Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Batch #8 was a BUST! :(

Sampled the stuff tonight ... YUCK!! That nasty fermenting smell is still there as soon as I popped the top.

Ok. First off. I can drink damn near any beer. BUT!!

That stuff smelled like dog piss! No joke there!

So yeah. I couldn't suck down a full bottle. Going to save a few and let them sit.

But honestly .. how good could aged dog piss taste?!?!

After making it I read that most use Apple Juice and not Cider. Wonder if that was a part of the cause or if it was the short spike in fermenting temp.

Bottled Batch #9 - Honey Wheat

Well it has been a little over two weeks and the fermentation has not budged from 1.016 in the last 3 days.

Time to prep the soldiers. Here they are sanitized, primed, and ready for their mission!



And After:


Notice the Mr. Beer bottle. That's my trub/carb test bottle :)

Now after all the fun comes the fun task of cleaning YUCK!

I'll be working on a new label I think for this batch and new name. Need something a little more original.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Bottled Batch #8 & Brewed Batch #9

Well today I started another batch of my favorite Honey Wheat. 5 gallon size.

  • 6.6 lb of Wheat extract (Muntons)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 12oz Honey
  • 2 oz Hallertauer Hops (60 min)
  • Pitched with Wyeast 3056 with a 4hr swell.
Everything seemed to go as planned. Pitched the yeast at 80°F and it's now sitting at 74°F. Hope to get it down to about 70°F and keep it there.

OG: 1.068

Yesterday:
I decided to check the SG of the hard cider and it was already down to 0.996. That was VERY fast. Only 6 days. I'm hoping it didn't go bad. Had a funny smell but I have heard ciders smell funny. Tasted ok but the Mr Beer cider I brewed last took a while for the flavor to mellow out. I'm hoping this one didn't go bad. So I bottled it up and hope it turns out ok.

This would give the Hard Cider an ABV of 8.5% A bit more then I intended :)

Monday, October 5, 2009

Musselman's Hard Cider

Well it has been a while. With the new baby and the hot summer temperatures I just didn't find myself brewing for a while.

But Last night came Batch #08

Batch #08:
Musselman's Hard Cider (MB Size)

2.5 - Gal of Apple Cider
1.25 - Tsp of Yeast Nutrient
1 - Packet of Red Star Champagne Yeast
OG - 1.061

Simple Simple Simple. Sterilized. Poured in the cider at room temp. Added Yeast nutrient. Pitched Yeast. Put the lid on and done!

Here is a picture of the Cider used.


Next up will be another batch of the Honey Wheat by request from my Father-in-law :)