urbandryad

I really want to try this.

http://growlermag.com/homebrew-recipe-berliner-weisse/2/

Oh gods, guys. I'm behind on my write-ups.

So I made the sarsaparilla milk stout (recipe http://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/sarsaparilla-milk-stout ) using windsor yeast. I'd read that the windsor yeast tended to be fast and also very flavourful, and I wanted that character -- plus it was a low attenuator, which I wanted in this case.

Four hours after pitching there was beer all over the floor and I was rigging a blowoff tube to keep the mess to a mimimum while I ran out to buy a primary bucket, as opposed to the glass carboy I had tried it in. Two days after pitching the fermentation seemed 'stuck' which weirded me out because it was just bombing along-- and then I realized the lactose of course was registering despite not fermenting out.

A week after pitching it had sat in a secondary for a bunch of days and I bottled it.

So far I'm really sold on it despite the fact that the grain sat after cracking for awhile before I made it up. With priming sugar in it it was too sweet, and it is very sweet, but it's got that lovely coffee/chocolatey thing going on with a roundness from the sarsaparilla and lactose. I am super curious to see how it tasted when it's carbonated, and then as time goes on.

Alright, so, brewing time. I am currently making Brandon O's Graff ( http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/ ) with of course some alterations.

Also: my apartment smells like malt and hops.

Okay, so I basically followed the base recipe with a bunch of alterations and details: I used 1.1 kilos amber liquid malt extract instead of 2 lbs dried malt extract, and 1/2 lb crystal 120L, because I like those dark roasty tastes a lot. Instead of buying apple juice, I used a can of Vinter's Harvest apple wine base, so basically apple juice concentrate, diluted up to 4 gallons. The hops I picked were wakatu, because I loved their smell. Yeast is Safale-05.

For my first official wort-making, it's going well. Things taste good. I'm not sure I like the intensity of hop smell in here. Wish me luck! Will record specific gravity later on.

[Edit: 1.04 specific gravity or about 5% potential alcohol]

[Edit on Nov 04, 2013: I went to bottle this pretty late, end of last week, and I hadn't transferred it to an airlocked carboy. It tasted distinctly sour: I kind of liked the taste, did some research, consulted, and ended up priming and bottling half of it to see where it goes. I am worried that it will form a pellicle in the bottles, in which case I'll throw it out. If not, and it carbonates, and I like it, I will drink the half I kept. But: I think my primaries are scratched enough to harbour bacteria, and I trust cleanliness of glass, so I'm running everything in glass for awhile. Next update will be when it carbonates.]