Dry Hopping!

The Hop Hammer was ready to be dry hopped! Tonight I transferred it to secondary and added about 3 ounces of hops (after I accidentally spilled about .5 ounce that was supposed to go in also). The trub at the bottom of the fermenter was so thick. It was just a sludge when I was pouring it out. It moved only a little bit faster than molasses. Currently some Oxi-clean is working hard on getting all the crud off the sides of the fermenter so I don't have to work as much. I do need to figure out how to get all the crap out of the inside of the blow off hose.

It may be time to test my hydrometer again. I got a reading of 1.011 after racking the beer. That would mean I've already overshot my gravity by 12 points (and this after I overshot it by 6 points). By a rough calculation in my head that would put the beer around 10% ABV. The yeast took of after I added it. I was fully expecting a slow start based on the starting gravity of the beer, but by the next morning it was bubbling like crazy.

The beer tasted very hoppy (duh). Definitely needs to mellow out some, which it should. I'm also a little worried that the beer may have fermented out too much to support the amount of hops that are present. There may not be enough residual sweetness to balance the hops, but I will just have to wait and see.

Hop Hammer!

Finally back to brewing tonight! I brewed Jamil's Hop Hammer from Brewing Classic Styles. His recipe is essentially a clone recipe for Russian River's Pliny the Elder. After a couple months of searching I got my hands on a pint of Pliny and it was amazing. That basically made the decision of my next brew for me.

Steeping the grains

The brew was pretty uneventful. I am very happy that I am not having issues with process anymore. The only real issues for this brew occurred while picking up my ingredients. I couldn't get the amber malt extract that I needed. After talking it over with the folks at the LHBS I picked up some pilsner malt extract and added some crystal 40 to make up the difference. I also couldn't get simcoe hops. I substituted chinook for these.

Boiling away

I also had a couple of firsts for this beer. I finally was able to use my wort chiller. I got the correct adapter for my kitchen faucet today. I also sliced up my hands pretty badly on the threads. Somehow I had no blood though. It did speed up my cooling! I went from boiling to pitching temps in about 20 minutes. I think next time I am going to use the water to create an ice bath with the frozen 20 oz pop bottles I made. That should speed it up even more, and I won't feel like I am wasting as much water. I also did a 90 minute boil for the first time. I managed to get my water levels correct to make up for the extra evaporation. I did overshoot my gravity slightly, but I think this is due in part to just making up the crystal 40 fix for the malt extract.

patience.... patience....

I am really looking forward to this beer. I need to dry hop this beer in a few days. I tasted the wort after the boil for the first time. It was interesting. My mouth was filled with incredible sweetness followed by an intense bitterness. I am very curious to see the changes in the taste. Hopefully I can remember what it was like at this stage.