The good old days

Digging through a closet over the weekend I came out with a Grolsch bottle with a #8 tag on it. (This past weekend was batch #96!) So, I go to my brewlog and find out that it's an Oatmeal Stout brewed with Mr Beer hopped extract, brown sugar, steeped oats and saaz hops. Stuck it in the fridge and drank it last night. For sure, it had that extract twang, but not too bad. Not a dumper and at 7.4% ABV, a good start to the evening.

The most remarkable thing is the time it took to brew this Mr Beer.

I screwed around with a decoction this weekend. Haul stuff from basement. Crush grains. 3-1/2 hour mash time. Vorlauf. Boil. Whirlpool. Transfer. Airate. Pitch. Clean-up . . . A good 7 hour brew day!

Compared to Batch #8. May be a half hour setting up and sanitizing. A 15 minute boil. Minimal stuff to clean up.

I spend almost that much time making a starter!

 

But I bet your beer is 6 hours better than it was

 

Yes, and with the wife gone for the day, it was quite enjoyable to spend it with this great hobby.

 

I found my recipe book from 1992. It sure brought back memories. Extract and bottles. Now its grain, farming yeast, kegs..... Pounds of hops....

David The Happy brewer

 

Oohh, I found a bottle from last year. That's right you'll crack that one open Saturday at 8pm for a 50th birthday toast, correct

 

Just reading through my old brewing logs from 1993... my first beer was an "Amber", complete with "amber beer grain mix" and some mysterious "boiling hops" and "finishing hops".

I even had a bad hydrometer reading for the OG! Measured 1.036, should have been 1.052.

Then, of course, I pitched the yeast into 86 deg. F. wort, because I was afraid of contamination after waiting a whole 45 minutes for the wort to cool. I waited three days on my batch last week before pitching a yeast starter into it!

Ah, the n00biness of it all... it really was a simpler time.

-Steve

 

The last bottle of my first batch exploded this weekend because my fridge got too cold! I was so, so, bummed. But then again, it was a pretty boring pale ale. The memories tho... they are gone down the drain. I do miss the quick in the kitchen brewing. Cheers to your batch #8.

 

Why such a long mash?

 

Sounds like a triple decoction or something.

 

Yeah. When the wife's not home I get to play. Can't say that the beer is any better, but decoction is an interesting process. Not something to be done routinely.

 

I do a quadruple decoction mash (106-acid,122-protein,144-beta,153-alpha,168-mashout) for my home-malted grain bills; especially for the 60% wheat hefe. I don't think it is too much work, and carrying the boil pot between my room and the kitchen is a good workout (I'm young, though). I even did a triple decoction for the tripel that I brewed using Belgian Pilsner malt a few days ago.

I'm pretty sure that I'm a complete masochist, however...

 

I get what you're saying. I really want to try it one of these brew sessions where I'm using mostly undermodified malts like munich or vienna, just to try and get some authenticity into the brew.

 

A few months ago I was at my parent's cabin and found a bottle of my blonde way in the back of their fridge. I'd given them a 24 case with a mix, and they drank the rest so fast I thought nothing was left.

Of course I had to take the one I found for "scientific" purposes. Poured super clear, had sediment in the bottom from sitting so long (even though it was bottled from a keg). Tasted pretty good. I was suprised considering it was a light beer, almost a year old, and was bottled with a BMBF.

 

My first batch after a long hiatus of brewing got infected. It was my house ale. It turned out to be a lambic.....

I still have one PET bottle in the fridge. I'm a little afraid to open it. Its been 4 months.

I have made 50+ gallons since....

David