Alt Style Ale - Part Deux

Cracked open a bottle this afternoon of the Alt. I've previously discussed the first batch which was very good. I had bottled 5 gallons and kegged another 5. This second batch consisted of 10 gallons and I had bottled the entire batch. One of the benefits of brewing a lot of beer in a short period of time is you are not inclined (at least I'm not) to rush drinking it. So, it fermented in the primary for over 10 days, sat in the secondary for almost two weeks and has been bottled for almost a month. Thus, the beer is very clear and very good.

I did switch up the recipe from the first batch in that I used whole hops vs. pellets which has resulted in a less hoppy beer (I happen to like hops) and has increased the clarity. Although, I'm sure time has more to do with that.

I have a second batch of Belgian Wit still in the secondary which I will bottle this week. With the remaining Alt in the keg and several cases of Alt and some Belgian Wit...my guess is this second batch of Wit will get plenty of time to sit undisturbed prior to drinking.

Oh, what to brew next?

Lazy Sunday

So we had a pretty low key day today. Got up, went to Mass, ran some errands so Julie could get some stuff for raspberry jam, I took a nap, planted some plants, made sure the sprinklers were working, tested some stain samples, and sampled the Belgian Wit from a bottle (very good).

I've attached a video of Alec playing with Charlotte's Chinese yo-yo, while not taken today it pretty much summed up a lazy Sunday.

The coming week will be busy, I have several meetings and proposals due and will be in La Jolla on Wednesday and Thursday pitching our products, so the calm before the storm is definitely fine by me.

The Reveal - Belgian Wit Edition

So, I re-cleaned out all the lines in the fridge, re-sanitized everything in preparation for the tapping of the Belgian Wit keg. Today was the day. Verdict: Excellent!

Bottles will be ready in one more week!

Belgian Wit to Secondary

So tonight I took the Belgian Wit from 9 days ago and transferred it to the secondary fermenter. This will allow me to clean out the primary and make them into secondaries for the Alt done over the weekend. I allowed myself a small sip whilst transferring and while a bit yeasty will definitely be good in a couple of weeks. So good in fact, that I will be picking up another set of ingredients to do another batch.

Belgian Wit

So it's steeping. A sort of wonderful tea that ends up with the attractive name of wort. Which in turn after fermenting for a few weeks is known as beer. This time, it's Belgian Wit.

Belgian Wit is a "wheat" beer, often whitish in color from suspended yeast. Learn More.

This is not a clear beer, but is very refreshing. I brew mine using 1/2 Belgian two row malt, and 1/2 wheat. The rest of the recipe is below, but it all adds up to a very good beer.

10 lbs. 2 Row Belgian Pale Malt (Dingmans)
10 lbs. German Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. Rice Hulls
4 oz. Saaz Hops
2 oz. Sazz Hops (finishing)

Gruut

2 oz. Corriander Seed
1 oz. Bitter Orange Peel
1 oz. Sweet Orange Peel
White Labs WLP Belgian Wit II Ale - Platinum

Prost!