Excitement is Brewing

December 18, 2009

Or is it that brewing is excitement? A few weeks ago, I set a brew date for myself, and it’s this Sunday! I started getting excited as soon as I set it, and have just been gearing up since.

I won’t be brewing at Great Divide Brewing Co, but it was a fitting picture for the post.

This time, I’m making a 10 gallon batch of a recipe called “Centennial Blonde” that I found over at Home Brew Talk forums. I’ve made it once before and everyone loved it, but I only made 5 Gallons of it, so this time I’m going to double the pleasure, double the fun.

This will also be my first 10 gallon batch, so I’m hoping it doesn’t add too much to the brew day. The original idea was to use some yeast that I “rinsed”, which is basically a way to re-use yeast, but my starter doesn’t seem to be active, so I think those yeasties are either really sleepy, or dead.

To add a little interesting twist to the recipe, I think I’m going to use the Nottingham yeast that it calls for in the recipe for one of my 5 Gallon Carboys, and buy some new American Ale yeast for the second carboy. This way I can compare them and see if I can tell a difference.

I’m already plotting to try and put a Stout on top of the yeast cake after I bottle, but we’ll see if that happens.

Oh yea, and Christmas is coming up too. I am pretty psyched up for Christmas, I think I got some good gifts for my family, and I’m looking forward to having some good friends over for Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe they can help me empty some beer bottles for my next batch.

Also on Port 16:

Posted in HomeBrew, Beer