Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Batch 8: Steamboat California Common Beer: Secondary Fermentation/Bottling Day

The beer spent ten days in the secondary. I measured the final gravity at 1.009, which should put the ABV in the vicinity of 5.25%. I primed the beer with 5 oz. of corn sugar (boiled in 2 cups of water and cooled) before bottling. I ended up with 20 24oz.-bottles and 8 12oz.-bottles (i.e. 4.5 gallons). I'll give the beer two weeks to condition.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Batch 8: Steamboat California Common Beer: Primary Fermentation

The fermenting ramped up within 24 hours of pitching, and there was obvious airlock activity for four full days after that. I racked the beer to the 5-gallon carboy for secondary fermentation after 14 days in the primary and measured the specific gravity at 1.010. The sample from the thief was very smooth, drinkable, and understated. I like the East Kent Goldings. I'm excited to see how this one tastes carbonated. I'm planning to let the beer condition for a week before bottling.