I did a run in the morning. Then I went on a bike ride.
After the ride, I had lunch and then lay down for a little nap.
I had grains for a brew day ... and around 2pm ... I decided to brew a batch of beer.
It just happens to be my 400th batch of beer I've brewed since I started making beer.
This is actually the third time I've brewed this particular recipe ....
1519 Barker Exportbier is my attempt to capture the spirt of "classic" Michelob (not the absolutely awful low-carb "Ultra" watery beers) that I remember from my college days.
My first two batches of this beer turned out great, although I have no idea how close they were to Michelob. I just don't have the flavor memory from over 30 years ago.
Based on research, I suspect that Ground Hog Premium Lager is much closer, but as the classic Michelob doesn't seem to exist anymore, I have no way to actually verify.
Someday, I'd like to brew these two beers close enough together to compare them to each other. Maybe I'll brew Ground Hog soon.
Anyway ... it was actually 2:30 before I got the mash going.
The mash went for about an hour, which is actually less than the recipe calls for. I was draining the mash by 3:30.
My pre-boil gravity was right on, but my volume was a little low. I decided to add some water to get the volume, making the gravity just a little low.
The boil went fine. I was able to try a few of the SheppyBrew Beers on tap during the brew day.
Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch, Brain Freeze Rauchbier, and GNorthside Gnome Cold IPA are still tasting great. I'm sure Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale is too, but I didn't have any of that beer during the brew day.
I was chilling before 5:45 and I had the yeast pitched with the cooling pumps running by dinner time.
With clean-up, I'd say this was a 3.5 hour brew day, which is pretty good for a non-short-and-shoddy batch.
The fermentation was bubbling by mid-day the next day. I'll be fermenting "cold" (under 60F) until this weekend, at which point I'll let fermentation go to ambient basement temperature. I guess you can call this my "diacetyl rest".
My Brewing Calendar says I'll keg this on November 1st.
I'm sure I'll post something sometime about how this batch turns out.
As always keep watching the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with my BBQ, Beer, Biking: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!
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