As I mentioned in 2023 Arctic Vortex and Chucky, my Anvil Foundry need fixing. Based on some troubleshooting, I believe the Foundry's power switch needs replacing.
I've ordered a new switch and according to UPS it should be arriving today. Maybe my next brew will be back on the Foundry.
Regardless, it wasn't ready for Sunday's brew day, so I used my "old" cooler-mash-tun-propane-burner-boil brewing system.
The beer I brewed is a new recipe resulting from my desire to brew a beer in the BJCP Category 26, Monastic Ale.
As I mentioned in Followup on BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines, the style I wanted to most brew in this category was 26A. Belgian Single, and so awhile ago I designed the recipe ....
I stopped by my favorite Local Homebrew Shop for ingredients early last week. I did a yeast starter on Saturday.
Then, of course, Sunday was the brew day.
I was actually a little concerned about the yeast. The starter never seemed to look like it was doing anything.
On Sunday morning, I expected that I'd have to head to one of my LHBS's to pick up more yeast, but when I checked the starter liquid, my refractometer told me that the gravity had actually dropped into a decent finishing gravity.
So, I decided to go ahead with it.
Since I had not pre-heated my water, I had to heat it up with the propane burner in the garage. With the propane burner, I had to open the garage door for ventilation. With the frigid cold the open garage door wasn't ideal. It really would have been a great day to use my Foundry.
But, it really was fine. Just not ideal.
The mash went pretty well, although it didn't maintain temperature very well. About halfway through, I added more hot water to get the temperature up.
Really just something you have to deal with when brewing in the extreme cold. Not a huge deal.
RDWHAHB.
The boil was fine. I added everything I was supposed to when I was supposed to do it.
Again, because of the cold temperatures, I decided to not get out my immersion chiller or hook up hoses and let the ambient outside temperatures cool down the wort.
It took a few hours, but I just waited until my tilt said the temperature was in the 70's. I used my stainless steel brew bucket fermentor (another Anvil product) so I didn't have to wait to rack into the fermentor.
This chilling method actually worked out pretty well.
Later in the day, I made Jalapeño Poppers to eat during the NFC Championship game. They were so delicious.
Man, I love homemade Jalapeño Poppers!
It took the yeast longer to get started than I thought it would. Usually with a starter, I see bubbling before I go to bed.
There were no signs of fermentation when I went to work the next day. During lunch at work I even stopped by my Local Homebrew Shop to get a pack of dry Belgium yeast.
However, when I got home, fermentation was going, so now I have an extra pack of Belgium yeast. This probably means I'll have to brew another BJCP Category 26, Monastic Ale soon. Probably a dubble.
Anyway ... hopefully next time I brew I'll have my Foundry fixed. Stay tuned to find out if the new switch fixes my issue.
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Go Eagles! (whoever is playing the Chefs)
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