Brewer's Log

2009.03.21: Today I brewed Maple Oatmeal Stout.

2007.06.24: The APA was racked to secondary. Current gravity is 1.012, and it's still bubbling every 10 seconds or so. The Oatmeal Stout is chilling.

2007.06.16: Yes, it really has been almost a year since I last brewed, but the BBQ is coming up, so it's time to get back into it! I'm starting off with American Pale Ale 4. Someday, I'm may actually use the same ingredients as a previous batch. The major change this time is in the hops. Instead of a pure Cascade brew, this time I used Simcoe and Amarillo as well. Next week, I plan on brewing an oatmeal stout.

2006.07.09: Willis came over and we brewed a Raspberry Stout. Aside from some minor problems such as empty propane cylinders, empty CO2 tank, and all of my 5 gallon carboys being full, things went pretty smooth. Having a second person to watch the pot helped out a lot as I ran around sanitizing and transferring so I could empty a carboy.

2005.07.02: The APA has been fermenting at about 74°F for a week now. It's a little warm, but that was as cool as the basement was getting. Yesterday, the temperature finally dropped to 68°F, and I'm transferring the APA to the secondary.

2005.06.25: Got up at 5 am and brewed the APA. Not quite so blazing hot that early. I also added Campden tablets, potassium sorbate, and a bottle of Torani Chocolate Blanco syrup to 3 gallons of bad mead (2001) to "fix" it.

2005.06.24: Wow, it's been a long time since I entered something here. The yeast starter is prepared and will hopefully be bubbling away, waiting to be added to tomorrow's brew: American Pale Ale 3.

2003.10.07: I awoke this morning to the smell of wine bubbling and the sight of a purple kitchen floor. I had snapped the lid on instead of leaving it loose. The fermentation eventually blew off the lid, but not before it sprayed a good amount on the floor.

2003.10.06: Stopped by Bev-Art and picked up a 5-gallon pail of Chancellor skins to make a second wine. I used 10 lb of sugar and added water until I hit about 20 Brix. Then I added the skins.

2003.09.28: Picked 2 cases each of Seyval Blancs and Chancellors. Bev-Art is taking care of the storage and racking this year.

2003.02.23: Brewed Irish Brown Ale.

2002.10.10: Pressed the Chancellors and ended up with about 6 gallons of wine. 5 gallons went into a carboy to sit a while, while the final gallon has been bottled. A second wine was started on top of the skins, with 10 lb of sugar and about 5.7 gallons of water (OG = ~1.11).

2002.10.03: The temperature of the fermenters is around 74°. Things are starting to slow down, and the cap on Chancellors is almost level with the top of the juice; it probably won't be long before it sinks to the bottom. Pressing is expected to occur Saturday morning.

2002.10.01: The fermentation lock is bubbling like mad on the Seyvals and the whole house smells like grapes. The bucket of crushed Chancellors feels warm to the touch - probably around 80°. I need to try to cool it down to a more reasonable temperature.

2002.09.30: Pushed down the cap on the Chancellors. There's some air in the fermentation lock over the Seyval Blancs, but it isn't bubbling yet.

2002.09.29: Picked about 70 lb each of Seyval Blancs and Chancellors. The Seyvals were crushed and pressed, and the Chancellors were just crushed. 1/4 tsp. of potassium metabisulfite was added to each container. Around 9 pm, the Seyval Blanc had Cote du Blanc yeast pitched on it, and I'm not sure what yeast was pitched on the Chancellors. I'll need to find out the particulars from Bev-Art for the records. Around 10 pm, the Seyval Blanc was transferred to a glass carboy with a fermentation lock.

2002.09.21: Brought Hefeweizen to Oktoberfest. I never did add the extra malt, so it was a little light, but it still was OK. Seeing as a lot of the attendees usually drink Miller or Bud, a lighter beer went over quite well. I'll probably bottle what's left so I can empty the keg.

2002.07.23: Brewed Hefeweizen. Pitched yeast at 11:30 am, and it was bubbling like mad by 12:30 pm. O.G. is a little low (1.045), so I'll be adding some more malt when I rack to the secondary. Also racked the mead to a secondary (finally) and set a bottle aside for the BBQ. It's young, but it's getting there.

2002.07.22: Picked up some Hefeweizen yeast from Rock Bottom Brewery (1 W. Grand, Chicago, IL).

2002.04.21: Somewhere between New Year's and now, I bottled about half of the Seyval Blanc. At an amateur wine competition today, my Seyval Blanc 2001 took a silver ribbon. I also found out that the name of the grapes I used was Seyval, not Serval.

2001.12.31: Bottled and sweetened about a half gallon of Seyval Blanc for New Year's festivities. Kegged and stabilized the rest. Transferred Concord and false Concord to tertiary. Mead stayed where it was.

2001.10.07: Racked "false" wine to secondary. Still had a little sugar left (1 Brix).

2001.10.02: Racked Seyval Blanc to secondary. Started up mead (1 gal honey, about 5 gal water, 22 Brix) on Seyval Blanc yeast bed.

2001.09.29: Racked Concord to secondary. Started up "false" wine (about 12 lb sugar, about 4 gal water, 31? Brix) on Concord yeast bed. Failed to read correct scale on hydrometer. I was reading Potential % alcohol by volume instead of Brix. I was around 15 (% alc) at 10 lb of sugar, and I wanted to get to 22 Brix, so I added 2-3 lb more sugar. That's when I realized I was looking at the wrong scale. There wasn't room for more water, and I was flustered so I didn't do a final Brix reading, so I am guessing at the initial Brix.

2001.09.17: Pitched Cote du Blanc yeast on Seyval Blancs.

2001.09.16: Went on the 2nd Annual Bev-Art Grape-Picking Trip to Lemon Creek vineyard in Michigan. I (well, friends helped) picked 60 lb of Seyval Blanc grapes, and 65 lb of Concord grapes. The Seyval Blancs were pressed that day. The Concords were crushed, and had yeast slurry pitched that night.

What's Brewing

Homebrews and other fermentables from Zlosk Brewing Co.

Homebrews from Hops!
Homebrewers' Pride of the Southside

Links

Questions or comments? Email me at homebrewer@zlosk.com.