
Add 12 cups of Starbucks Breakfast Blend (already brewed). Steep the grains until the boil starts. Add all liquid extract, 2lbs Muntons Dry Malt Extract (Dark), and 1oz Fuggles Hops. Boil for 15 minutes. Add 1oz Fuggles Hops. Boil for 20 minutes. Add 1oz Fuggles Hops. Boil 20 minutes and then add 1oz Nugget Hops and boil 7 minutes. Add remainder of the water to bring batch to 5 gallons. When temperature reaches 75, take an Original Gravity reading (1.090!!!) and pitch yeast (7:00 AM this morning). Jet black and already beginning to bubble, this one's got power.
UPDATE: Bubbling 1x/7 seconds 24 hrs after pitching yeast.
UPDATE 1/4: Krausen has broken through and filled the airlock, spilling out on top of the bucket, 48 hours after pitching yeast. 1:54PM--color me astounded, and the living room black. Superman would not be contained. Apparently the airlock got clogged and enough pressure built up to blow the lid across the room. Cleanup was minimal, luckily. Let's just hope Superman can kill whatever bacteria may have nestled in the Krausen so the finished product remains in tact. If not, expect some off flavoring. . . . .(to be continued).
UPDATE 1/5: Things are relatively calm after yesterday's excitement. It's 72 hrs after pitching the yeast, nothing is trying to escape out of the airlock, and it's bubbling 1x/second. The temperature, since the most recent developments, has remained at 75. Last night before both of my sinuses blocked I noticed fruity esters. When I asked Jefe to describe what the beer smelled like he said "fruity". I've read that some people have experienced notes of black cherry, but it doesn't look all that common. But what the hell, black cherry wouldn't be all that bad.
UPDATE 1/6: Still hopping along, though at a relaxed pace.
UPDATE 1/7: Things have slowed down considerably, bubbling about once every 4-5 seconds. I bought a 5 gallon bucket at Home Depot yesterday to use as a secondary fermenter. The beer smells decidedly more like . . . beer! It has a rich, malty, alcoholic smell to it. And hops. I don't notice any fruity esters and I can only imagine things will continue to dry up and sweetness will be diminished as the rest of the yeast finishes its job. Another day or so and I'lll re-rack it and let it sit for a bit longer. Before re-racking I'll take another gravity reading, as well, to get an idea of where things stand!
UPDATE 1/8: The beer smells done. It's hitting about 1x/10 seconds and I'm tempted to re-rack it tonight but I think to be on the safe side I'm going to wait till tomorrow night and let it get a little bit more settled.
Oh my goodness I can not wait. Sometimes I think I'm a genious. =)
ReplyDeleteWow, things did get interesting - I have no idea what half your words even mean but it sounds like precious little fun. But the beer may be saved - that's amazing. Nice work!
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