Mothra

Oh yeah. Check out this crazy bug I found on the bumper of my car yesterday morning. Weird.

Bottling Day

"Lend me some sugar. I am your neighbor."

- the Outkast

Today was bottling day at Philbony's Brewery.

I got 39 full twelve-ounce bottles from a 5-gallon batch. That's a 73% efficiency! The recipe assumed only 70%. For a first-time solo brewer I'm ecstatic. I did not top off with water after boil either -- nothing diluted.

Once again I tasted the uncarbonated BEER. I originally tasted it about a week ago when I transferred from the primary fermenter to the secondary. This time I chilled it in the fridge. No off flavors to speak of. Hoppy flavor with a strong beer-y aroma.

Looking forward to the finished product. The bubbles should be interesting since temperature was so hard to control during the mash. Higher mash temps allegedly equate to more aggressive bubbling.

Lagering in the basement now. Temperature is up to 70 degrees now that spring is kicking. Will take 2 weeks for bubbles, plus time to condition the flavor further.

Photo to whet the appetite for your 4th of July pleasure...

Stewing My Juices

Okay people. Philbony's brewery is open for business. I got so excited making a batch last week with Chopes, I went out & bought a full set up as a birthday present to myself.

The mashing and boiling went pretty well. Started Friday at about 10 AM. Temperature control is a real b*tch. Could be my ultimate downfall. But post-boil, things were pretty sanitary and easy. Pitched the yeast Friday night around 6:30. By early Saturday morning the bubble was going real strong (every couple seconds).

See for yourself, see-for-yourselfers...

(Sorry for the cockeyed view. I don't have the technical capability to rotate the view -- yet.)

Why is this Man Smiling?

Hello, laughing boy!

Mashing

Sparging

Ferment

Clearing up a bit. Darker than I thought an IPA would be. I'm okay with that though...