Bottling Night...

Bottled the Wheat wine and the WTFiN stout tonight. Used 2.2 volumes CO2 for each (0.8 oz of corn sugar). Got about 2-3 22 oz. bottles and 4 12 oz. bottles from each.

Wheat wine - Perfectly clear, golden yellow, smells great with a hint of honey-sweetness, moderately full mouthfeel.

Stout - Thin on the palate for what I was going for, definite nice coffee / chocolate taste, still a hint of roast although it's faded since being racked, so far OK.

First tastes in 10-14 days.

#6 - Galaxy IPA (YAMO)

Brewed the 2nd of the IPA single hop series tonight. Used Australian Galaxy hops:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/australian-galaxy-hop-pellets-1-oz.html

Should be good. Changed the malt bill slightly eliminating the biscuit malt and replacing it with wheat - Just to see what happens. Theoretically, should get better head retention and maybe(?) a slight change in body. 

Missed even bigger on the OG this time (11 brix / 1.044) and again got almost exactly one gallon out. Session IPA! 

However, I think I have figured this one out. Very little water was left after the mash despite using my usual 1 qt / lb that I normally use for a 5 gallons. Not sure if this is grain loss or just a consequence of small batch brewing. I even added 1/2 qt / lb to compensate for the lost volume that normally comes with the addition to raise the temperature for the mash. Also, I think that I am having some temperature control problems just trying to use the burner to raise the temperature that could've deactivated things. 

Next time we're going with a traditional all-grain step-infusion mash. Anyhow, recipe below:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/68030/yamo-ipa

Plan to bottle the wheat wine this weekend and maybe the first IPA. The lambic is chillin', and the mead is still fermenting...

IPA (Pitcairn) Racked...

Racked the IPA to secondary today. Little darker than what I thought it was going to be but like the taste so far. The citra flavor and bitterness stand out and are easy to pick up. Not a ton of hop aroma though. Will have to see if/how this changes once it gets bottled  - hopefully next week.

Think for the future batches I may change from using three 1/3 oz at each addition to using a four 1/4 oz. additions with the fourth being a dry hop in secondary.

#5 - Citra IPA (Pitcairn)

Brewed the first of the single hop series tonight. Things I like in an IPA: nice hop flavor with good bitterness, which should be complemented by a smooth, full backbone. Used the crystal for body and some caramel notes, biscuit and carapils for a little more fullness and maybe even a hint of bready flavors.

While I normally enjoy more complex hop flavors, the whole point of this is seeing how each one tastes with the same yeast and malt bill. Granted I may make minor adjustments along the way to the malt bill to try and optimize the flavors. 

Recipe below:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/66450/pitcairn-ipa

OG - 1.053. Not sure why this one fell short because the volume looks about right and I really tried to calculate out the proper volumes. May be the BIAB technique. Will get a better sense once it's racked to secondary.

Next four brew will be IPAs. 10% of the way to 50 beers!

Stout Racked

Racked the #4 stout to secondary today. Gravity has dropped, but due to volume control issues it looks like it's only going to come in at about 3.5% ABV. Color is good. Taste so far I would say is OK. Not as chocolatey as I had hoped and a little too roasty, also maybe some off flavors from so much chocolate malt.

Other beers update: Probably going to bottle the #1 wheat wine this week. The lambic and mead are still visibly fermenting in the secondary.

Next up: IPA single-hop series - Planning on starting with the Citra. Made a starter with the yeast for the IPAs so I can split it up for the 5 batches. Hopefully get that one done Wednesday night.

Paradisi Racked

Racked the grapefruit mead to secondary today. And after a week in the bucket I have to say that this one smells and tastes great. There is a definite smell of grapefruit on the nose and the taste is sweet with a hint of molasses from the darker honey - the grapefruit kicks in at the end and sort of balances it all out. Probably another month or so in the jug before bottling this one.

#4 - Chocolate Stout (WTFiN)

And not just any chocolate stout. For this one I used chocolate and honey malt in high amounts (10% of the grain bill each). Limited the roast malts because I never like a very roasty stout and used the carapils / crystal for a thicker body. 

Overall, was aiming for a very sweet, savory stout that is pitch black in color. I also added some cocoa nibs at flame out for more of a chocolate kick. Cocoa nibs are very intense with a fair amount of bitterness when eaten alone so only used 1 oz. Recipe below:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/65565/wtfin-chocolate-stout

OG: 1.04 - Off from the estimated 1.059 but it works out with 1.5 gallon yield (closer to what I had). Have ended up with more than 1 gallon going into secondary with the last two - Oops.