First Lager (Photos to Come)
I had a relaxing and successful brew day on Friday afternoon making my first Champagne Lager, the details of which I have recently posted. Once again, I forgot my hydrometer reading so I have no idea as to the efficiency of this batch, but I hit most of my target volumes and temperatures spot on, so I suspect it was as expected.
I used filtered Culligan water for this batch as lagers are much cleaner flavored than ales and tend to emphasize off flavors. Essentially, brewing a good lager is far more difficult than brewing a good ale; factors like water mineral content (in this case) and poor technique aren't hidden by strong ale flavors. So I have my work cut out for me. Currently, the beer is bubbling safely away in my chest freezer set to approximately 55 degrees, and will occupy that space for three or four weeks, followed by a quick stint at 70 degrees or so (called a "diacetyl rest;" meant to remove the buttery-flavored compound diacetyl produced by many lager yeasts), and a cold secondary at fridge temperature to mellow and blend the flavors.
I should be brewing my new coffee stout (Fair Trade Stout) this Saturday or Sunday, which should be my biggest beer to date (hovering around 9% near Annabelle and the Tripel). I'd like for it to reach it's prime by Christmas.
Otherwise, Molly and I plan to bottle her Irish Red very soon. Preliminary sniffs are promising. Annabelle, too, is hanging out in secondary, but will be there awhile longer. A taste of her the other day was decent: the alcohol is a little hot (needs mellowing), and the flavor isn't spot on, but it has certainly been awhile since I brewed that first batch. I have a 7 oz. bottle of the original Annabelle waiting to be compared to this batch, but characteristics of its extended aging are not going to be reflected in the newer ripe batch. Oh bother.
Michelle DeFouw, who is responsible for the run of Dierksenkougan T-shirts long ago, will be working side-by-side with me on an imaging/printing project very soon (we meet Tuesday), where she plans on printing a substantial run of professional vinyl (removable?) labels for class credit, of up to six beers, which sounds just about ideal for holiday mixed six-packs. More on that later.
Sam
PS: Photos to come from this most recent brew day. I seem to have broken my bandwidth limits for the University hosting site, something I plan on addressing with IT soon.
I used filtered Culligan water for this batch as lagers are much cleaner flavored than ales and tend to emphasize off flavors. Essentially, brewing a good lager is far more difficult than brewing a good ale; factors like water mineral content (in this case) and poor technique aren't hidden by strong ale flavors. So I have my work cut out for me. Currently, the beer is bubbling safely away in my chest freezer set to approximately 55 degrees, and will occupy that space for three or four weeks, followed by a quick stint at 70 degrees or so (called a "diacetyl rest;" meant to remove the buttery-flavored compound diacetyl produced by many lager yeasts), and a cold secondary at fridge temperature to mellow and blend the flavors.
I should be brewing my new coffee stout (Fair Trade Stout) this Saturday or Sunday, which should be my biggest beer to date (hovering around 9% near Annabelle and the Tripel). I'd like for it to reach it's prime by Christmas.
Otherwise, Molly and I plan to bottle her Irish Red very soon. Preliminary sniffs are promising. Annabelle, too, is hanging out in secondary, but will be there awhile longer. A taste of her the other day was decent: the alcohol is a little hot (needs mellowing), and the flavor isn't spot on, but it has certainly been awhile since I brewed that first batch. I have a 7 oz. bottle of the original Annabelle waiting to be compared to this batch, but characteristics of its extended aging are not going to be reflected in the newer ripe batch. Oh bother.
Michelle DeFouw, who is responsible for the run of Dierksenkougan T-shirts long ago, will be working side-by-side with me on an imaging/printing project very soon (we meet Tuesday), where she plans on printing a substantial run of professional vinyl (removable?) labels for class credit, of up to six beers, which sounds just about ideal for holiday mixed six-packs. More on that later.
Sam
PS: Photos to come from this most recent brew day. I seem to have broken my bandwidth limits for the University hosting site, something I plan on addressing with IT soon.
posted by Sam Reese at 5:32 PM
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