Down to 1012 today from 1041. This beer has been textbook so far and the lager yeast has really enjoyed the average 18 degrees much more than previous ale yeasts have, which seem to need the upper end of their temp range at all times.
The tastes I've had from testing this have been very dry indeed - it's certainly shaping up to be a different style of beer, as promised on the label - whether that turns out to be a good thing or not we'll soon find out!
As I'm bottling this one, I am going to dryhop today with a a big bag of First Gold directly in the primary before transferring to a bottling bucket middle to late next week, probably with about 60g glucose.
Then I'll try out the 'little bottler'.
United States (San Francisco) Steam Beer
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fivetide
Bottled last night after a steady 1.010 for past few days - man alive it took forever to do and all I can say is thank Silenus for the brilliant Little Bottler tap which is superb value for money at under a fiver from any good HBS near you!
Even the Little Bottler couldn't take the backache and tedium out of cleaning, rinsing and santising 36 swingtop bottles however. I went for a soak in soda crystals, repeated hot and cold rinses, followed by dilute iodophor swirl, sit and tip. My disgraced Burco helped as a high level hot tap with good clearance but it still took forever. Paddle, piping, bottler and other bits all went in to Iodophor solution in an FV bottling bucket.
I've never used finings before because I don't like the idea of deliberately putting animal products into people's beer if patience can obtain the same result, but as I was doing such a big bottling job I thought I'd try an alternative solution - Condessa Ultra Clear. This is a two-part veggie-friendly finings with specific instructions to follow.
First I prepared a Pyrex jug with nuked and cooled priming solution consisting of 65g of light Muntons' spraymalt. I then hoiked the pungent hop bag and transferred the beer by tap and tube to the bottom of a new FV fitted with a tap compatible with the Little Bottler. The next steps were new to me.
First I took a pint of beer in a two pint jug and added sachet A of the Condessa. This was stirred and added to the bucket which was then also stirred for a minute. Next I took another pint of beer and added the larger sachet B before again adding to the bucket and stirring for a minute. The instructions then say to add the priming solution immediately and rack to bottles before settling can take place, raising the rapidly descending yeast every 15 minutes to ensure enough gets in each bottle to complete priming.
I managed to fill 36 bottles with the Little Bottler, periodic stirring and some minor contortion. The finings are really quick acting and would have been superb for Corni racking but of course the instructions called for rousing so much of this is by design in the bottles as demanded. I still have four sets of these finings left though so may use them again for kegging, although I have avoided doing so to date to maximise the longevity of my racked beers.
Because this beer will be chilled to accompany draft ales at a shed party at my house, I then stupidly decided to label each bottle which took another couple of hours! It's now sitting in the warm for a week before being banished to the shed for at least three weeks.
Even the Little Bottler couldn't take the backache and tedium out of cleaning, rinsing and santising 36 swingtop bottles however. I went for a soak in soda crystals, repeated hot and cold rinses, followed by dilute iodophor swirl, sit and tip. My disgraced Burco helped as a high level hot tap with good clearance but it still took forever. Paddle, piping, bottler and other bits all went in to Iodophor solution in an FV bottling bucket.
I've never used finings before because I don't like the idea of deliberately putting animal products into people's beer if patience can obtain the same result, but as I was doing such a big bottling job I thought I'd try an alternative solution - Condessa Ultra Clear. This is a two-part veggie-friendly finings with specific instructions to follow.
First I prepared a Pyrex jug with nuked and cooled priming solution consisting of 65g of light Muntons' spraymalt. I then hoiked the pungent hop bag and transferred the beer by tap and tube to the bottom of a new FV fitted with a tap compatible with the Little Bottler. The next steps were new to me.
First I took a pint of beer in a two pint jug and added sachet A of the Condessa. This was stirred and added to the bucket which was then also stirred for a minute. Next I took another pint of beer and added the larger sachet B before again adding to the bucket and stirring for a minute. The instructions then say to add the priming solution immediately and rack to bottles before settling can take place, raising the rapidly descending yeast every 15 minutes to ensure enough gets in each bottle to complete priming.
I managed to fill 36 bottles with the Little Bottler, periodic stirring and some minor contortion. The finings are really quick acting and would have been superb for Corni racking but of course the instructions called for rousing so much of this is by design in the bottles as demanded. I still have four sets of these finings left though so may use them again for kegging, although I have avoided doing so to date to maximise the longevity of my racked beers.
Because this beer will be chilled to accompany draft ales at a shed party at my house, I then stupidly decided to label each bottle which took another couple of hours! It's now sitting in the warm for a week before being banished to the shed for at least three weeks.
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anomalous_result
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fivetide
Couldn't get a worse review than this Strawberry Blonde ale.
"Flavor is American macro lager infuzed with melted strawberry Chapstick"
"Flavor is American macro lager infuzed with melted strawberry Chapstick"
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fivetide
After a week in the warm, this little lot is all ready to go out in the cool of the garage tomorrow for at least three weeks conditioning, unless anyone suggests differently? There's a good quarter-inch of sediment in the bottom of each bottle thanks to the fining and priming. Fingers crossed it pours and drinks well by end of April (although I just might have to pop one around the middle of the month...) 
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anomalous_result
I used to think that a week was enough but having made a brew with fresh ingredients (it had crystal malt and actual hops! in) I think leaving it longer is definately wise otherwise the hops can be very pronounced and distort the profile.fivetide wrote:at least three weeks conditioning, unless anyone suggests differently?
Cheers for the update. I want your crates. Don't forget to post what the thing tastes like, and have a bottle of anchor steam beer to compare it to. It was available in tesc0 last time i looked.
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Minus The Bear
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Redbloke
