johnmeyers
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- Joined
- Jan 11, 2013
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Hey all!
I'm working on my first brew--I got a morebeer kit, and it came with a blonde ale. I'm at day 8 of my fermentation and the kreusen has mostly fallen. I'm loving the experience, and really learning a lot!
OG was 1.052, and now it's about 1.012. So by my math it's about 5.1% abv. Estimated OG was supposed to be 1.044-1.048 as per the kit: Is my OG a little bit high because I didn't add enough water? I pulled the grains at about 180 degrees instead of the recipes stated 170 degrees, did I add some sugars that way?
Right now, the beer has a "bite" to it, and frankly, tastes kind of like it is an 8-9% abv poorly finished brew. Tastes super yeasty, and not very hoppy. It also almost gives me a sense of carbonation--sort of hard to distinguish from perhaps a tangy flavor--infection with a acetic acid producer??? Not sure if I can describe it well. Anyways, a blonde ale probably wouldn't be my favorite beer to begin with, so maybe I'm being over critical? I know that beers condition and change dramatically, and am going to bottle this guy and see what happens no matter what but... this leads me to my next Q:
While boiling on brew day, my kettle was boiling and bubbling to the point that it seemed all the hops were getting stuck to the sides of the kettle--is it likely that I got less alpha acid isomerization/hop flavor due to this? I tried to scrape the hops back in to the kettle, but it seemed like the majority of it spent time outside the boil rather than in it. I guess a little less heat next time?
More Q's: It seems that my wine thief is a little narrow--my hydrometer "sticks" to it, it's hard to keep perfectly vertical, and then the foam at the top makes it hard to read. Is the turkey baster + cylinder method really the best way to do this? Is there a method that drips less?
Also, my (thus far) all time favorite beer is a Firestone Walker Double Jack Double IPA. I would LOVE to brew this beer, but am a little nervous about giving it a shot as my second brew ever. Would anyone be willing to convert this recipe into an extract/partial boil recipe? http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/11/ipa-clone-series-firestone-walker.html Or link me to an explanation on how to do it myself? I would LOVE to have a stockpile of cloned Firestone Walker Double Jack. The stuff is incredible.
OK, thank you all!
I'm working on my first brew--I got a morebeer kit, and it came with a blonde ale. I'm at day 8 of my fermentation and the kreusen has mostly fallen. I'm loving the experience, and really learning a lot!
OG was 1.052, and now it's about 1.012. So by my math it's about 5.1% abv. Estimated OG was supposed to be 1.044-1.048 as per the kit: Is my OG a little bit high because I didn't add enough water? I pulled the grains at about 180 degrees instead of the recipes stated 170 degrees, did I add some sugars that way?
Right now, the beer has a "bite" to it, and frankly, tastes kind of like it is an 8-9% abv poorly finished brew. Tastes super yeasty, and not very hoppy. It also almost gives me a sense of carbonation--sort of hard to distinguish from perhaps a tangy flavor--infection with a acetic acid producer??? Not sure if I can describe it well. Anyways, a blonde ale probably wouldn't be my favorite beer to begin with, so maybe I'm being over critical? I know that beers condition and change dramatically, and am going to bottle this guy and see what happens no matter what but... this leads me to my next Q:
While boiling on brew day, my kettle was boiling and bubbling to the point that it seemed all the hops were getting stuck to the sides of the kettle--is it likely that I got less alpha acid isomerization/hop flavor due to this? I tried to scrape the hops back in to the kettle, but it seemed like the majority of it spent time outside the boil rather than in it. I guess a little less heat next time?
More Q's: It seems that my wine thief is a little narrow--my hydrometer "sticks" to it, it's hard to keep perfectly vertical, and then the foam at the top makes it hard to read. Is the turkey baster + cylinder method really the best way to do this? Is there a method that drips less?
Also, my (thus far) all time favorite beer is a Firestone Walker Double Jack Double IPA. I would LOVE to brew this beer, but am a little nervous about giving it a shot as my second brew ever. Would anyone be willing to convert this recipe into an extract/partial boil recipe? http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/11/ipa-clone-series-firestone-walker.html Or link me to an explanation on how to do it myself? I would LOVE to have a stockpile of cloned Firestone Walker Double Jack. The stuff is incredible.
OK, thank you all!
