Low Carb?

9/25/2020--Made a 1.058 2-liter starter. Pitched yeast at 0430.

I'm using 1-sachet of dry yeast--W-34/70, some fermaid-K, and some DAP. I'm going to do a 48 hour starter--24 hours on the stir plate and 24 hours off. Then, I'm going to refrigerate it overnight so I can pour off the beer and pitch the slurry. This is the first time I thought this far ahead. I'm trying to get it as low gravity and low carb as possible. The first of many experiments I suspect.

I'm using dextrose in an attempt to help the yeast dry it out.

Tomorrow I will do a deep clean on the Spike system so I can do an overnight low temp mash Sunday, and a brew on Monday. I have high hopes for this one.

9/28/2020--Spent the whole day--09/27/2020--cleaning equipment--taking it off of the mothballs. I cleaned it all good and ground the grains and got my water on meta-K and then pre-boiled. I accidentally added the corn flakes to the grain before I ground it, so it was ground too. The yeast went a bit over the 48 hour period but there is a lot of slurry in there.

I also made a Brewferm no boil kit--Bighorn Blonde. It weighed in at 1.084. I'm really curious about how it will turn out. 2.5-gallons.

I mashed in at 0315 at about 144F. I'll bring it up to 149.5 and let it go until I finish my last beer and my cigar. Then, I'll kill the power and let it go overnight. My first overnight mash. If the results are good it won't be my last.

9/28/2020--1.044/11. I got excellent conversion--83% according to the recipe builder. I heated it back up to 147F this morning. My system holds around 150F if I set it at 147F--slight upward drift. Then, I went up to 170F only to research and learn that I do not need to mash-out--straight to the boil kettle from now on.

Every thing went smooth after that and the wort is aerating right now.

This morning (afternoon) when I got up and smelled the mash it seemed kind of stanky. Then, I smelled the liquid extract I bought yesterday and it smells exactly the same--dead nuts. From there I assumed I must be doing something right.

Pitched yeast at 1810.

2315--As expected with the massive starter--the blow-off tube is already bubbling away.

Also, the Brewferm kit is starting to move the airlock a little. That 2.5-gallon kit said just sprinkle the dry yeast on top and let it do its thing. Definitely an illustration of the power of yeast starters.

09/30/2020--The Brewferm kit is down to 1.052.

10/5/2020--10/5/2020--1.000/-.03. I plum forgot about the refractometer calculator--this stuff is bone dry--WooHoo!

10/9/2020--The Brewferm kit is down to 1.008. It might be done. I'll add some gelatin and test it a couple more times.

10/20/22--The Brewferm kit is at 1.005 for 10.24% ABV. I added gelatin a few days ago. I bottled it tonight--12 22-ounce bottles. I bought another kit--Sinister Stout. By the time these bottles are ready to drink the stout will be ready to bottle. If it is decent I will subscribe and get a kit once a month.