Here is the story...
I had a brewers best kit for a scotch ale. I decided to modify it based off of some recommendations that I found on the forums somewhere. The recipe looked like this:
3.3 Lbs Amber LME
3 Lbs Light DME
1 Lbs Amber DME
5 oz Crystal 60L
5 oz Chocolate Malt
5 oz Roasted Barley
5 oz Smoked Malt
1 oz Cascade Hops
1 oz Fuggles Hops
Lallemand Windsor Yeast
Brew day 2/7/12 went well, had an OG of 1.055. The next week I left for Kentucky where I was able to buy some oak staves used to make Makers Mark 46. On my way back home, I got a call from my family telling me my brother was stuck in Puerto Rico with a life threatening illness and they are not sure if he was going to make it. So I rushed to Puerto Rico with my wife. My brother had an illness called SJS\TEN (look it up if you're interested, it is a horrible condition). After a bit of a roller coaster he pulled through and is going to be all right. I arrive back home on 2/26/12 to a FREEZING cold house. I look at my temperature on the carboy and it says 50!! I figure since it was in there so long it should be close to done. I bottled another beer that was finished fermenting before I left and got ready to take a gravity reading of my scotch ale. Well I broke my hydrometer.... nice..... so I racked the scotch ale to my secondary over top of the oak staves without getting a gravity reading. Yesterday I picked up another hydrometer and took a reading and it said 1.025. Since I racked it on top of the oak I am wondering if I should get another pouch of Windsor yeast and re-pitch to try and get the gravity a little lower. I tasted it and it does taste a little sweet. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I had a brewers best kit for a scotch ale. I decided to modify it based off of some recommendations that I found on the forums somewhere. The recipe looked like this:
3.3 Lbs Amber LME
3 Lbs Light DME
1 Lbs Amber DME
5 oz Crystal 60L
5 oz Chocolate Malt
5 oz Roasted Barley
5 oz Smoked Malt
1 oz Cascade Hops
1 oz Fuggles Hops
Lallemand Windsor Yeast
Brew day 2/7/12 went well, had an OG of 1.055. The next week I left for Kentucky where I was able to buy some oak staves used to make Makers Mark 46. On my way back home, I got a call from my family telling me my brother was stuck in Puerto Rico with a life threatening illness and they are not sure if he was going to make it. So I rushed to Puerto Rico with my wife. My brother had an illness called SJS\TEN (look it up if you're interested, it is a horrible condition). After a bit of a roller coaster he pulled through and is going to be all right. I arrive back home on 2/26/12 to a FREEZING cold house. I look at my temperature on the carboy and it says 50!! I figure since it was in there so long it should be close to done. I bottled another beer that was finished fermenting before I left and got ready to take a gravity reading of my scotch ale. Well I broke my hydrometer.... nice..... so I racked the scotch ale to my secondary over top of the oak staves without getting a gravity reading. Yesterday I picked up another hydrometer and took a reading and it said 1.025. Since I racked it on top of the oak I am wondering if I should get another pouch of Windsor yeast and re-pitch to try and get the gravity a little lower. I tasted it and it does taste a little sweet. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
