Brickwarmer Red

New England is nestled in its obligatory January thaw currently.  I had been thinking about hitting Cannon anyway but remembered that I had a few things around the house that needed doing, the most important of which was getting a batch of beer going with the kit Gina got me for Christmas.

I'm fairly certain she went with the "Brickwarmer" as a subtle hint that I keep the thermostat set too low. #sweaters.

I'm pretty excited about this one.  Seems like a stronger amber ale, with just enough hops to balance it out and some citrusy action in there for good measure.  It uses some dark grains as well which should make things interesting, English Dark Crystal, Pale Chocolate as well as some Baird's Carastan.

dark grains steeping

Things got a tad interesting with the hops.  They forgot to pack the 1oz of Styrian Goldings when they shipped everything but as luck would have it I had accidentally got an extra ounce of Summit for a previous batch and was able to substitute.  And all is now right and balanced in the world.  I don't think it will effect the end product too much, the alphas are similar and both are on the earthy / citrus side of things.

There was also an addition of sweet orange peel at the end of the boil that should add a little extra citrus aroma and kick in the aftertaste.

mmmm dog puke

This will probably be ready around late Feb early March, should be fairly ideal for some apres ski enjoyment.

**UPDATE**

Thar she blows!  I tweeted last night that I was getting some really aggressive early fermentation and I was fairly certain I was going to need a blow off tube based on where things were heading early.  Its a good thing I checked it last night because not only did it need a blow off setup but the first one I set up wasn't big enough and I had to size up this morning.

Originally I just had the tube venting into a cup full of sanitizer, but that cup runneth over a bit by this morning.  Good thing I had an empty murder juice container handy!  I might actually save it now just for this purpose.  I need this type of setup few and far between but this is fairly ideal.

Its interesting, Gina had mentioned that most reviewers of this kit were mentioning and recommending blow off setups from the get go, with several reporting their buckets blowing their tops.  Must be something about the mix of fermentables and the yeast strain that really get things fired up.  I believe I reacted in time and I don't think there should be any negative effect from this.  I was able to keep things sealed and sanitized throughout.