Kegged the new EPA

Kegged the EPA v2.0 the other day.  Tastes pretty good so far and I think it will get a lot better with age.  On the bad side, it kind of smells like cat piss.  I think it came from dry hopping with the citra whole hops.  maybe next time I'll do the "last 10 min of the boil" dry hopping instead of the "primary fermenter" dry hopping.  If I'm lucky the smell will mature with the beer and turn out the way I want it to.

I feel like I've been running into a lot of problems with off flavors and smells as of late.  Not sure if it's the water at my apartment or if its the equipment I've been using for the last 4 years.  I know it's not a sanitation problem because my methods of sanitizing haven't changed at all.  However, I have moved a few times and I stopped using spring water from the store like I was doing at the last place I lived.  So the first step will be going back to using spring water to brew with.

EPA take 2

So my first attempt at an English Pale Ale went south.  It wound up tasting like gas.  I let it age another 2 weeks and it didn't help matters any so I tried pouring half a glass of my Peanut Butter Porter with half a glass of the EPA.  That helped, but its still not a keeper that way.  I may be able to play around with the two beers and get something that works, but in the mean time, I brewed another EPA.  This one had no hiccups in the brew and I have high hopes for it.  Added about an extra pound of grain and am dry hopping with 1oz of Citra.  Racking it tonight.

Gettin' Back to Business

So, I picked up the new car about 2 weeks ago and have been driving it everywhere.

Now that I've started to come down a little from the New Car High, I can start getting back to business.  I will be kegging my English Pale tonight and using sugar instead of CO2 to carbonate the brew.  I've had too many issues with CO2 carbonating so I will only be using the CO2 to purge the keg of O2 and letting the sugar do the work for me.  Keep your fingers crossed for me and I will let you know how it turns out in another 2 weeks.  In the meantime, I will be brewing another beer because I have one more keg that I can fill.

New Auto

Just stopped down to the local Chevy dealer and got a new 2012 Chevy Sonic for my new beer delivery vehicle.  Now I just need a "Home Brewed Beer On Board" bumper sticker.

Research

I want to brew an IPA next and would like to tweak the kit I'm going to buy just a little.  So tonight I'll be starting the 2nd best part of brewing.  Researching the style of beer you will be brewing next.  (In case you were wondering, the best part is tasting your finished beer)  I stopped by the store and bought a 6 pack of IPA's from a variety of breweries that I will be drinking for the next few days to try and determine what kind of hops I want to brew with.  This IPA will be more if an Imperial IPA 'cause I will be using a little less than 1 pound of hops.  I will be aiming for 6-7% ABV as well.

The label

Made a rough draft of a beer label for my brews last night.

New Mash Tun

Picked up a new 10gal cooler from home depot today.  When I got it home I took the hardware off the 5gal and stuck it on the new cooler.  Now we have a respectable mash system.  A 10gal mash tun and a 5gal HL tank.  I just need to get a new fitting for the 5gal and a sparge arm then we will be good to go.

Procrastination

I was just thinking about procrastination not too long.  I found that there are stages that lead to it.  They are as follows:
1.  Determination - Having a goal and plan of attack
2.  Boredom - Finding that what you are doing is "taking forever"
3.  Distraction - Some unrelated stimuli that deters you from your plan of attack
4.  Indifference - Embracing the distraction and deciding to "put off what you can do tomorrow" and being ok with that

Peanut Butter Porter

I just keged my Peanut Butter Porter on Monday and it's carbonating in the closet next to my EPA thats fermenting away.  Should be ready to drink in a day or two.  Time to talk to the fiance about getting another fridge to keep my kegs in.  Unless I can make some new shelves for our kitchen fridge and squeeze the keg in there...   Na, that won't go over well with her and it would take up way too much room in there.  It's a small fridge.  Time to check out craigslist.

Do not try

Berkshire brewing Co. River ale.  A Lot of malt, under fermented and can't smell or taste any hops.  It's like drinking wort before pitching the yeast.

Bean town for St. Patty's day

Bring on the brew!  Pile the corned beef and potatoes high!

Back to brewing

I have Finally, after a year, started brewing again. To celebrate I've brewed a beer a week for the past 3 weeks and the only reason I'm not brewing this coming Sunday is because I wont be in town to do so. Well that and I kinda need to drink what I've already brewed. I could use some help if anyone is thirsty.

I don't get it

The only bar and grill I've ever seen with beer taps at tables closed down. The owners got rid of the tap tables and reopened with a new theme. What the hell was wrong with an Irish place that had tap tables?