ITS 5 O CLOCK SOMEWHERE...
8:47 AM
Bryan
, Posted in
Well, I finally got home last night! It was actually a pretty great homecoming. I walked to my friend's house to pick up my van from the bus stop, and what do you know... my buddies Brandon and Andrew were just about to start a brew session! And had awesome beer to share! So instead of heading home to be alone all night, I got to hang out with my best buddies in Denver, help them brew a sour pumpkin ale, drink beer, and smoke a "THANK GOD I MADE IT HOME" cigarette. Yay.
So I headed home around 7:30. Not sure if it was the time difference or the fact that I had been travelling all day, but I was beat. Before I went to bed I kegged my first three batches of homebrew made from only house malted barley, and then I hit the hay.
Since I went to bed so dang early last night, I was up by 7 ready to take on the day. I was hoping to be able to wait until later today to tap the first keg, but I just could not. I figured after eating breakfast, drinking an entire pot of coffee, and watching all the Daily Show episodes from last week, I had waited long enough. Plus, I have been on the east coast for two weeks, and over there its practically lunch time. So, after months of hard work and waiting, here she is!
Since I went to bed so dang early last night, I was up by 7 ready to take on the day. I was hoping to be able to wait until later today to tap the first keg, but I just could not. I figured after eating breakfast, drinking an entire pot of coffee, and watching all the Daily Show episodes from last week, I had waited long enough. Plus, I have been on the east coast for two weeks, and over there its practically lunch time. So, after months of hard work and waiting, here she is!
My first beer from home malted barley! Here is the actual recipe I used:
4 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 66.67 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 16.67 %
1 lbs Home Amber (35.0 SRM) Grain 16.67 %
0.30 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.0 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 10.8 IBU
1 Pkgs SafBrew Ale (DCL Yeast #S-33) Yeast-Ale
So, some notes. The color is awesome, a light amber to copper hue. The head pours thick and creamy, and a small layer stays on the top all the way down. I am getting a lot of caramel, which most likely means I need to cool it on the specialties. Had I known it would be this sweet, I would have added more bittering hops. It leaves a VERY nice toasty flavor in my mouth when I have not had a sip in a while.
All in all, its a pretty good beer! No noticeable off flavors aside from the over-the-top caramel notes. Its also pretty darn clear; especially for the first pour out of the keg. I am very proud.
I will post a side by side of all three beers later tonight. I already know I need to find a better way to estimate the colors of my home malts... all of these beers, at least in the fermenter, looked exactly the same.
BREW ON, MY BROTHERS!
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