sloppy

Ok, really I want to test a change to user blog replies, but I also noticed I haven't said much about my brewing lately, so let's make this a "real" entry.

Batch 10, known as "The Rye Disaster" had problems, as you might guess from the name. Sparging rye is a bitch, and I used a lot of rye. I was worried that the sparge went so long that I had extracted lots of tannins, but apparently that didn't happen. Also, it had a very gentle, subtle fermentation. I thought it was stuck and dead, but when I took a hydrometer reading a week after brewing, I said, "Oh, it fermented." The upshot of all this, is that the beer actually worked out fairly well. I bottled it about a week and a half ago, so it'll be ready soon.

It is a very weird beer. Rye has lots of beta glucans. These are polysaccharides that make the beer very viscous, pouring and feeling sort of oily. But it doesn't actually stick in your mouth or leave an aftertaste. It's actually not bad, just .. weird.

Batch 11 is a not-so-special English bitter. Nothing fancy here. Main purpose (other than having some generic beer around to drink) was to build the yeast cake for..

Batch 12 is a mocha stout. Holy crap this is good. Not yet bottled.

Batch 13 is sort of a scottish wee heavy, sort of a froach (heather ale), sort of a gruit. It is hopless, and very heavy on the heather. But it also has some yarrow and rosemary.

Batch 14 gets brewed tonight (or maybe tomorrow). This will be my first lager, and will use agave nectar and lime (lime zests and kaffir lime leaves).

After that grows my lager yeast cake, it'll be time for a dopplebock.