Being just a few batches in to the homebrewing endeavor with my friend Carl, I would have to say that things are, overall, going very well. We have produced some tasty beers while sharing some laughs and learning much about the craft. Having developed a fine working relationship, we have grown quite efficient in the limited time we get to spend on brewing and other beer work.
There is one small blemish on our record, however. Our first batch of beer together, the Pool-Pah Pale, has had a terrible existence. Fermentation began sluggishly and when it did reach terminal gravity, we kegged it in what turned out to be a leaky Corny keg. After not one, but two changing of the seals, we finally had a beer that was “drinkable,” but we both feared for what all of the poor treatment had done to the final product. We had been tasting the beer all during the process, but we finally had a stable keg and the beer needed to pass the final taste test. Carl and I’s first tentative sips convinced us that the beer had not gone off, but it was evident that it had not seen the best of conditions and was therefore not up to our high standards.
When I worked closely with the wine steward at a small market, we always talked about what wines would make better “second bottles,” i.e. ones that, while by no means terrible, taste significantly better when you are drunk enough not to care what they taste like. This first batch of Pool-Pah Pale fell squarely into that category for me. It’s not going to kill anybody, but I will not be rushing to share it with my friends as I would with our more tasty concoctions.
But alas, we persevere; undaunted. Feeling confident in our process and techniques, we decided to brew up a new batch so that we can test how it truly tastes. I did alter the hop bill, as the first batch was too high on the IBUs to truly be considered a pale ale and I have learned more about calculating how many IBUs each hop addition will impart to the final product. Other than that, the recipe remained the same, again, with the hopes that we can taste a much finer version of a finished product.
We began by discussing whether we should also try to complete other beer tasks such as bottling and racking the batches that were already fermenting, but with Carl also in charge of their newborn child, we decided to keep things simple for once.
We have dialed in the flame control on the new burner and we were mashing in very quickly. Stirring the grains within the brew bag did not abate the feeling that we should be doing more, but by the time we were sparging, we had settled into a more relaxed brew day. The boil came fast, but we avoided a boil over (seeing as how our attention could not possibly be diverted elsewhere to other beer tasks) and began waiting for the hop additions to start. I still wanted to practice something resembling continual hopping so we had taken the time to pre-measure and label all of the hop additions. After the boil, the ice bath brought the temperature down very quickly and we were pitching yeast and cleaning up in what seemed record time.
Having only one task to complete between the two of us made for a smooth brew day. However, given the restrictions placed upon our brew schedule because of our lives, it is doubtful we will have many days that easy again.
We are excited to see what a proper Pool-Pah Pale will taste like, since the first batch displayed so much promise, despite the poor handling it received. Now all we have to do is empty the keg of the first batch to make room for the second. Work gladly undertaken.
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