Last night I helped Jesse bottle the Pale Ale we brewed a couple weeks ago. Being our first all-grain batch, the efficiency was only around 61%. I took the hydro reading before we racked and the gravity had dropped to 1.010, .004 lower than expected. The Safale S-05 yeast did a number on the brew, reaching 78-79% attenuation. This puts the ABV around 4.8%, despite the lower starting gravity.
When we popped open the fermenter, we found a beer that was rich amber in color. It also had a strong Cascade hop aroma, which was what Jesse was going for with the brew. I wouldn’t be surprised if the beer turns out similar to Mac’s Amber. The bottling process itself went quickly and within a couple hours we went from this…
…to this.
Yeah, I forgot the camera again, so these pictures all came from the cellular. Anyway, we finished early, so Jesse cleaned out his fermenter and we tossed an Apfelwein in it. For the Apfelwein, Jesse used Ed Wort’s tried and true recipe from Home Brew Talk.
Apfelwein
5.0 Gallons 100% Apple Juice
2.0 lbs Corn Sugar
Safale S-04 Yeast
The one deviation from Ed’s recipe was the yeast. Jesse wanted something that would give him a two week turnaround, so he opted for S-04 over Red Star Montrachet.
Next up is my Wit, which is getting bottled at the end of the week. I took a hydro sample tonight and it is down to 1.010, .002 lower than the target FG. This means it is sitting at 4.9% ABV; a few tenths higher than anticipated, but not something I am going to complain about.
Finally, I’ll mention again that Oakshire is having their O’Dark:30 release tomorrow night at the Bierstein; the festivities are set to begin around 6:00pm. I also want to correct a statement I made a couple posts back about the Portland O’Dark:30 releases. The first release party is at the Eastburn this Friday, the second at Belmont Station next Monday. The Belmont Station release is where the corny of Collaborative Evil-er is being tapped, not the Eastburn as I previously stated. The brew is a Belgian Strong Golden Ale, aged in an Elijah Craig Bourbon Barrel.
Cheers!
Kevin