WortWort

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Yeah, yeah, been slacking

And not just in posting here, but in the brewing of beer as well.

The only beer I brewed between the last post and this was a Belgian Ale, about a month and a half ago. I've since discovered that I'm not much of a fan of most Belgian Ales, but this once turned out quite nice, if heavier than I expected. It contained more Malt Extract (9.5lbs.) plus another pound of Belgian Crystal sugar. I did a single-stage 2 week fermentation and it took about another 3 weeks in the keg for it to really develop a nice smooth flavor. What I ended up is a relatively dark, sweet and heavy ale that really can't be drunk in pint quantities. Definitely a winter ale.

Yesterday, I started on getting some New Years supplies ready. I brewed a Guiness clone so I can finally bring the Nitrogen tank back into use. I'll let it ferment for a week and then move it to secondary, meanwhile starting an IPA that same day. That way I should have two kegs of beer by the end of the year.