Gateway Park American Adjunct Ale II

10/29/2018--Made a 2-liter 1.052 starter--pitched 2-sachets of Safale US-05 at 1:50AM.

10/29/2018--Completed mash and started boil--1.075.

10/30/2018--Finished boil--1.088 O.G. Aerated for 1 hour. Pitched yeast at 4:25 AM.

Feeling super confident with my Clawhammer Brewing System. Figured out how to strike and adjust the mash--no trick, dough in and the temp holds; then, just increase the temp for the next mash step or rest. Figured out that 8-gallons of mash water is going to put 5-5.5-gallons in the fermentor. Figured out that covering the kettle and not running the pump--as per Clawhammer instruction--gives me a good rolling boil of about 200 F; not bad for 5280 feet of altitude. Finally, figured out that a good PBW overnight soak followed by a thorough scrub and rinse is the best way to clean the system.

11/13/2018--Removed the blow off tube and replaced it with an airlock. It is still going. This one has been giving off huge belches since the initial activity let up. A huge belch ever so often with decreasing frequency--now about every 1/2 hour or so. Weirdest fermentation I've seen so far. Still, the beer looks like it is clearing up good in primary and it is going to be real light in color. We'll see....

11/19/2018--Still belching away. I'm tempted to keg it--it has been 20 days in primary already. But, I'm going to ride it out and let patience prevail. Patience is easier to come by when you have a supply of full kegs in different stages of conditioning and 1 in the keezer that tastes delicious.

11/26/2018--1.014 F.G./9.74 ABV. Kegged 5-gallons with 1-sachet of gelatin. Hydrated gelatin in 1-cups of filtered and boiled water. Smells really good--has that US-ale--super beery--smell to it. I find that smell is universal so far amongst Wyeast, SafAle, and Danstar.

12/24/2018--Been drinking this for a couple weeks now. It was super hazy at first--now, it is lightly hazy. It is good beer but the first one is always a shock to the system. This stuff is potent--like Dry Dock's Grapefruit Ale without the grapefruit and less hops. It could stand some more hops next time to temper the alcohol. 2 of these and a shot of whiskey on the rocks puts you right in the comfort zone.

1/2/2019--Definitely an advertisement for patience in the homebrewing world. This beer is the shiznit! I'm on the 4th of the night and I'm done--shining good. This beer gets clearer with every draft. It is still a wee bit hazy off of the pull but as it warms a little it clears to a brilliant shine. Next week it will be brilliant off of the pull--and all gone.

Next batch, I'm going to double the hops, let it go another week in primary, and let it sit 2 more weeks in the keg before it gets keezer'd. Then, I'll let it sit in the keezer for an extra week before I pull a draught. LOL! If you want to hear GOD laugh....

2/22/2018--All gone--it spit on my last pull and fogged up the last drops. This beer was dangerous. It was super easy to drink and super strong. I'd drink a couple and all of a sudden I'd have a burst of energy and knock out all of my domestic chores. Then, I'd realize I was buzzing pretty good for just two. I'd have a real need to force myself to stop after two too. Awesome but dangerous.