On Tap (Mar 15th 2010)
What a week, the wife and kids have been in San Diego, I have been as sick as I think I have ever been, I managed to finally watch Beer Wars and even brewed some beer. Well brewing beer wasn’t the forgone conclusion I thought it was going to be with the family away. Getting the flu, immediately followed by a stomach virus actually left me not wanting to even smell ale, a first for me, let alone the pungent delicious aromas of boiling wort filling my house. It was not until Sunday I finally felt well enough to move some ales around and get my Old Speckled Hen clone underway. I am looking forward to the rest of my time alone, I hope to get my Fullers London Pride clone review done and finally begin my malt post which I have been working on but it has been taking a while. So hears to staying healthy for a week, drinking some great beer and happy reunions when the family returns all sunned up from San Diego, its time for an On Tap Update.
Primary
- Old Speckled Hen clone ( 1 day (p) ) – Its all good, colour is golden and the yeast is a cooking.
Secondary
- 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 wks (p) 1 day (s) ) – A rather extreme IPA, high in ABV and a whopping 120 IBUs with over a 1 lb of hops using a technique called Hop Bursting I covered a few weeks back. It came out of the primary a whopping 1015 FG, almost 83% attenuation from the mighty American Ale yeast and checking in at over 10% ABV, so begins week 1 of its 6 week rest.
- Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (1 wk(p) 2 wk 1 day (s) ) – A new Old Ale kit from Northern Brewer, thought I would add some Old Ale kits to my current Old’s and Browns series. Final week of its 3 week rest.
Bottle/Keg Conditioning
- Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 3 wks(s) 1 day (b)) – My first pass at this classic old ale, FG came out in range along with the colour, that is all we can ask. But the tail does not end here. As reported the yeast fired up again leaving a layer of cake on the surface of the secondary and sure enough I retested the FG before bottling and it had fallen from 1016 to 1012, the yeast in my cellar is really rocking this year. Smelled delicious but definitely in for at least a 6 week rest before sampling.
- Twelfth Night Stout (2 wk (p), 2 wks (s), 2 wks 2 days (k) ) – A new extract clone recipe of Rogues Shakespeare Stout from Northern Brewer featuring the PacMan Ale yeast strain from Rogue. This one is an ass-kicking 70 IBU stout sitting in the keg and in its third week rest out of four.
- Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 3 mths 1 wk (s)) –beginning the second half of its 6 months rest.
Drinking
- Fullers London Pride clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 4 wks 3 days (b) ) – came out crystal clear from the primary with the FG exactly on target. Looking forward to seeing how this brew finishes off. So its done, its great, special review to come this week. Yeah I am really happy about this one.
- Spitfire Premium Ale clone (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 5 wks, 3 days (b)) – my 2nd pass at Spitfire Ale, the Shepherd Neame classic from Kent UK. I am drinking one now as a matter of fact.
- Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1wk (p), 2wks (s), 5 wks 3 days (b)) – another special edition kit from Northern Brewer featuring the newly released PacMan Ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries, this one is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. I did a side by side taste test with an actual Rogue Dead Guy Ale, colour and flavour are so close its hard to tell which one was which. Good job NB.
- Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 4 mnths (b) ) – Continues to mature with age. Cracked one open last night on its 4 month birthday. It continues to age beautifully, really smoothed out and I still think it could a few more months. I will pace these for a while.
