The first time I encountered the word fartlek I was amused that something would turn up in English that is so close to Swedish. Not that the word exists in Swedish, but the composite “fart” and “lek” does mean “speed” and “play”, which I found rather funny. Well, the jokes on me obviously since it is a Swedish idea from the 40′s by Gösta Holmér when he was training cross country teams…

The question is posed by Christopher McDougall as he introduces Brian Fidelman to barfoot running in Central Park, NY. And for some reason the question stuck with me. There’s a lot of stuff we’re not supposed to do. Smiling when running is one thing. Running too much is another: As Mårten Klingberg points out in Swedish Runner’s World, training 3 times a week constitutes about 2% of your total time, and yet he is the one getting strange looks for training 7-9 times a week…

But not to cry! Autumn is here, which means I just had an opportunity to try it again, only this time with fresh hops! That report will be in a following post. Up and onwards!

So, how much was I off? Well, for some reason I boiled off almost a liter more that planned, and ended up with an OG on 1.068 instead of for 1.054. Hum…

The next little scare was more serious: normally your fermentation barrel starts making these little “plop” sounds as the yeast starts to work, and this is how you know that  you’re on the right track. I heard nothing but one single, timid little plop after 48 hours. And then… nothing. A bit worrying, because if the yeast isn’t taking hold the batch is in trouble. I did have a peek and saw a healthy amount of froth in the barrel, indicating that somehow, something was at work.

So, I decided to go to a secondary fermentation stage a bit earlier than usual after only 5 days. Which calmed my nerves, the beer had a healthy smell and the gravity was down at 1.018, so well on it’s way to the estimated final gravity of 1.014. Phew!

Here I lost more of the final volume as the amount of yeast compared to the batch size was ridiculous, and there was a lot of frooth and yeast residue I couldn’t use. But hell, if I get a couple of bottles through it’ll be alright: this is an experiment after all!

And how did it taste? Really, really promising! I’m a happy nerd! To celebrate I added some hops, more Svalöf Mauritz, to the secondary fermentation (“dry hopping”) to see if I can get a brilliant aroma out of this one. Stay tuned, next week it goes on bottle!

My mother has a small cottage outside Vingåker, and as a boy I used to run around there every summer. Hell, I still run around there whenever I have time. Imagine my surprise as a budding beer brewer to find hops growing justbeside the road. Well, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, hops where growing at almost every farm or small homestead in Sweden back in the days.

So I thought this one will be a tribute: Last autumn I got my hands on some of the hops, and as I only managed to get a few grams, I’ll pair it with Czech Saaz and Swedish Svalöf Maurit, with pale malt, to ultimately become a Blonde Ale. A light, not very strong or bitter summer ale, to go perfectly with light summer days.

And for you nerds, here’s what I’ll use:

• 60% extra light malt (extract)
• 40% light malt (extract)
• 1/5 Saaz – 60 min
• 1/5 Saaz – 20 min
• 1/5 Svalöf – 20 min
• 2/5 Vadslund – 10 min
• Wyeast “American Ale”

The brew will start on Monday. Whish me luck!

• 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).