottle, but I'll not question experienced advice!
Here's the recipe for those that are interested:
Recipe Belgian Ale
Style Belgian Specialty Ale
Batch 5.00 gal
Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.059 OG Estimated FG 1.015 FG
Recipe Bitterness 41 IBU Alcohol by Volume 5.9%
Recipe Color 12° SRM Alcohol by Weight 4.6%
Ingredients
2.00 lb Amber D.M.E. extract
3.00 lb Light D.M.E. extract
0.50 lb Crystal 30L steeped
1.00 lb Belgian aromatic steeped
1.50 lb Belgian candi sugar extract
1.00 oz Northern Brewer pellet 85 minutes
1.00 oz Saaz pellet 85 minutes
1.00 oz Saaz pellet 10 minutes