Revised Name: Cloud of Confusion Pale Ale

The strawberry taste is not very strong in this beer, so I felt like it would be misleading for it to have the same name as my previously successful strawberry pale ale. I decided to go with a preppy name since most of my beers have not been named that way. The beer is cloudy (hence the name) I think that I did not wait for the wort to cool enough prior to putting the strawberries in. This light bodied beer has a much more delicate taste than the previous beer, but with well pronounced hoppy earth and light spice tones. It does not have the same malty flavor that I tasted at racking, but finishes clean. It did not turn out exactly the way I wanted, but it tastes good non-the-less and so I shall declare it a success.

Strawberry Spit Pale Ale Racking Tasting

Racked the ale today and WOW! I am very excited. It has a light sweet and hoppy smell. Its light bodied, with a complex malty and earthy tones flavor. I did not get the strawberry flavor out of it that I wanted, but perhaps it will be ready when I tap it this weekend.

FG: 1.008 The lowest of any brew I've ever made, that puts the estimated ABV at ~5%

Strawberry Spit Pale Ale

8 lbs MTN Maris Otter

1/2 lb Caramunich 1

1 1/2 lb WYM Munic I Light

2 tsp Gypsum

1 oz Domestic US Goldings (2005, loose, 5.3%)

1 oz Williamette (Pellets, 5.1%)

1 oz UK Phoenix (Pellots, 10%)

2 lbs (previously) frozen (now thawed) strawberries

American Ale Liquid Yeast

Using turkey boiler, brought 10 qts of water to 145F. Put grains in. Held 140F for 30 minutes. Raised to 155F. Held for 1 hour. Iodine test to confirm complete conversion. Sparged with 2 gallons of water. Added sufficient water to raise total volume to 5 gallons. Roaring boil for one hour. Goldings thrown in at 20 minutes into boil. Williamette 50 minutes into boil. ½ oz Phoenix at 55. ½ oz Phoenix at 59. Let steep for a five minutes. Put strawberries in and let steep for fifteen minutes more. Strained out hops and strawberries. Ran through wort chiller with ~ 4 gallons of ice. Didn’t have enough ice. Suggest 8 gallons next time. Added water to raise total volume to 5 gallons.

OG: ~1.045

Final Results from Psuedo Porter

The porter turned out to taste good, although , like I said, it lacked body and alcohol. My friends liked it, and took some home with them after the unveiling party. It tastes great with a little Baileys, or vodka mixed in.

The kegerator works out great too, almost so cool, it wouldn't matter what I was putting through the tap.


Lessons learned from first carbonation:
The keg I got was kind of dirty, so it took me a while to clean it out.

My CO2 bottle some how emptied itself (I need to make sure I always store them upright and with some sort of support to ensure they stay that way).

My kegerator came with different hose sizes than my cornelious keg needs. (3/16 and 5/16 for beer and CO2 respectively for the kegerator, and 1/4 for the keg itself)

Racking first all grain

The racking process took a little longer tonight than I expected, an hour from setup to cleanup. The beer color is good, except it leaves an odd green tint behind. I tasted it while I siphoned it to the other carboy (naturally) and... It did not turn out as expected. It confirmed my specific gravity readings, unfortunately. The favors were great, a nice blend of hoppiness, bitterness, and chocolate as I wanted. The body was not not what I wanted, nor was the alcohol content (virtually undetectable). I believe this occurred because I did not mash long enough. I did not have iodine to make sure I had completed the process. The next beer batch I do, I'll check the mash with some iodine. The measured racking specific gravity is: 1.015

A friend of mine, Nick, made a very successful attempt at his first all grain. I won't call mine a failure, I'll just say it is a learning experience.