Wow, I haven't brewed for almost 5 months. Makes me sad. Between work, school, kiddos, and all the other excuses I could think of I haven't been brewing. Heck, I couldn't even motivate myself to rack my last pale ale of the yeast in the plastic carboy into glass, much less bottle it. We will see if the oxygenation or autolysis monsters bite me.
So back to brewing! I dug out a AHS double chocolate stout kit that is I don't know how old. At least 6-8 months! Hmm, 8 month already crushed grains- didn't think it would do well. This was my first partial mash since going all grain last spring. Like I said- back to basics. Oh, and I used yeast (wlp 013) that I harvested last year. Actually, December 07. I did a starter last month, got lazy, stuck it in the fridge, repeated this about 3 times.
Everything went well, hit my volumes, and, surprisingly, my gravity right on the head. Then I noticed I forgot to add my coco powder. No biggie, just boiled a cup of water and mixed it in, then poured into the carboy.
Seeing as I used ancient ingredients, and was somewhat lax on my sanitation, I can't complain. My OG was perfect, as was my volume, and everything was bubbling away within 12 hours. Smelled great while boiling. Just what I needed. Time to fill the pipeline back up!!
So back to brewing! I dug out a AHS double chocolate stout kit that is I don't know how old. At least 6-8 months! Hmm, 8 month already crushed grains- didn't think it would do well. This was my first partial mash since going all grain last spring. Like I said- back to basics. Oh, and I used yeast (wlp 013) that I harvested last year. Actually, December 07. I did a starter last month, got lazy, stuck it in the fridge, repeated this about 3 times.
Everything went well, hit my volumes, and, surprisingly, my gravity right on the head. Then I noticed I forgot to add my coco powder. No biggie, just boiled a cup of water and mixed it in, then poured into the carboy.
Seeing as I used ancient ingredients, and was somewhat lax on my sanitation, I can't complain. My OG was perfect, as was my volume, and everything was bubbling away within 12 hours. Smelled great while boiling. Just what I needed. Time to fill the pipeline back up!!