Not so Pale Ale
So the Diamond Knot is finally done fermenting and was ready to be put into keg and bottles on Saturday. I'm getting really efficient at cleaning bottles and randomly figured out that my dishwasher makes an excellent and fee bottle drying rack that is conveniently located right next to the sink. (Seriously as a homework assignment I want you to go drink a case of beer or hard cider and try to see how many bottles you can fit into your dishwasher). While I the beer was fermenting I had the presence of mind to snap a picture, but didn't even think to get a picture of the bottling process. The picture you are about to see is the beer at its most violent point in the fermentation. The stuff you see suspended in the liquid is yeast doing its job.
As you can see it is a very vigorous fermentation. The only gripe I have so far is it is not a very "pale" pale ale. I missed the style by a fair margin I think, but since I'm not going to take this beer to competition it doesn't matter much. I let it ferment a little too long according to my chart with a final gravity of 1.011 and a healthy 6.3%ABV. Based on my thinking I needed to double plus some on my main grains and leave the color grains at the original values. It is a little bit of a forehead slapper moment to realize duh, double the grain that adds color in grain and the beer will be twice as dark. I think it will have to be called a copper ale, just because of the color. The good news is the wife thinks it smells good, and for someone that doesn't like beer she has a great nose for it. This is going to be one of the Kegs on Tap for Seafair this coming weekend. My beer nerd friend is making is Naughty Scottish ale, 10 gallons of beer ought to get us through at least Saturday. I'll do my best to get pictures of the beer as it is poured, but no promises 'cause I'm going to be drinking it as well.
Posts
Diamond knot?! You are brave, despite the color discrepancies the real measure of this beer is how much it knocks you on your butt. I'll be glad if there is but one picture of said beer.
ReplyDeletenice one, keep it up :D
ReplyDeleteDrinking it as it's poured? lol
ReplyDeletei was not a beer drinker...until...one of the designers in my office gave a two hour presentation one friday, all about the history of and various kinds of beers. then we sampled 4 of his personal brews. oh my wow!
ReplyDeletethanks to him i now know that i am a big fan of belgian whites.
This is great!
ReplyDeletelooks like a pretty mean brew haha, someones deffo gonna get plastered on that!
ReplyDeleteHeh, looks like it packs a kick :P
ReplyDeleteAlright @shaw I edited for hopefully some clarity. Thanks for calling out my poor English.
ReplyDeletehow londdid it take fermenting? i left mine about 3 months...
ReplyDelete@Diego, beer is only about 2 weeks. 2-4 days of vigorous fermentation and the rest is slow and steady bubbles in the airlock. Wine is a different game all together. The fermentation often only takes a few weeks, then you are doing stuff for flavor like oak, and aging. Most beer is best in the 4 weeks to 6 months range. Some beers and yeasts need time to get to the point of tasting great, my next beer is supposed to lay low for a year after you have bottled it letting the flavors come together.
ReplyDelete