Hail to the Chief's Ale

While I am pleased with the outcome of the election, there is always some aspect that is not to my liking, but I'll save that for those that prefer to debate politics. I'll stick to White House beer discussions.

I look forward to the White House Honey Ale I brewed up a few weeks ago. A lot has happened since then, 'Superstorm Sandy', the first snow, and 2 weeks enjoying the 70's & 80's in Florida. Our house and property made out fine, only a single branch down and lost power for a day or so. Matt kept watch and he and Calvin cleaned up the branch for us. Sure wish the other millions affected by the storm faired so well. We wish them the best in their recovery.

I got the Honey Ale bottled a couple days ago, and will bring a few to Ashley & Casey's for Thanksgiving. A little early but can't pass up the chance. I forgot to check the SG before I added the bottling sugar, and the sample is awfully sweet. Hopefully the carbonation will tone it down a bit. Hopefully it will age well, too.
A pretty generic shot here as I was in a rush to get it done. Got 44 bottles from the batch.

Brewed up The Innkeeper tonight. A fairly typical Ale with lower ABV for more drink-ability. I used the new plastic carboy, but did not plan ahead with the yeast starter which I just got. The weight difference on the plastic is pretty obvious. It also is much shorter than the glass ones, and fits in the cooler! Not that I need the cooler now that it's gotten cold outside. I'll probably fire it up after Christmas with a Lager.
Here's the Innkeeper getting started.

Trying a few things differently this time. I maxed out the brewpot at about 3+ gallons as I've been reading that full boils are better. Also learned that you should not boil with even a partial lid cover. Seems the boiling gets rid of some unwanted stuff. I'm also looking bigger brew pots to do full boils. Lots of options, but not cheap. Just found a deal that's hard to pass up - Tractor Supply has a 32 qt aluminum pot and propane burner for $50. That's a major deal for both. Only available in select stores, so hopefully the local one has them. They are technically turkey fryers, but so what. I was skeptical about using aluminum, but read that it really makes no difference in flavor. The burner is a bonus as I really don't need it, but it could be useful in the future, especially if I start doing bigger batches.

I made a very deliberate effort to not get the brew pot dregs into the fermenter. It 'cost' about 1 qt of volume, as again I was reading that you really don't want that stuff in the fermenter. Since I don't have any batch to compare to, yet, I'm just hoping for a cleaner taste. Mostly the hops, but some malt residue, probably 'hot break' is a better term.

The Great Pumpkin was released this week. I'm undecided about it. I burned out on Pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers over the last few months, and was concerned that I would be disappointed, but it's not bad. I sent a six pack to Ashley when Mary went down to pickup the Woofer D (the dog), but no word yet from her.

Johnnycakes