The Kölsch is here …

After a couple more weeks in the bottle conditioning than I had expected, our Kölsch is finally done and ready to be consumed.  I’ve had a couple of bottles already and have to say it tastes about like I had expected.  In fact, it tastes (in my opinion), very similar to a kölsch from a local microbrewery.

Of course, I’m already working on the next batch and hopefully this time I’ll be able to post more information about what I do and how I do it.  This time I’ve picked up a kit to make an American Cream Ale.  I had originally planned on using melted snow to make the beer, but when I went to give it a shot, there was just too much crap in the water for me to feel safe in attempting this.  In the end, I just dumped the water and will go back to using good old DC tap water … of course, I’m not sure would be worse.

End of the Holiday, start of the Kölsch …

Been silent for a bit, but wanted to update everyone on what’s going on.  At the end of last year, we put the finishing touches on our holiday ale.  This beer turned out to be a rather interesting brew that was a bit stronger than even we anticipated.

Through an equipment malfunction (our hydrometer that we use to measure specific gravity was a bit off), we ended up making the beer with a bit less water than we were supposed to (making a 4 gallon batch out of 5 gallons of ingredients).  The result was what we thought it would be, but a bit thicker and stronger.

The ale itself was supposed to be a bit on the stronger side, from 7-8% alcohol, but I’d wager that the final product may be upwards of 10%, though I wasn’t able to measure because of the aforementioned equipment problem.

That being said, with about 5 bottles left, it’s time to look forward to our next project, a German kölsch.  We’ve already brewed and done primary fermentation and are just watching it as it undergoes secondary fermentation.  At this rate, we’re looking at bottling in a bit less than two weeks and maybe it’ll be ready in three to four.