Method

Start a 1 litre 1.040 yeast started the day before.

We sort of screwed up this one in the beginning, but made a good recovery. I don't know how, but the water was heated in the brewpot, and the extracts were added, before the grains were steeped. Also, the pot was filled up way too far, making it impossible to vigorously boil the wort. So to recover, about 2 litres of cold water was put in a 5 litre dutch oven, which was then brought up to temperature to steep the grains. The grains were removed (along with half the water, which was now in the grains), and 3 or 4 litres of the wort from the brew pot were put into the dutch oven. A double-boil was employed until the volume of the man brew pot was brought down enough to dump in the contents of the dutch oven.

Everything went smoothly from this point. The wort was boiled for a total of 75 minutes, with hops added according to the above schedule. The wort was then siphoned through the CF-chiller into the carboy, and the Wyeast 1338 (European Ale) starter was immediately pitched.

Data

brewed: July 08, 1996
pitched: July 08, 1996 (9pm, immediately)
racked: July 13, 1996 -- fermentation complete!!!
bottled:
O.G. 1.042
F.G. 1.0

Pitching

A one litre starter of Wyeast 1338 (European Ale) was pitched, and active fermentation was visible within 5 or 6 hours.

Fermentation

The beer fermented at a pretty steady 22C, which shouldn't be a problem with esthers since it is a darker beer. Amazingly, fermentation was complete within 5 or 6 days, at which point it was racked off into the 2ndary to clear out. At this point, 2 Tbsp of Isinglass finings were added and stirred in well, to aid in clearing.

Other Notes

Taste Tests

Yield