Monster Brew Day

Yesterday was a nice day.  Actually seemed likes spring was on the way.  I have been waiting for a warmer Saturday so I can brew some a larger recipe outside with a full boil.

I ended up making two base beers yesterday.  One is a sour stout inspired by the "Tart of Darkness" from the Bruery and the "Dark Dawn" from Jolly Pumpkin.

Here are some photos from the brew day:

Mash in. The grain bill was a pretty basic stout. The majority of the flavor is going to come from the bugs.

Pale ale, Oats, Crystal 60L, Black and a some Chocolate made up the grain list for the mash.

It was nice outside so it was time to head outside and brew this 5 gallon batch.  Only a small portion of Saaz was added to the boil for the full 60 minutes.

Sanitizing the wort chiller.  I let this sit outside for 45 minutes to get just a bit of the terroir after the boil and then chilled to 75-80 degrees.

After it cooled. I transferred to a plastic bucket.  The plastic bucket will let in more air and closer replicate the wooden barrels than a glass carboy.  It will stay in this bucket for the full 8-12 months.  I noticed once the transfer finished that I got a crazy amount of boil off.  I started with 6.75 gallons of wort and only ended up with 4.5 after the boil.  I added some DME and water to get the hydrometer reading back up to where it should of been.  I still came in lower than expected at 1.053.  It will still be 5.4% or more in alcohol once the bacteria and wild yeast eat through everything.

After shaking the bucket around ot get some oxygen in there for the yeast I added a combo.  American Ale Dried yeast, Belgian Sour Mix and dregs from two Jolly Pumpkin Dark Dawn Stouts.  Time to sit in the dark for 8-12 months.








On top of this beer I also moved on to the second steps for the Funk with Less Fuss.  I will make a new post for this to keep them all together.