Distracted

29Apr07

So I’m reading the news about Josh Hancock obsessively. It’s just so shocking… I have the yankees/red sox game on mute for no particular reason and all I can hear is the trafffic outside and the pop, pop, pop, of my fermenting “esb but not really” (seriously, I think I’m going to call it that) in the dining room.

Wondering why I’d call it “esb but not really”? And why I’m super-glad it actually IS fermenting? Well, for more details check out my IM convo with Leah the other day. Everyone needs a Leah (and Russ, as you’ll see) to help them out when they majorly screw up their brewing:

me: yo leah, I screwed up brewing last night – when you’re back I wonder if you could tell me how bad it is that I put in an extra, cough cough, couple pounds of malt extract in

Leah: HEE!!! also, oops
I’m sorry
I’m guessing that it will just make it far higher in alcohol. Your balance will probably be off too – it might not be hoppy enough. When you rack it, taste it. You could probably dry-hop it and turn it into an IPA or something. Russ would probably have better ideas too…
what was the style supposed to be?
me: esb
Leah: hmm. that’s at least still an english style if you do decide to IPA it
I’ll ask Russ
me: thank you! I can’t believe I was so dumb, just poured in the whole bottle of malt without thinking about it
Leah: so how much extra did you add?
me: gawd I’m an idiot. Recipe called for 4 lbs of liquid malt extract and 3.25 lbs of DME – I added 6 of liquid and 3 of DME
Leah: Russ asked if it’s fermenting yet
me: Wasn’t when I left this morning
I’m sure it will be by the time I’m home
I would have called you last night, but this happened around midnight and I thought you might not appreciate it
Leah: yeah. I was kinda asleep
me: Ah well, it’s not the end of the world if it’s messed up anyway
Leah: Russ is looking some stuff up
me: you guys are so great
Leah: Brewing is an awesome hobby
“She probably added 16 gravity points for a ten-gallon batch, so if she was shooting for 1054 (typical of an ESB), she’d probably hit 1070, which is why I’d worry about the yeast getting started.”
“I wouldn’t worry about the yeast yet. That’s sort of borderline for not using a starter, so it might just take a little longer to get going. A little more risk of infection, but not much.”
“As far as the recipe goes, however, I think she’s stuck. I’d just call it an “imperial bitter.” Dry-hopping it with something like Kent Goldings might give it a little more complexity and the illusion of bitterness.”
me: is this all russ?
Leah: yep
does that help at all?
me: yes it does. I would just dry hop into the secondary?
I’ve never done that before
thanks so much for this
Leah: of course – yeah, dry hopping in secondary
Now, IF you have a yeast issue, you might need a differnet yeast. I’m not very up on that, so let me know if fermentation doesn’t start fairly soon (48 hours)
we’ll look into it
me: the smack pack was absolutely huge by the time I pitched, so if any yeast would work, I feel like this one would. I’ve never had a pack that big before
Leah: geez
me: I don’t know if that’s good logic
Leah: that sounds a litle scary

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