Last week's Brewing Session

Whew! I'm behind in my posting! Let's see, I had a Brew Day last week. I had thought about doing an American Amber ale, but decided instead upon a Helles Bock. The deciding factor for me was not wanting to have to get a variety of different malts (my 'stash' is running low) and not feeling up to doing multiple hop additions (I just wanted to brew, and relax). All told, the session went well. Keeping a rolling boil when the temperature is below freezing is difficult, but it was managed. It didn't take as much to chill things, either--pop the lid on the pot, let it sit for a while, then once through the (too-short) counterflow, inside. My biggest concern really was that a friend came over to brew a Scottish 80/-, and we didn't get around to it; I believe she'll be coming over to brew it tomorrow morning, before the Super Bowl. So, in short, progress. :)
In other news, I kegged the Pale Ale I did back in December. I'm gradually getting around to every bit of equipment I have to sterilize it, trying to get a handle on the mystery overcarbonation. I've got to pick up some bottles for the Pinot Noir (I'll do that today); that will also free up one of my 5-gallon carboys for secondary for the Helles. I need to bottle the 2 gallons or so of Pumpkin Beer I did on a lark--it actually looks decent; we'll see what it tastes like! And I need to get a whole bunch of already-kegged beer drunk. (Drank? Drinked? I need to look up the grammar for that...)

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