The Spoils of Wort: It Won't Stop Fermenting By GhostOfTiber in GhostOfTiber's Diary Fri Jan 12, 2007 at 11:17:11 AM EST Tags: Brewing, Beer, Brew, Hops, Wort, Fermenting (all tags)
	I brew a lot. It's not because I'm an alcoholic but rather because I like beer like people like wine.  I can taste a beer and tell you whats in it.  I can probably brew it with a combination of malt extract and specialty grains.  I haven't made the all grain jump yet but it's merely because I don't have the cash for the equipment. Almost two weeks ago I set out to clone Mad Elf.  I bought a case of it and I personally really like it, but I realize I am a beer-snob at this point and won't drink just any piss.  The two biggest complaints about it were "the aftertaste" (typical Belgian Triple taste) and the fact that it's a bit dry.

I think the dryness is really what makes Mad Elf worth drinking.  There's fruit in it - cherries - and the Triple-style yeast adds banana flavors.  There is a clove in it and some cinnamon for warmth.  You can't actually taste the cinnamon or clove, but they are there in the form of a spicyness in the body and a bit of heat in the belly.  To sum it up:  Troegs really knocked this one out of the ballpark with the balance between the dry fruit and wetter malts.  I highly suggest tossing it in the fridge and lagering it to prevent the fruit from being completely lost. My beer is simpler. Grain:  Steep 1 hour  3 lbs Pale Dry Malt Extract  3 lbs Dry Wheat Extract  .5 lbs Chocolate malt  .5 lbs Cara-pils  .5 lbs crystal (if you don't have any of these you can skip it, it's only in there for body) Hops:  .5 oz Willamette hops (60 m)  .5 oz Tettenhang hops (15 m) Other:  2 cans of Juicy Juice Cherry (be sure to get the cans as canned goods have no preservatives)  Run the water through a brita or similar charcoal filter.  Hard water will kill the beer.  Use a wheat yeast I've found if you just tap the button on a coffee grinder a few times, it gives you a fine-grind on the bottom and a coarse grind on the top.  I've given up using bags to steep my grain bill and just heat water up to barely boiling, turn the heat off, and dump the grain in there once things drop to 155F.  I have a mesh strainer and I dump the wort through into a sterile bucket.  Once I get the pot cleaned out, I dump the wort back into the pot and bring to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, I add the dry malt extract and start the 1 hour timer.   Fermentation: Fermented like a banshee within a day of putting it in the bucket.  I thought I was going to lose the airlock, there was almost a whistle.  Original gravity turned out to be 1.070 which is perfect for a Big Brew. It's been 11 days now, and the airlock has stopped bubbling as of two days ago.  On the other hand, I cracked open the top and took a hydrometer reading.  The beer is now 1.010 and there is still yeast on the top.  From the looks of the stain on the bucket, the krausening made it almost to the airlock.  The top of the beer not only has yeast on it, but the top of the fermenter is still noticeably warm. If the beer does not settle in two weeks, I will probably transfer it to a secondary fermenter.

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Tiber should... leave it in the primary fermenter 25% transfer it to the secondary 62% bottle it and pray the bottles don't explode 12% Votes: 8 Results | Other Polls

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