First off, the answer is no. I've just been super busy! In the last three weeks I've had midterms, papers due, went to Chicago for a week, got engaged, and many many other things. However, that does not excuse my lack of posting! So, I'm going to try and get you caught up as best I can on the state of my brewing!
As I noted in the last post, a few weeks ago, I brewed my first batch with a yeast starter -- The Waldo Lake Amber Ale. Everything went perfectly with the fermentation, and the beer weighs in at a hefty 6.4% ABV (although, as previously mentioned, this is just an estimate). I decided to let it ferment in primary for 3 weeks and then bottle it. I could have let it go a little longer, but I needed to free up my primary fermenter for my next, super-secret batch, which I will talk more about later. So, yesterday I bottled the Waldo Lake. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't narrowly escape a HUGE mistake. When I was bottling, I almost forgot to add the priming sugar to the beer. This, of course would have been disastrous since that sugar is what allows the beer to condition in the bottles and naturally carbonate itself. At the last second, however, I remembered it, and the beer is now happily conditioning. It should be ready in about 2 weeks.
I'm anxious to see how this beer turned out. It was a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I had made a yeast starter, the first time I utilized first-wort hops, and the first time I had bottled into my new Northern Brewer growler. For those of you who don't know, a growler is a 2 liter bottle for beer. This is an experiment for me mainly because this growler has a screw-top. So, I'm really hoping I screwed it on tight enough or that will be one flat bottle of beer!
In other news, I finished off my last bottle of Irish Red (save, of course, the bottle that I tucked away in my closet to cellar). So, if you didn't get any, I'm sorry! I'm out! I do, however, have a lot of The Innkeeper left! As of right now, I have about 30 bottles of it left. However, I don't plan on really giving a lot out for a few reasons. Partly because it may have to last me a while. I'll be going to the beach in a few weeks, so I'm going to want to have a nice lighter beer to drink while I'm there. Also, I'm starting to run a little thin on the monetary resources, and I don't know how many more batches I'll be able to make before my disposable income runs out. However, the main reason is that I REALLY like this beer. I honestly think it's one of my favorite beers that I've ever had, so I want to keep it all for myself. Is that selfish? Yes, but I brewed it. I have a right to be selfish. This is not a Beerocracy. this is a Beertatorship, and I am the Bierkaiser! So there! (Honestly, if you ask me really really nicely, I'll probably give you a bottle... just don't tell anyone!)Also related to The Innkeeper, I realized that I didn't publish tasting notes on it. I'll try to do that soon, complete with pictures!
I'm starting a new project this weekend, but I'm keeping it under wraps for now. It should be really good, though! I'm excited! After that, I plan on making a Bourbon Barrel Porter. This will take a while, and it may be the last beer I brew before I move. We'll just have to see!
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