brewin’ up some holiday cheer

11Nov06

So Kev and I finally brewed up the gingerbread ale (which I’ll be calling “Pontipee Ale” in honor of my family’s favorite christmas movie) the other night. Here’s me brewing:

We had a lot of fun this time around. I wonder if brewing is one of those activities that’s substantially less fun if I’m doing it all by myself? (Ok, I’m not worried about the “fun” part as much as the “heavy lifting” part. Kevin has to keep coming over so that I can avoid buying dumbbells.) Anyway, everything went well, I believe. The spring water we were adding to the carboy didn’t get very cold in the refrigerator, so we had to chill the wort for longer than I’d have liked in its ice bath and get it all the way down to 90 degrees. I think everything went OK otherwise, though.

I think it’s going to be a very strongly spiced ale – I only put in a total of about two teaspoons of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves, but their taste was OVERPOWERING when added to the wort. Of course, that will be added to three more gallons of water, but still. As Leah said, if it’s too strong for this christmas, I’ll just have to save it for next year!

The fermentation seems to be going brilliantly. I think it’s bubbling more intensely than the wheat beer did, although the fact that I’m using an airlock rather than a blowoff tube may have something to do with that impression.

One more thing: I ordered a large jug of iodine from Northern Brewer for sanitation purposes. What I didn’t know was that you only need one tiny capful for each batch. I’d assumed that the sanitation would require several tablespoons each time (like the oxygen cleanser did). Guess not. So I’ve got a HUGE bottle of iodine that will probably last me about 30 batches. Hee. Here’s Kevin holding the bottle.

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