Adding to the recipe.

Went out on Saturday afternoon and picked up an ounce of Centennial hop pellets, as well as a pound of Crushed Crystal malt.  I'll have a more specific version of my recipe later this week, once I get the chance to sit down and calculate everything out.

We sampled the rest of my "sample bottles" of the first batch at my workplace yesterday.  Comments ranged from "smooth" to "not super hoppy" but everyone seemed to dig it.  One co-worker admitted that he could "drink this all afternoon."  Another thought that it almost seemed to be close to a sour ale (like in the vein of Magic Hat's 'Odd Notion') and we chalked that up to the yeast I used.

I'm not going to touch the other bottles for at least another week or so, if only to see how much better it gets.  It was brought to my attention that I actually underfilled the bottles.

Check up, and pumpkins.

It's been a few days since we bottled the beer.  I checked it yesterday morning -- no sign of carbonation yet.  I know I shouldn't expect it this soon, but I figured since I'm keeping track of the batch like this, I should make a note of it.  Nothing's exploded, so I presume all is going well.

I got to thinking about future batches of beer.  My future sister-in-law has mentioned her love of Harvest Moon lately, and it got me to wondering: what are they using to impart the pumpkin flavor in there?

I suppose you could steep pumpkin in some boiling water and strain the hell out of it, and add the wort to it for primary fermentation.  My other thought was roasting pumpkin seeds and steeping those in a mesh bag during secondary, although that might give more of a nutty flavor than a pumpkin flavor.

Bottling Day!

The Mrs. and I got up this morning, and after reading the Sunday paper and watching some tv, we headed over to my apartment and bottled the beer.

I expected this to go fairly smooth, and it did -- though I did note a couple of issues.

1. The "spring tip" mechanism that comes with the True Brew kit SUCKS.  It's not the worst thing ever made, but due to the physical construction of it, it'll stick at an angle.  And when it does that, you had better take note and shake the bottling tube so it rights itself.  Otherwise, you have non-stop beer coming out, and you're going to have a mess.

2. Towels are essential.  

3. The grommet device that supposedly "seals" the spigot into the True Brew bucket?  It leaks.  At least mine did.  I didn't lose much beer, but still...see number 2.

4. With the kit, you have the siphoning tube (flexible), one straight (harder) tube that goes into the liquid you're siphoning, and the other straight tube with the spring tip (see number 1).  The flexible tubing does NOT WANT TO WORK with anything you're going to hook it up to.  I should have tested this before hand.  I didn't.  It sucks when you're trying to jam a piece of this tubing onto the bucket spigot and the spring-tip tube for easier bottling -- especially when...well, see number 3.

5. I have not yet learned how to completely clean a used carboy.  I can sanitize with the best of them.  However, I'm not sure how to go about cleaning the leftover crap from a carboy; I'm referring to the scum left over from the krausen.  

6. I can see why this process, overall, would be much easier in a large garage that had a sink in it.  And a floor drain.  And beer.

The Mrs. assisted with the bottling, which was great, given that it would have taken me that much longer to get everything done.  (She also went so far as to mop the kitchen floor for me post-bottling, which was huge.  It's the first time it's been mopped in probably a couple of months.)

Really, for the most part, it all went well, and we were done in about an hour and a half's time.  That's taking our time, too, so hurray for us.

Now all the bottles (42 regular size, and 4 Sierra Nevada ones that are my "testers" for the upcoming weeks) are residing in my bathtub (on the chance something goes awry and one explodes, fingers crossed). 

Next step: to finalize the recipe for my next batch, which will be brewed on Labor Day.