The first being, that with my larger fermentor, out of habit I added a bit too much top off water which put me at 6 gallons in the fermentor. Not a problem, it simply lowered the gravity of the beer to 5.4% ABV. Still far from a session beer so A okay.
Also, be sure not to forget you've got a jet blast bottle washer attached to the faucet...
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| It feels nothing like this. |
My original gravity into the fermentor was 1.051 (due to the above mentioned dilution). Usually, with a gravity above 1.040 it's best to make a yeast starter to make sure the yeast cells don't work themselves to death, literally. However, the Wyeast Smack Pack is a starter in and of itself. It produces enough healthy cells to handle anything up to 1.060 which is perfect for Rude Boy. It was a little slower to get going than I'm used to with my usual yeast tubes from White Labs, but within 24 hours a healthy, thick, if mellow Kräusen (In this context: the thick foam, meringue-like head formed during the initial fermentation stage, pronounced KROY-sen) was formed.
Within 7 days, the Kräusen had fallen or settled back into the beer and it was time to rack to secondary, and at this time a specific gravity reading was taken. A very healthy fermentation had brought us down to 1.010 after primary fermentation, that's an apparent attenuation of 79.6%. Pretty efficient Yeastie Beasties.
Rude Boy sat in secondary fermentation/clearing/conditioning for 14 days, and then was bottled. I had planned to put half of the batch into a Party Pig but was unable to find replacement gaskets for my other two nameless Pigs. It's the first time I've actually bottled a full 5 gallons. Usually one loses 1/2 a gallon to trub (fermentor sediment), and other amounts between transferring, and gravity testing unless a refractometer is used.
It's been sitting in bottles for a week, with one more to go, and seems to be carbonating well. One thing that seems a regular, minor issue in my brews is head formation/retention. It's a common issue for many homebrewers, especially towards the begining. However it is improving for me and is purely astetic so I'm not too worried. Though I have to admit, since I put more work and effort into this brew than any of my others, as well as more time, 5 weeks total from grain to glass, I'd like it to be very good quality.
The extra care and patience (knock on wood) seems to be paying off. A preliminary tasting during bottling showed a strong, clean hop aroma as expected from the large 3.2oz Willamette flame out addition. However the hop flavor plays a definite back seat to the sweet, though not cloying, malt with hints of coffee and chocolate playing through slightly. It's still got some conditioning to do, but it's the first brew I've done that I actually enjoyed drinking before it was carbed.
I can't wait to see how it opens up with two weeks in the bottle and some carbonation. As it stands, it may be the first brew I repeat, regularly. A Blue Collar review of Rude Boy will be posted next Monday (if I have the patience to wait that long!) SWMBO even said it would be one she would sit and drink regularly. High praise for a yet unfinished brew.
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