St. Lou Honey Lager

St. Lou Honey Lager

Brewed: 11/14/2009
Kegged: 11/30/2009
Tapped: 12/16/2009

OG: 1.040
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4%

Apfelwein (1 Month)

The Apfelwein cleared up and I tapped it on 12/14. Drinkable at this point. Getting better as it carbonates. I got some more apple juice at Costco over the weekend, so I started another batch on the yeast cake of this one after I kegged it.

Apfelwein

I followed up my first brew with something a bit easier (and stronger). I tried this cider that my coworker made. It is delicious and potent. It couldn't be easier to make; sugar, apple juice, and yeast at room temperature for a couple months. I have this stored in my storage room because this one puts off a pretty nasty smell while it ferments. I've got a sleeping bag to hopefully keep it warm enough.

EdWort's Apfelwein

Brewed on 11/9/2009

The First Brew - Results

I kegged my first brew a while ago, but it took me a while to get these pictures up. I think this beer was a hit and a miss. It's drinkable, but I don't think the final gravity ever got low enough. It's a little on the sweet side.


Hooked up to the kegerator successfully. Since this picture was taken, I've changed my beer line to 10 feet.

The First Brew - Day 10

On a suggestion from a co-worker, I decided to repitch some yeast to hopefully jumpstart fermentation. I pitched the yeast into my secondary carboy and racked on top of it. Hopefully that will get me closer to my final gravity. I used Safale US-05 yeast for the repitch.

The First Brew - Day 9

I took another hydrometer reading tonight. As I suspected from the lack of activity over the weekend, the gravity reading was stuck at 1.020. On the plus side, the flavor was much better than it was on Thursday. It was less sweet and more beer-like. It kind of tasted like a Belgian trippel. I could see it tasting alright with some refrigeration, carbonation, and a little more time. If the gravity reading hasn't changed by Wednesday, I'll probably rack it to a secondary carboy and give it a little time to mellow.

Kegerator

In preperation for my first brew, I constructed a kegerator for my corny keg. This is a Frigidaire 4.4 cubic foot mini fridge. It can potentially hold two 5-gallon cornelius kegs. I am looking forwarding to kegging my first brew and not having to clean 48 glass bottles.

The First Brew - Day 5

i removed the blowoff tube and added the airlock stopper half-filled with vodka. The foam had pretty much subsided, but was coming back before I went to bed. The gravity was 1.020 when I made the change. The next major step will be racking to the secondary.

The First Brew - Day 4

The krausen is getting pretty gunky.

The First Brew - Day 3

In the morning, there was a thin layer of bubbles. By the afternoon, bubbles were visibly coming out of the blowoff tube.

The First Brew - Day 1

I picked up all my supplies from Jim's Homebrew on Tuesday and on Sunday it was brew day. The ingredients came with kit. There isn't much info on the ingredients or what type of beer this is supposed to make so the result should be kind of a surprise. It looks like it's going to be an amber or brown ale.

The Recipe

3.3 lbs. Munton's Light Malt Syrup
2 lbs. Extra-Light Briess Dry Malt
.5 lbs. Dry Malt/Malto-Dextrine Blend
.5 lbs. Crystal Malt
.5 oz. Cascade Hops
Nottingham Ale Yeast

Brewed: 9/27/2009
Secondary: 10/7/2009

OG: 1.049


The Brew

I started by steeping the crystal malt.

Here's the wort after I added the malt syrup and dry malt extract.

Hops!

Primary Fermentation

The mixed solution had a sweet milky flavor. I felt like I didn't add enough water after my first hydrometer reading so I topped it off and took another. Hopefully that won't be an issue. The specific gravity looks to be about 1.049. It will be interesting to see how consistent the temperature in my laundry room stays overnight. When I went to bed the mixture was around 72 degrees.