Russian Imperial Stout

This is from a bomber after a couple weeks about a month (my how time flies) in the bottle.

Secondary Fermenter Loaded

Transferred to the carboy tonight at around 8 pm. The airlock was down to one very lazy bubble on occasion and the temp was again at 68 F. Pulled a sample for the refractometer and according to it, the SG is about half way from start to finish. Transferred it too soon... still learning here.

I will now leave the house thermostat alone at 70 F and not fiddle with it for a couple weeks. We'll see how this turns out.

Stupid organics...

says the metallurgist brewing his second batch of beer. Well, second batch of beer since the last time I brewed which was many, many, many calendar flips ago.

This morning I look to the primary fermenter and see that the temp has risen to 72 F. I then stand there puzzled in the predawn moments trying to sort out why the temperature would have risen two degrees Fahrenheit over night.

I wander back to the other bathroom to begin daily preparations and mention to my (cell biologist) wife that yeast converting sugars to alcohol appears to be ... wait for it... exothermic.

DUH... DuH... dUH. Dammit it hurts when the stupid smacks you that hard practically first thing in the morning. Funniest was her answer of ... uhhh, yeah? Oh well, stupid organics.

Set the household thermostat to 65 F before leaving for work / school and upon arriving home this evening discovered the primary fermenter to be sitting there at about 69 F and the airlock still moving but much slower than when we started this on Sunday.

Bodies are in the house, so temp is set back to 70 F. We will see what is going on in the morning. Tomorrow night may be when it transfers (I know... racks) to the secondary fermenter. Then again, maybe not, class doesn't let out until about 7 pm on a Thursday.

More Fermentation

Happy yeasties. Perhaps overly so. Thermometer stuck to the side of the bucket says 74 F. Moved to the garage for overnight storage (at around 10 pm). Temps are supposed to dip into the high 40s tonight.I will move it back inside in the morning.

Moved it back inside at around 5 am this morning and the fermenter says it is at 68 F. Fermentation is still active but is slowed. Success... methinks. The above is pre-garage activity. Below is post-garage activity.

Fermentation

We have bubbles.

Wort Chiller

Best thing since ...  who knows.

Sink full of ice cubes and constantly changing freezy packs took over an hour to get from boil to around 90 F last time.

This device got us to 75 F in twenty minutes with a little bit of stirring. With tap water addition to make five gallons, we were at 70 F at the time of yeast pitch.

Transfer

While it is true that beers are racked to and fro, an IP AR is transferred. ;)

Brew Day

Think we will call it 223 IPA. Or maybe IP AR ;)

Two in two days

Two Benchmade deliveries in a row. :)

Have we sorted out that I am a bit of a Benchmade fan yet?

This means that

my Benchmade can get back in my pocket.

 

 

The  torx screws were working loose and allowing a lot of slop in the clip. I quit toting it for a few days so as to not lose those little bitty screws. It turns out they are a T6 and that is smaller than any torx driver I had at the time. Now I have a pair of T6, a pair of T8 and a pair of T10 bits.

 

I am very happy now that my everyday knife is back in my pocket. My faithful old Böker just isn't my favorite anymore.

 

And here I am without a single Remington product

for the first time in my life. Oh, wait a minute, I have some RemOil somewhere.

I first read the story here. Then I read it here. And then here. I am happy more jobs are going to be available in Alabama. I do love my adoptive state. And, to Hell with New York.

Picture stolen from one of the links above...

Namely this one.


Once it is open, I will by a new  Remington something.

Continued Bottle Discussion

Had two more flip-top bottles to taste from the bottling event a couple weeks ago. One was perfect and the other was perfectly flat. I believe we have a sometimes fail to fully seal issue and am committed to tossing the flip-top bottles.

As it was an experiment, I don't mind tossing the loser here. Next bottling round will be nothing but bombers and maybe a few twelve ounce friends.

Process Control

I say any of the following; because my window on the Internet seems to be fixated on these topics lately.

A process (any process) is in control only when it generates repeatable outputs. One only controls a process if proactive steps are taken before and/or during the process' attempt at an output. Reactive steps during this same time, do not lead to a well-controlled process. This is one hundred percent "No Shit Sherlock" to anyone that knows anything about process engineering. And, is probably "Gee Whiz, REALLY?" to just about any sentient being with enough brain matter to rub together and create a heat island betwixt their ears.

 Should we take a sticky topic, like abortion, and take a process control viewpoint, we find the following. Abortion is a reactive attempt at process (copulating) control. Whether or not it be illegal, immoral or otherwise just icky, abortion is a sloppy attempt at process control. I have an opinion (doesn't everyone) about this topic and many others. I shall keep that opinion to myself.

I will say that law makers have no business legislating marriage, baby-making, legalization of various manufactured highs, generally human morality, etc. Leave that out of your daily law making please. Focus your efforts on a limited scope... roads, mail, national sovereignty... you know, the things reserved to you by the Constitution.

Now, I will go back to my corner and sit a spell.

Bottle Selection

Tried one of these last night and it was pretty tasty. Still not the depth of flavor I would like, but it has only been in the bottle for a little over two weeks. A Russian Imperial Stout probably needs at least two more weeks. Although, last night's example was well carbonated and very clear (not as in see-through, as in no sediment). A week or so in the secondary fermenter seems to have helped a lot. I will be doing this one again, maybe with an extra hop addition.

Had one of these on Wednesday night and it was (compared to the bomber version above) not well carbonated, the flavors were quite muted and a bit astringent. Had another one of these last night and, while not as good as the bomber version, it was ok, pretty well carbonated and no astringent flavors noted.

I think I will toss all of these Grolsch bottles in favor of bombers. They have been sitting around for a long while (measured in years, probably not decades) and I suspect they aren't sealing as well as the capped bombers.

Also noted that all of them had compacted and firm sediment in the bottoms. Didn't even appear to move much during the pour. It also washed out very easily. I am a big fan of this development.