Bottling Day

Bottling Day at the Yeast Ranch today.  Last Sunday Wolfie and I brewed up what was supposed to be an ESB (English Extra Special Bitter).  Well I messed up the recipe again.  This time cold stone sober too.  Not that one beer during a brew day is going to mess things up, its just that I had my mind wrapped around a 6 gallon batch when I was doing a 12 gal thing.

Actually, the mess up happened the day before when I went to the grain store – More Beer in Riverside – the happiest place in the whole world, just like Disneyland!  I won’t describe to whole messed up event but its just a matter of doubling the specialty malts for the recipe.  Its like the story when God was handing out Legs and she thought he said KEGS and replied, “I’ll take two fat ones.”  I was looking at the recipe thinking it was for 6 gal and doubled the specialty malts because we were brewing up a 12 gal batch.  What was intended to be an ESB turned out to be an American Amber Ale.  So no worries – I just adjusted to hopping rate and changed the yeast and bingo we are back in the style guidelines.  Its just a different beer.

The bottles are sterilizing in the dishwasher and the coffee is perking in the pot so its off to bottling time this afternoon.  Here is the recipe for 12 gal. batch of an American Amber Ale:

Malt Bill: includes 24 lb English Pale Malt; 2 lb C-15; 1 lb C-120

Hops: Magnum 1 oz. 60 min boil then East Kent Goldings 2 oz at 10 min and 2 oz at flame out. (This is on the fly changes OK because I messed up the grain bill remember).

Mash at 152 for an hour and Sparge at 170 degree to a total of 14.5 gal.  Boil for an hour adding yeast nutrient and bingo its wort.

OG is 1.062 high than expected by a couple of points but whose counting?

FG is 1.012  pretty attenuated.

Tasty now before carbonation so we will see in a month how it came out.