12.21.2009

With the brews thus far being a bit on the dark side, we thought we'd go with a darker wheat beer. This wheat ale will be a bit darker with hints of honey and blackberry.

3.3 lb Muntons Dark Malt Extract
3.3 lb Belgian Wheat Malt Extract
8 oz Black Barley Grain
8 oz Carapils Grain
8 oz Special B Malt
16 oz Wisconsin Honey
1 oz Columbus Hops (boil)
1 oz Goldings, East Kent Hops (finishing)
1 American Ale yeast
6 oz Blackberry Extract

OG            12.21.2009        1.06
FG             1.4.2010            1.022
ABV%        5.0%

Brew Date: 12.21.2009
Most efficient brewing to date. 

Steeped the 24oz of grains in our 2 gallon wort for 30 minutes at 150-160 degrees.  With the outdoor burner, we hit this temperature in about 5-10 minutes.  After the steeping, we let the wort come to a rolling boil and then added the honey, the malt extracts, and the Columbus hops.  The wort was left to boil for an hour.  To finish the wort, we added the Goldings hops for 15 minutes.  We transferred the 2 gallon wort to our ale pail with 3 gallons of cold water. Time to pitch some yeast. Added our yeast blend and stirred it up.  Hydrometer...

Expected Original Gravity (OG):
1.06

Blacker OG:
1.06

We siphoned the brew-to-be from the ale pail to our glass carboy and added the air lock.  Fermenting is expected to complete the first week in January with immediate bottling.  Estimated opening date will be January 21.

Fermentation Update: 12.22.2009
Learning it's pretty difficult to cage a wild black bear.  Needless to say, fermentation has begun.

To counteract what is going on below, replaced the airlock with a hose and attached the airlock to the other end.  It seems that this is helping to regulate the CO2.



Bottling Date: 1.4.2010
Expected Final Gravity (FG):
1.02

Actual FG:
1.022

ABV %: 5.0%

Batch yielded twenty-eight 12 oz bottles and seven 22 oz bottles.

First opening should around January 20.

Opening: 1.21.2010

Opened the first bottles of the "Pooh Bear" Ale.  It turned out much darker than we imagined in color.  The taste was fairly light; especially considering that dark hue.  The blackberry flavor kicked in for the after-taste.  This beer had a very "darker Blue Moon" quality to it.  We added an orange and it gave the beer another flavor dimension.

Conclusion: A
This has been our best beer yet.  While JG's is a good drinking beer in smaller quantities, this is one you can really kick back and relax with.  Dark color, lighter body, blackberry end notes, and the flexibility to add an orange really
make "Pooh Bear" a winner.