OK Guys and Gals,
Thanks again for stopping by and making
the big brew 2005 such a tremendous success. Between the music, the
brats, the burgers, and the weather, it was just one heck of an interesting and
enjoyable day. All told, I believe we brewed up close to 50 gallons of
bitter wort that is currently being turned to beer by our crew of happy
yeast! Yep, those guys paid me a little visit and I believe the huge
porter is almost finished!
One of my buddies asked me how the brew
went and I may have seemed confused. The recipe from Zymurgy seemed a
little weird. Everything pointed out a 100+ IBU beer which is a wee bit beyond
the top range?
My brew was approximately 1.0?? If I
took gravity readings, I could tell you better. I used 30 pounds of grain
and normally this would achieve OG of 1.075. During cleanup, the false
bottom in the brew kettle only had about 4-5 inches of spent aromatic hops.
The remainder of the hop bill fit into the hop back which finally came back
into service after a long rest. It probably held 4-5 ounces. I
guess you could call this a fairly hoppy beer.
During the cooling phase, I called Steve
Piatz into the room to get a whiff from the fermenters. There is always
something special about the aromas from a carboy and after a trip through the
hop back, the aroma was very
special.
I never had time to get out or write up a
score card for the club cooler. A few folks asked early questions about
the beer but soon learned what was available and which they liked better.
Oh yeah, the event was also covered by a
reporter from the
The final mistake of the day was placing
the bourbon barrel barley wine on tap for about 45 minutes. Needless to
say, Sunday was a very very slow day.
Take care.
MHBA Member at Large