12.5.2009

ABC's first attempt at homebrewing is a European Bock which we've dubbed "Bock Me Like A Hurricane." The expected result is a dark, moderately strong malty lager.

6.6 lb Munich Dark Malt Extract
2 lb Golden Light Malt Extract
8 oz Maltodextin
8 oz Crystal 120L
4 oz Chocolate
4 oz Carapils Dextrine
.75 oz Bittering Hops (boil)
.5 oz Aroma Hops (finishing)
1 Lager Yeast sachet

OG            12.5.2009        1.065
FG             1.14.2010        1.03
ABV%        4.59%

Brew Date: 12.5.2009
Heated up water in the pot and steeped the grains in the water for about 20 minutes. When the steeping was done, the "Beer Tea" started looking like beer.  The aroma from the wort at this point smelled like we brewed a bunch of coffee. We had to bring our wort to a rolling boil, which on the stove took forever.  Maybe it should have dawned on us that boiling 2.5 gallons of water on the stove is a bit time-consuming. When it was finally boiling, we added the malt extracts.  This began to give the wort the head you would expect from beer. Bittering hops were added and boiled for 40 minutes, followed by the addition of aroma hops for a final 15 minutes. Our wort is measuring in at around 220 degrees and now we have to chill it down to 60 degrees.  Sink was filled with ice water and the stock pot was removed from the stove (after about 7 hours) and into the ice bath.  The chill down didn't take too long, but we did have to remove the pot and refresh with new batches of ice water about 5-6 times.  The 2.5 gallons of wort was transferred to the 5 gallon container and topped with 1.5 of cold water (batch is at 4 gallons). Using a hydrometer, we measured the gravity level of the soon-to-be beer and added water until the gravity level was in range (we ended up getting a bit over 5 gallons).

Expected Original Gravity (OG):
1.064 - 1.068

BMLAH OG:
1.065

Time to pitch some yeast!  Yeast was added and stirred into the 5 gallons of goodness.  The grommeted lid was pounded onto the container, the airlock was added, and the container was placed in a top secret location.  Fermentation should begin within 48 hours, so we'll be checking for any CO2 release from the airlock. Primary fermenting is supposed to last 10-14 days, when Final Gravity (FG) levels stabilize for two days.

Primary fermentation is scheduled to complete on Dec 17.  Then we'll transfer the beer to another container for an additional month of storage (lagering).

Jan 14 we're scheduled to bottle, with a "ready to drink" date of Feb 4.

Fermentation Update: 12.10.2009
Fermentation finally showed signs today, with CO2 bubbles beginning to gurgle out of the airlock. Learned that just because CO2 bubbles aren't coming from the airlock doesn't mean fermentation hasn't started. We'll start testing the gravity within a week.

Lager Date: 12.17.2009
Took the FG when moving to the lagering carboy:

BMLAH FG (Pre-Lagering):
1.03

ABV% at this point is 4.59%

Bottling Date: 1.14.2010
We took the final FG.  Something didn't sit right.

BMLAH FG (Post-Lagering):
1.03

The lagering process added no value for our final alcohol content.  Being the first beer we ever made, we didn't realize that a true lagering process involved lowering temperature by one degree each day until it reached 45-55 degrees/day.  OOPS!

Based on these events, this will not be a lager.  It will be a bock-flavored ale.  Should be a real hot mess.

Opening:

Conclusion: