Fermentation notes dead ringer IPA

Kept around 68-69F with swamp cooler. Bubbling from blow off in about 6 hours. Fermentation took off around 12 though with krausen forming. Swamp cooler is workimg well with ambient around 72.
Smells amazing, Centennial stank bomb. Plan to let it ride in primary for a month or so then dry hop a week prior to bottling. Turns of hop gunk in the ferm but will hopefully settle out over time.

Dead Ringer IPA brewed 12/16/13 and general brew notes

So i brewed a dead ringer extract kit from Northern Brewer that i got as part of a great black friday deal. Some things to note as i havent brewed in a while:

1) Boil volumes and pitching temps:

So i was guessing at my old method of using a certain boil volume and certain amount of cold water to mix after wort cooling to hit an ~ 65-70 F ideal pitching temp.  I bought a total of 5.5 gallons of publix spring water for brewing as i have used this much in the past. Of the 5.5, i chilled 3 gallons in the fridge that i planned to use ~ 2.5-2.75 of to add cold to the fermentor (6.5 gal better bottle). I wanted to shoot for a ~3.5 gallon total boil volume (INCLUDING ~.75 gallon LME) so i added about
2.75 gallons of room temp water to pot. I was estimating about .75 gal or so boil off during the hour plus steeping and boiling process.

It turned out just about right. I estimated i lost a lil more than 1gallon due to a reason ill elaborate below.

Once i cooled the wort in ice bath (2 small publix bags x 25 minutes in sink). I added the cooled wort to two gallons of fridge cold bottled spring water. This put me at ~ 71F and it appeared that i was a lil under what i think the 5 gallon mark on the better bottle. So i added ~ .25 gallons additional cold water which dropped the temp to around 69F. My rehydrated dry us-05 yeast was right about 65-70F at this time, so right about the same temp as the wort like i wanted.

2) My new 5 gallon pot from Northern Brewer:

One minor issue with this pot: the shape of the bottom is indented except around the very edge. God knows why they designed it this way, prob something to do with cooking. Anyway, this was a minor issue on my ceramic flat stove as it prevented directed contact between the pot bottom and stovetop. This meant it took FOREVER to get it to boiling on max heat. This also is what i think translated into a little more boil off than expected. Which in the end was fine as i need to use extra cold water to hit the pitching temp anyway. I solved this problem by cracking a beer and relaxing while it got hot. A side bonus was that i didnt have to really watch for boil over as keenly as normal.

3) Yeast rehydration:

Given that i hadnt brewed in a while i relooked into how to properly rehydrate yeast. The instructions have changed a lil for safale us-05. If i do any smaller beers than 1050 OG ill prob just pitch dry for simplicity sake. In this case the OG was a lik higher and i was feeling anal so i rehydrated by:

1) boil half cup TAP water (not filtered etc, ive heard the yeast prefer water with minerals etcc)

2) pour in sanitized jar

3) Chill down to about 85F per fermentis

4) Sprinkle yeast, let sit 15 min, do not stir

5) Stir in yeast (temp now about 75F from ambient cooling), wait another 15 ( note wort is cooling simultaneously)

6) Temp now about 65-70 ( my therm scale doesnt go this low so im guessing by look method) and is attemperated to my ~69F wort.

TIPS TO MYSELF FROM THIS BREW:
1. 3.5 gal initial boil volume including LME with a 30 min wort cool and about 2 to 2.25 cold water will hit my pitching temp

2. 30 minute rehydration starting at 85F  will hit pitching temp

Back in the game son

So after a long hiatus due to grad school, starting work (alot), getting wifed up, and all types of other shiz i finally brewed something up. Given that my apartment stays 75+ in day time and im strapped for time Apfelwein was the natural choice to ease back in. I used:

5.5+ gallons kirkland signature fresh pressed apple juice (100% apple juice nuthin else)
~1.33 lbs corn sugar (goin med gravity somethin like 7-8% abv by the end)
1.5 packs montrachet yeast

Locked up the cats, got the old equipment out, followed Edworts tried n true recipe and boom.

Im thinking this will be the party favor for whatever xmas party happens this year

Gonna sit it until then.

Cheers!

Bottling Notes, Porter, 04apr2010

Bottled with 3/4 cup (about 4 oz.) or corn sugar shooting for around 2.3 volumes CO2. Came ut with about 49 x 12 oz bottles.

OG: 1.051

FG: 1.017

% attenuation: 66%

% abv: 4.4%

cals/12oz: 170

I bottled this later (almost 5 weeks) than I usually do just do to procrastination and other things.

Brewing Notes, Edwort's Apfelwein, 16mar2010

Made first batch of apfelwein from Edwort's easy recipe on homebrewtalk forums. Only adjustment I made was to add an additional gallon of apple juice since my carboy is 6 gallons (as opposed to a 5 gallon used in the recipe) and I didn't want alot of headspace.

OG came out a little lower at 1.061 as I only had 2 lbs. of corn sugar/dextrose (the ratio in the recipe would have call for ~2.4 lbs), but I think it will still be plenty strong and hopefully I will like the taste of this stuff, since I will have almost 6 gallons. I couldn't resist making it cause the process was so easy, and it needs to age quite a long time, so why not.

The only other thing is that when I bottle, i'll have to use two bottling buckets since they are only 5 gallons and I will have almost 6 gallons of the wine. But that will work out fine as I can do about 5 gallons sparkling in one bucket (via priming sugar solution), and then have the last gallon still (i.e. no priming sugar in that bucket).

I used Mott's apple juice (no preservatives accept ascorbic acid). I also used montrachet wine yeast that was 2 months past expiration, but I figure it will still be fine as it is dry yeast and has been in the freezer for the most part.

Bottling Notes, Irish Red, 15mar2008

Bottled up the Irish red today approximately 3 weeks and 2 days after brewing. It definately was somewhat cleared at this point, and smelled great! I bottled with ~11 tbsp of corn sugar (~3.7 oz) shooting for around 2.3 volumes CO2. Got about 51 x 12 oz bottles worth.

Of note: I used autosiphon for the first time today, it was pretty easy to use and actually let me leave alot of yeast sediment in the primary, which will improve my bottled beer by note having an ass ton of yeast in the bottle.

Final Stats on the Irish Red:

OG: 1.050

FG: 1.016

% Attenuation: 67%

% alcohol: 4.4%

Calories/12 oz: ~165

I'm stoked about this beer, I feel like i upgraded my process with the better temp control of a carboy, the smoother racking with the autosiphon (and leaving alot of sediment behind). I'm hoping that after about 3 weeks in the bottle, it will taste fanstastic and be nice and clear.

Fermentation Notes, Porter, 02mar2010

So things are slowing down on the porter, its close to ambient temp now. It got up to around 73F for a little bit while in the heat of things, but thats fine. I'll let this beer condition for 3+ weeks in primary before I bottle it up.