Beer and snow
I managed to find a little time to run down to the school with a friend to pick up my last two living plants. Apparently there is something in the water, or the lighting, that was not very condusive to keeping herbs alive. Or maybe they just didn't take well to the transplant from the aquarium. Anyway, I got the Norfolk pines home, removed their decorations and they are now on the table near the window watching it snow. I was a little skeptical that it would snow for longer than five minutes as that is all it has done over the last few weeks. But to my surprise, not only did it snow for most of the day, but it actually accumulated. I might just be able to get out and find enough snow somewhere to snowshoe with.
In the meantime, while it snowed outside, I stayed in and made beer. I actually put on two batches and was up until 11:00 doing so. I should have known better but once I started the messy process, I was loath to clean up only to have to make the mess again another day. So I put on a 5 gallon batch of Trois Pistoles and a 2.5 gallon batch of a white. I ended up cleaning up the mess tonight and eating left overs, thank goodness for leftovers. At least I didn't have to add to the mess before cleaning the mess.
As for the beer, next week I have to transfer it to a clean bottle to continue fermenting then comes the fun part; bottling. I will definitely bottle the white but the TP is another matter. I have about 6 weeks to decide whether I want to keg the whole 5 gallons, bottle half and keg half or bottle the whole batch. As I have never kegged before, I am curious as to what will happen and how to go about doing it, but I am also unsure if I can keg half a batch without CO2. I also don't have enough bottles for 7.5 gallons of beer. And since they mature at different rates, I can't even drink one batch to make room for the other, so kegging or getting more bottles are my options. Obviously, kegging lookes like the cheaper and easier alternative as I have a 5 gallon keg with some fitting. But I think that after I get the rest of the fittings and possibly some CO2, it may actually work out to be cheaper to get bottles. Decisions, decisions. Time will tell. I guess if I bottle, I can keep the beer around longer. If I keg it I will likely bring it to the school for a tgif and it will go faster. Hopefully I will make some friends that way assuming the beer is good. The best option though is to keg half and bottle half. I can keep some around and have a keg party. Time to do some research.
In the meantime, while it snowed outside, I stayed in and made beer. I actually put on two batches and was up until 11:00 doing so. I should have known better but once I started the messy process, I was loath to clean up only to have to make the mess again another day. So I put on a 5 gallon batch of Trois Pistoles and a 2.5 gallon batch of a white. I ended up cleaning up the mess tonight and eating left overs, thank goodness for leftovers. At least I didn't have to add to the mess before cleaning the mess.
As for the beer, next week I have to transfer it to a clean bottle to continue fermenting then comes the fun part; bottling. I will definitely bottle the white but the TP is another matter. I have about 6 weeks to decide whether I want to keg the whole 5 gallons, bottle half and keg half or bottle the whole batch. As I have never kegged before, I am curious as to what will happen and how to go about doing it, but I am also unsure if I can keg half a batch without CO2. I also don't have enough bottles for 7.5 gallons of beer. And since they mature at different rates, I can't even drink one batch to make room for the other, so kegging or getting more bottles are my options. Obviously, kegging lookes like the cheaper and easier alternative as I have a 5 gallon keg with some fitting. But I think that after I get the rest of the fittings and possibly some CO2, it may actually work out to be cheaper to get bottles. Decisions, decisions. Time will tell. I guess if I bottle, I can keep the beer around longer. If I keg it I will likely bring it to the school for a tgif and it will go faster. Hopefully I will make some friends that way assuming the beer is good. The best option though is to keg half and bottle half. I can keep some around and have a keg party. Time to do some research.
posted by Canadian Loonie at 5:26 PM
2 Comments:
Oh to be around when that keg was to be tapped. I have only tried home brewed beer twice, and both times were good. I had a small brew kit, but none of my batches ever turned out. I know I was doing something wrong but I never got a chance to figure it out before I had to get rid of my equipment.
Sorry your first few tries didn't turn out, guess it is something that either it works and you continue or it fails and you wonder what all the fuss is about. There are at least two things I can think of that might be a factor, one is proper sanitizing, if bacteria get in they can turn the beer off. Another thing is that homebrew is typically a heavier and more hoppy beer which is very different from the stuff you get in the stores which can be light and watery.
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