Beer Notes

So I've made two beers so far. A third is ready to be bottled tomorrow. A fourth is patiently fermenting. (A second-and-a-half one, which I've disowned, had to be thrown out. I killed the yeast due to some stupidity.)

Here are the first two:

Amber Ale (Beer #2)

I got it from this recipe. I didn't do the full month in primary - Two weeks for me.

How did it turn out? Well, rather inconsistent, but that's my fault. The good ones are entirely drinkable, well balanced, medium-hoppy and not too sweet. The bad ones are either flat, or fizz for days, or just taste funky.

Why? Well, it was my second attempt at bottling, and I encountered an issue I didn't know how to deal with: About 15 beers from the bottom of the bucket, my bottle-filler clogged up.

Not being an experienced type, I assumed it was broken. I switched to the tube alone, and filled the rest of the bottles as best I could. The result is that there's about a one in four chance of getting a beer that just isn't good. All that extra oxygen and gunk didn't do good things.

So anyway, to mitigate that happening again, I bought an extra bottle-filler for quick-change emergencies, and am taking extra precautions to filter the gunk out of the wort.

American Pale Ale (Recipe #1)

This one is pretty yummy. It's a little cloudy - Hey, I didn't properly filter it, and I didn't have a proper wort-chilling solution. Nonetheless, it turned out great!

The ingredients? Dammit, I didn't record them. They came from this kit though. I'll have to ask the good folks at Rebel Brewer what they put in it next time I'm there.