01/18/2008: "Brewblogue: Compulsory Stout"
Listening to: nothingCurrent mood: cripe I'm exhausted
Water: 5 or so Gallons filtered Hillcrest tap water
Grain:
- 7lbs British Pale 2-row
- 6oz Roasted Barley
- 5oz Crystal 40
- 5oz Crystal 80
- 4oz Chocolate Malt
Yeast: Yeast cake from Scottish 80/-
Hops: 1.2oz East Kent Goldings @ 80 minutes
Mashed at ~152° for 60 minutes. Boiled ~80 minutes.
OG: 1.061
So for some damn reason I decided I ought to make beer today, even though deep down (and at the surface for that matter) I really just felt like sitting on my butt and playing video games. But I told myself that during the downtime I could fire up the Wii and fit in a few sessions here and there. Of course, the main reason I brewed today was so I could bottle the 80/- and not let the yeast cake go to waste (last time I saved yeast in a jar in the fridge it did not work out...), which meant that in the downtime from brewing I was busy washing bottles, filling bottles, sanitizing things, all that malarkey.
Anyway, I've been in the mood for things that are brownish in colour lately and the little store down the road where I generally buy stuff has been in the mood to sell things that are, well, IPAs lately so I decided to do a stout. And since after two batches I figure that yeast cake is probably to the point that it could eat through leather, I decided on a foreign extra stout due to the rather high gravity. And 7 or so hours later it's in the carboy and I'm tired and have played no video games. Which is a shame because I've got a decent stack to get through before the next wave drops in late March (for the non-gamers out there, all the A-list video games are basically released in big chunks all at the same time with long painful droughts in between). But I guess at least I'll have beer to drink whenever I actually get some gaming in.
Meanwhile, I gave the Scottish 80/- a taste when I was checking the gravity (and bottling and other aforementioned malarkey) and that there seems to be some good stuff. Did I ever mention that the mild is good too? Not malty enough (too low on the mash temp) but still pretty tasty. And very drinkable. Anyway, we're off to LA for a fun filled day of nerdery tomorrow, so maybe I'll blog about that if it proves interesting. For now, I gotta get some sleep.
Replies: 4 Comments
and a nerdy day it will be tomorrow. I might have to bring my manga along to keep from getting bored =)
[lynnea] on Friday, January 18th
*cough* Wait, is that your way of saying you're not nerdy?
[5c11] on Friday, January 18th
I'm super cool, I don't know the meaning of the word nerdy =)
[Lynnea] on Friday, January 18th
Okay, you need to track down Uthel's Hop-It. It's a super-hoppy Belgian golden ale inspired by PNW IPAs. It beats down De Ranke XX Bitter and steals it's crown as "hoppiest beer in Belgium."
[Zac] on Sunday, March 30th
