More Brewing

Looks like I'll never get caught up on posts, so I'm going to do the speed reading version.

The Irish red is all gone but 3 bottles I'm saving, and 1 of Matt's. Ashley do you have any left? The Wheat got rave reviews from Matt's friends, but I'm not convinced it's that good. The fermenting temp was rather high, and I think it gave an off flavor. I've got 21 of these stashed away.

With the cooler weather the temps were better for the Chinook IPA, and the latest batch, Rye Pumpkin Ale, is fermenting comfortably in the Reddi Wip cooler. 

 

The $20 digital controller is working nicely. Got the shop temperature chart recorder on it to see what's happening. Both are C not F, set at 17.5 +1 differential. Just started on the carboy temp, but it's looking like 18C (64.4F) with a 1.5C drop when the cooler kicks on. Only runs about 4 min every 50.

Also 'brewed' up a batch of Hard Apple Cider. Got that started on 9/15 and it's mostly done fermenting, but the SG check the other day was not a pleasant taste test. The sugars are totally gone (1.000) and it has a rather sour taste. But I hear that young cider is usually not too good and it mellows with age. We'll see. 

I'm brewing this in a bucket, and will probably not do a secondary. I may split the batch into 2 or 3 'flavors'. We'll see when we get there.

The Pumpkin Rye is a sort of kit bashed brew. I started with the Brewers Best Rye Pale Ale and left out the Columbus hops, and no Cascade dry hop. Don't want to over power the pumpkin and spices with hops. I hope this comes out good! OG was 1066, so this ought to be a high ABV. It's been chugging nicely for 4 days so far. Oh yeah, 2 pounds of pumpkin too.

Here's the grain steeping. The kit has a steep to convert grain component. 

Next task is to bottle the Chinook IPA. Dry hopped 8 days ago so it's ready. Here it is going into the secondary a while back.

Then the best part - Custom Printed Caps! from BottleMark excellent quality, great price and quick delivery. Here are the images I created (Ashley did the Apple) and the caps are an almost perfect match.

And more labels.

Still working on what to print on. Might try tracing paper.

John