9/14/2013 HHA (Happy Hoppy Ale) - CT

I am doing my take on a Pale Ale. I am going to be modifying a kit I had purchased from Morebeer.com. It was there American Ale II extract kit. I had recently taken a liking to Wayerbachers Double Simcoe IPA and I figured this would be a good Ale to add some Simcoe hops in. The kit came with Magnum, Cascade and Willamette hops. I modified this recipe by subbing out the Cascade and added in the Simcoe. In addition, my plan is to dry hop 2oz whole leaf Simcoe hops in the secondary. Hows it going to go, I have no idea, but it should make for some happy tastebuds!

Here goes:

Steeping Grain:
1.5 lbs Crystal 15L

 8 oz Honey Malt

8 lbs Ultralight Malt Extract

1 oz Magnum- Bittering Hops boiled for 60 minutes

2 oz Simcoe- Flavoring Hops boiled the last 5 minutes 
2 oz Willamette- Aroma Hops are boiled the last 1 minute

Clarifier – Whirlfloc 

SG- 1.056
FG- 1.012
5.78% ABV

9/21/2013 Racked To A Secondary

My Happy Hoppy Ale had a quick fermentation and I transferred it over to a secondary. While there is a good deal of hops already in it, I decided to dry hop in the secondary with 2oz more of whole leaf Simcoe hops. I am trying to get that Ale to have a great Aroma from the crack of the bottle!

9/3/2013 Apple Cider (CT)

9/3/2013 The Puck You Cider was a bit extreme for an easy drinking cider. I decided to venture out and try another batch. I went from the champagne yeast to a ale yeast to try and keep some of the sweetness in the cider. I also am planning to add some cinnamon sticks into the secondary once we get there. In anycase, here goes:

5 gallons of Apple Juice (no preservatives)

2 lbs of dark brown sugar

3 lbs of light brown sugar

11g Safale US-05 Ale Yeast

5 teaspoons yeast nutrient
SG- 1.096

TRF to secondary SG: 1.02

3 cinnamon sticks (for the secondary)

Well, a couple days into it, I experienced my first blowout. There was so much fermentation that it spilled up through the airlock. No feat though, I put a blow off tube on and into a carboy of sanitizer. All is still ok with the world as a result. 

9/22/13 Secondary Transfer Day! 

Well, we are just short of 3 weeks in the fermenter. I decided I would transfer this cider to the secondary. I did add 3 cinnamon sticks. I have read about not trying to overpower the cider with cinnamon, so I am going with 3 for this batch. I can always adjust accordingly on future batches. My gravity reading was 1.02 which gives me just shy of 10% alcohol. I did give it a little taste test too, and it was much sweeter than my puck you cider. This should be a great batch!