Malta India Update

So, I wanted to be as low-tech as possible with this brew.
I used a 6 pack of Malta India malt beverage, an empty glass one gallon cider jug, and 1/4 teaspoon of bread yeast.
Once it was done fermenting, I dumped an ounce of table sugar into the jug, stirred it around a bit, and used a funnel to pour the solution into bottles.
Then I capped all 8 of em, and they'll be ready to sample in a week or two.
I'll letcha know....

1st Annual Midwest Winter Beer Festival

http://www.bigsplashevents.com/

Went to this Saturday 1pm - 5pm. Was fun.
Don't let the title fool you -- there wasn't anything particularly Midwest or Winter about it. Sure there were a few reiognal breweries represented, but not exclusively.
Was funny that Diageo's table was Guiness, Smithwicks, Red Stripe, and Smirnoff Ice. Maybe it was just me, or you had to be there, but c'mon guys.
Of the 76 brews, I "sampled" 13 in about 3 hours. They were 4 ounce samples, so relax:
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre*
Dogfish Head Red & White*
Brooklyn Monster
Brooklyn Winter Ale*
Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale
Rogue Mocha Porter
Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
Sierra Nevada ESB
Bell's Expidition Stout*
471 IPA*
Goose Island Matilda
Maredsous 10*
(* = New for me)

Samsquamtch

Brewday Updates

Brewing the stout turned out very well. Fly sparged for the first time in a while.
My Notepad Notes ® © ™:
mash in at 151F
4 gals strike water @ 170F
fly sparged.
< 1 gal = 1.088 @ 140F = 1.104
2 gal = 1.080 @ 125F = 1.092
4 gal = 1.062 @ 125F = 1.074
5 gal = 1.050 @ 130F = 1.063
6 gal = 1.046 @ 130F = 1.059!
Ended up with just under 5 gals. I'm ok with that, since I'll only be primarying, and then keg, after prolly 2 weeks.
BTW, I hate boiling in the dark. Took me about 6 hours today from start to finish. And got a very late start.

The Malta is down to 1.022, so that's good. Wonder if it'll taste better later. Was kinda thin, but who knows....

Oh ya. Samsquamtch. That's how Bubbles pronounces it. If you don't get that reference yet, you will.
Anyways, spent some dough at the Party Source.
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine
Brewery Ommegang Hennepin
Rodenbach Grand Cru
Bell's Consecrator Double Bock (the lablels on this six are UPSIDE DOWN)
Bell's Two Hearted Ale
Bell's Hopslam
Christian Moerlein Emancapator Double Bock
Chimay Cinq Cents
Shneider and Sohn Wiesen Edel-Weisse

Brew Day's Here Again!

Today, I'm brewing up an American Stout:

Bane Stout

Grain Bill
----------
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
80.8 10.50 lbs. Marris Otter Great Britain 1.030 2
5.8 0.75 lbs. Flaked Oats America 1.033 2
3.8 0.50 lbs. CaraMunich Malt Belgium 1.033 75
1.9 0.25 lbs. Black Patent Malt Great Britain 1.027 525
3.8 0.50 lbs. Carafa Germany 1.030 400
3.8 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt Great Britain 1.034 475

Hops
----
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.75 oz. Yakima Magnum Pellet 13.50 43.6 45 min.

Yeast
-----
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Also, here's a tip:
If you don't wanna crack open a bottle of champagne for brunch, a half and half mix of Blue Moon Blegian White and OJ rocks.

Malta India

A couple of weeks ago, I read about people using Malta Goya for yeast starters.
If you want more yeast cells to pitch into your wort, you can either buy more yeast, or make a starter. It's usually a couple liters of low gravity (1.030) wort and you let it ferment out for a few days. Then you have like more yeast.
So anyway, Jimmy had asked about a "Grocery Store" beer - one made entirely from ingredients you can buy at any normal grocer.

Last week, I find myself at the local Bigg's buying a 6 of Malta India and a 10 of Malta El Sol.

Today, I created my latest experiment.
I added 72 oz (6 bottles) of Malta India to a one gallon carboy. Took a gravity (1.055). Degassed with the drill attachment. Added water to 1.050. Dunno the volume. Added 1/4 tsp Hodgson Mill active dry yeast, shook to mix. Beer.

I'll keep you updated.



UPDATE:
I was reading more about olive oil aeration in wort tonight. So I ran downstairs, and dipped a sanitized scissors in some olive oil and stirred in just a touch of EVOO. See, the olive oil provides molecular chains for the yeast that they would have made themselves with oxygen, for the growth phase.

Aaron's Got a Big Ol' Butt - Oh YEA.

It's here. Leinenkugel's Bigg Butt Doppelbock. Got a sixer at Bigg's.