Time to address the second batch. I have tasted it before, but was slightly disappointed. But my more experienced friends adviced me to wait a while longer. Some beers needs a little bit more than 2 weeks in bottle. It has now been 5 weeks in bottle, so let’s have a go!
- Looks: Off white head. Descent retention. Hazy amber gold with a redish cast. Much like batch 1.
- Nose: Some American hops alright. Citrus mixed with malt and… Banana?! WTF?!
- Palate: Smooth and creamy. Low carbonation
- Taste: Light. Small body. A nice easy flowing bitterness. Some citrus. Well balanced, not too sweet, not too bitter.
- Overall: A lightweight. Easy to drink and forget. Not bad though, even though the banana smell puts me off a bit.
If batch 1 was a 3 out of 5 (with some bonus for being the first try), this is a 2. I won’t be making it again. But very served very cold on my sunny balcony a late summer day? Hell yes!
And so, after two weeks we’ll bottle. If you wonder why the bottles are in the oven, that’s where you sterilize them. And yes, the caps I’ll use are sterilized as well, as are the rest of the rest of the equipment.
Before we got here I added some sugar, 72 grams to be exact, to the brew. This will provide extra nourishment for the surviving yeast, so that when we open the first bottle on two weeks the yeast will have worked some more and produced a nice carbonation.
The FG (Final Gravity) ended up at 1017, which tells us that the ABV will be approximately 5.4%. So a bit lighter than the last batch.
Now, more waiting, but I’m looking forward to the first taste, it smelled wonderful!
Before pitching the yeast I took a sample for testing the original gravity (OG). This is roughly a measurement on how much carbon hydrates are left in the brew. The yeast will go and feast (sorry) on the carbon hydrates, leaving the FG (final gravity) lower, and the difference bwteen them will tell us the alcohol strength. Easy, huh?
Now we wait one week, then it’s time to switch to a new fermentation barrel. And after one week more it time to bottle. 
Come on yeast! Do yer thing!
Now we’ll filter away the hops, then pitch the yeast, stir it vigorously to add air for the yeast, then… We wait.
When cooked we need to get the temperature down to 20-22 before pitching the yeast. Running cold water to there rescue (we want to do it as fast as possible, infection risk again).
While the hops cook we’ll sterilize anything that’ll come into contact with the beer cooked, the beer is sensitive to bacteria you see. So say hello to Iodphor (gloves recommended).
Now we’re cooking. The first hops (cascade) will cook for sixty minutes for bitterness, EKG for twenty and cascade ten for taste and amarillo five for aroma.
Between 65-78 degrees C we’re dipping the mashed crystal malt. Using a ladies sock no less (clean I might add).
From top left: 150 gm crystal malt, 15 gm cascade, 15 gm east kent holdings, 10 gm cascade and 20 gm amarillo.
Let’s start.12 liters of cold, clean water. Into which we’ll pitch the malt extract (1.6 kg). Then bring it to boil.
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