340. Hydrometer Reading
This is my Manhattan Smoke Ale. After two weeks in the fermenter and a further eight days racking I bottled it today. The hydrometer reading is science I don't fully understand. All I know is it measures the gravity of the beer which changes depending on sugar and alcohol content. I have a book by a guy called C. J. Berry who is adamant one should not bottle if the gravity is higher than 1.010. This came out at 1.014. But Berry's book is not so helpful and Randy Mosher's book is. It was his recipe which I broadly followed when I brewed this. There are still a few weeks before I will be tasting the final product but I am looking forward to that time very much.
I also brewed up an improvised ale today using ingredients I had to hand. I'm going to call it Logie Mist because it has some of the features of Solway Mist, one of my favourite beers: orange zest, coriander, Hallertauer hops. But there are some distinctions too: I chucked into the kettle a load of demerara sugar and I used British, rather than German, yeast. But we'll see how it turns out. An exceptionally busy day besides. Beyond bottling and brewing there were ten things on today's to-do list. I'm happy to say I got the boxes ticked, but it's now half ten and I'm knackered. Days off are the busiest of them all.
340. Hydrometer Reading
This is my Manhattan Smoke Ale. After two weeks in the fermenter and a further eight days racking I bottled it today. The hydrometer reading is science I don't fully understand. All I know is it measures the gravity of the beer which changes depending on sugar and alcohol content. I have a book by a guy called C. J. Berry who is adamant one should not bottle if the gravity is higher than 1.010. This came out at 1.014. But Berry's book is not so helpful and Randy Mosher's book is. It was his recipe which I broadly followed when I brewed this. There are still a few weeks before I will be tasting the final product but I am looking forward to that time very much.
I also brewed up an improvised ale today using ingredients I had to hand. I'm going to call it Logie Mist because it has some of the features of Solway Mist, one of my favourite beers: orange zest, coriander, Hallertauer hops. But there are some distinctions too: I chucked into the kettle a load of demerara sugar and I used British, rather than German, yeast. But we'll see how it turns out. An exceptionally busy day besides. Beyond bottling and brewing there were ten things on today's to-do list. I'm happy to say I got the boxes ticked, but it's now half ten and I'm knackered. Days off are the busiest of them all.