Brewing Day!

Today was the official brew day, as planned.  Before we get into that, let's get into more beer -- my first batch.

We tried it again, and it hadn't changed a whole lot from the last tasting.  More malt than hops; still more sourness from the yeast.  Not a bad ale, but not an IPA.  My sister was not a big fan, but the fiance and my friend Matt seemed to like it.  I'll let it sit for a while and see how it goes in another couple of weeks.

The brewing.  Easier than last time, but not without slight complications.

I started by steeping one pound of crushed crystal malt for about half an hour in 2.5 gallons of water.  This gave the wort a nice malty smell, and once I kept the water to just under a boil, I added six pounds of Munton's Light DME.  This boiled over (hurray!  first time!) and then I let it go for about 45 minutes or so.

I added two ounces of Super Styrians at the beginning of a 60-minute countdown.  Hurray, another boilover.  This was to be the last one, thank god.

I then added one ounce of Willamettes at the 30 minute point, and one ounce of Centennials at the 10 minute point.

At the final three to five minutes, I added two good pinches of Irish Moss, and then added a half-cup of honey along with 32 ounces of Grade A maple syrup.

I was going to use liquid yeast once I cooled down the wort and added it to the carboy.  I failed to read the directions on the back of the smack pack which said to make a culture three hours in advance.  Instead, I grabbed a packet of Munton's Gold dry yeast which had been in the fridge, activated that in some hot water, and added it to the carboy.

The wort now sits in my sink.  I figure that if there's any blowover, it can go right into the sink and make cleanup slightly easier.

Pictures to come tomorrow.  It's late and I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm hitting the sack.