Saturday, September 15, 2007

Squamtoberfest Oktoberfest

Fall is quickly approaching and that means Oktoberfest or more importantly Squamtoberfest. Last years event was the first annual and quite the hit. Head count for this year is already looking to be on the high side and you can't keep that many people happy without home made beer.

I kicked off a 'Oktoberfest' style brew today in hopes that it will be ready for Squamtoberfest which is slotted for Oct 20th. It's gonna be cutting it real close. That gives us about 5-6 weeks. Probably wont get enough time to condition in bottle but oh well....we do what we can with what we've got.

This was a part grain / part extract brew that was fun to make. I had to toast some of the grain in the oven and there was even an ounce of chocolate barley, should make for an interesting flavor.
This is my little setup so that I don't have to hold the muslin bag while steeping the grain. You dont want to let it touch the bottom of the kettle because the grains might burn. Ingenious? No. Crafty? Yes.

Chill out.

Down in the Dungeon and ready to ferment. We are using a different yeast this time around, hopefully it kicks off with no issues. (otherwise your ass is grass Shaun)


**UPDATE**: This batch has been mostly consumed. Some bottles were more cloudy than others but all in all it came out great. This pic is pretty horrible, but the color was nice...bit darker than I thought it would be but the taste was a bit lighter than the color would suggest. Very smooth tasting, and Masha thought it was better than all the other store brand beer that was in the house. and if the Russians think its good....its good.

7 comments:

  1. 24 hours and no fermentation...

    probably going to have to buy more yeast and try to re-pitch. depending on how fast I can get that yeast here, i dont think this brew is going to be ready in time.

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  2. Dang... chocolate flavored Oktoberfest beer sounds excellent.

    Kristy and I can come up for Friday Night/Saturday shenanigans but we will have to head home for Saturday night.

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  3. yeah it was only an ounce of the chocolate grain though...probably only a hint of flavor at best.

    good news is that there was some very faint signs of fermentation this morning

    i think it might have been on the cold side when i originally pitched...but its wrapped in a blanket now all snug

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  4. What kind of financial investment are talking about here to get a second Squammywood production facility up and running? I might be interested in giving it a try at my casa....

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  5. i bought my starter kit at www.northernbrewer.com

    and I think it was about $100 for a pretty nice kit...basically everything you would need to get going.

    then the kits to actually brew run anywhere from $25-40 usually and then you need bottles, but you could just clean empties.

    so all in all i would say $150-200 would really get you going completely and with a nice setup.

    shop around and feel free to send me links and i'll give my two cents there are tons of distributors online.

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  6. oh and i forgot you need a big brew kettle as well for boiling up the wort. I got a 4 gal. stainless steel one at walmart for like $40.

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  7. dood...you are a brewing machine...let me know if you need more graphics...pimp out that basement and start selling that shiz to the C-man...think dolla-bills Slav!

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