Mongrelized Brown Eyes--Brown Ale

12/24/2018--Made a 2-liter 1.053 starter. Pitched yeast at 0130.

Going all glass this session. Picked up 2 7-gallon carboys--they be big--from Craigslist. Making the starter in a 1-gallon carboy. Tested it on the stirplate--it is efficient--low speed makes a good vortex. Hope it holds up well. Moving forward: a good long primary fermentation in glass and racked straight to the keg with gelatin.

12/24/2018--Finally, figured out the grain mill. And, I expect that's why I got a 92.8 conversion efficiency. The grain going into the mash was the consistency of corn grits and it blended into the water perfectly. No clumps or big chunks to break up--just smooth and easy.

That being said--pre-boil was 12.5/1.054--11 points over the expected boil gravity. And, it is boiling good--nice rolling action without any boil overs. Almost time to add the first hops. Again, I am going to finish the boil--2-hours worth--then, I will remove the hop basket and add whirlfloc and hook up the chiller to sanitize for 15 minutes. Cool to 70 degrees Fahrenheit and aerate for 1 hour. Finally, that yeast has been spinning for 24 hours already--the 1-gallon carboy worked out perfectly for the starter.

15.2/1.062 to the fermentor. 74% brewhouse--a little higher OG than the style calls for--less base malt moving forward. My overall efficiency is getting higher, and as I already said--I think it was the grain mill that raised it for this batch. I got about 22-quarts into the fermentor--right down to the pump sucking air this time. There is still plenty of head space in the 7-gallon carboy for aeration--last time it was bubbling out after 15 minutes. Been aerating about 35 minutes now and the head is just meeting the sanitizer foam. "DON'T FEAR THE FOAM!" I think I got this system pert near perfected at this point. We'll see, cereal mash for the next batch.

Pitched yeast at 0400.

1/26/2019--3.6/1.014/6.3% ABV to the keg. Kegged with gelatin. Kegged 3 batches of beer. Mixed 3-sachets of gelatin with 3-cups of filtered and boiled water. Used 1-cup of the hydrated gelatin in each keg. Smells good, looks clear already, and tastes different--in a good way--than what I'm getting used to.

This one actually matched the recipe calculator prediction for final gravity.

3/6/2018--This has been in the keezer carbonating for a couple of weeks now. It is darker than a brown--that Blackprinz is black as fuck. Also, I'm convinced that the Finland Pale Ale malt was not completely Kosher. Now I'm extremely anxious to get through this and the amber so I can see if the cream ale turned out better. Additionally, I'm ready to brew some more beer that doesn't have the Viking Malts in it. Nevertheless, this is going to be drinkable and I suspect it will improve by the week same as every other beer.

5/5/2019--The keg spit last night. It was decent and drinkable, but it stayed flat the whole time. Again, I'm convinced it was the Finland malt--never again for that stuff. But, I'll probably make this recipe again in some varying form.