We have moved our operations to the basement again for the winter. And

decided to brew our Crop Circles ale.

This is our 5th version of this beer. I make this because the brother

in-law is one of those beer pussy guys who almost throws up if it isnt

Bud Light. But he will drink the entire keg of this in one night.

But to me there is just something about it. I like it, but I dont like

it. There is a taste in here I cant get rid of. And I think its the

rice. Because every other cream ale I tried has this taste some where

in it. Its not a bad taste, just an odd taste.

So we are going back close to the original recipe this time,

6 lbs two row

2 lbs flaked corn

1/2 lb minute rice

1/2 cluster at 60

1/2 crystal at 10

1/2 crystal at 0

05 yeast

Orginally I had used flaked rice, and almost a pound more. That taste was there.

Next I used 2 lbs flaked rice, no corn, and added some Vienna. That

taste still there. I did it this version a few times thinking maybe I

wasnt getting full conversion. But I was.

Somewhere some one said they thought it was the rice taste. And that

maybe it. So as you can see I knocked nearly all the rice out of it

and what is there is minute rice. Bumped up the late edition hops.

Still I went with a 150 mash for 90 min. Smelled just like instant

grits, I coulda thew some pork chops in there and had supper. As I was

about half way thru I thought about a stuck sparge, but my grain bag

over the manifold worked just fine.

I was a bit worried that the huge deadspace in the tun would cause a

decent temp loss, but even over the 90 min I had only lost 1 degree,

and thats with a midway stir. After spending quite a while messing

with Beersmith I got it to where the water amounts and temps are

pretty good, so I hit every number right on.

Going into the fermenter we had .050. After letting settle out for an

hour before going in, I was suprised at how much still settled in the

fermenter.

So this morning I wake up and it s a brisk 34 degrees out there. I'm

guessing it wont be too long before I need to move some stuff indoors

for the winter.

Although I do brew all through the winter, I would like to move a

smaller version of the brewery inside. I can do more experimenting

with the 3 gallon mini batch.

There really isnt a whole lot I need to do to get this up and running

with what I have now, but there are a few things I am considering to

add.

First is the brew in a bag system. Just about any one reading this

will know what I mean, but for those who may not, brew in a bag is a

newer style of brewing that uses the same kettle for mashing and

boiling. The grains are in a large mesh bag for the mash, removed and

drained for the boil. I know a few guys that use this style, and I

have yet to see any sub par beers.

I think this style would fit in nicely with the smaller system. I am a

bit curious about how well the smaller mass will hold temp over an

hour. The temp of my basement in the winter hovers around 52. May need

to fabricate a “kettle sleeve” to help insulate.

The second bit of equipment I'm not quite sure of yet. Electric. I

sorta would like to take an aluminum fryer pot and put in an element.

Maybe I can find a cheap stove. This i guess could be either gas or

elect as I have hook ups for both right there.

I am some how being drawn to these small batches. But that doesnt mean

they have to be small beers. Most of what I'm planning to do with them

is take my full size recipes and making 3 gallons. Not scaling down,

just collecting 3.5 out of the full grain bill. These high gravity

beers might not be suited for the Beer in a bag thing though. I'm

guessing my efficiency would nose dive.

Along with buying in bulk and milling at home plus the beer bag

system, I will now be able to be pretty portable. One of those Jerry

can type water containers and will be all set.

Just need everything to arrive.

Its coming up to another busy part of the brewing season. The fall

brewing of the winter supply. I need two kegs of an “everyday” beer on

hand, plus my usual October brewing of the Black Feather stout. And

because we have not brewed much this summer, we will need to get on

some TitleTown Open entries.

As far as my on hand, over winter beer, I think we are going to go a

bit bigger than last years Scottish 60's. While all tasty and such, at

a mere 3% they were too weak for the cold basement of winter. I wanna

keep it in the 4-5% range. I was hoping to do a 10 gallon batch, but I

miss the actuall brewing part, so will do two seperate ones. Have been

chasing recipes, but I think I have settled on DrWhovian (British

Bitter) and Eversong Ale (cream ale). Both ultra basic recipes that

really show off what thier respective style really is about. And both

are beers I have have been wanting to remake.

The annual brewing of the Black Feather stout is something I look

forward to. Especially this year. This beer is the first beer that I

created just for the TitleTown open. The recipe is as it is to play

specificly to the judges. As we all know that these contests are more

about giving the judges what “they” consider style, rather than what

“you” consider style. Its a game. no more no less. But enough of that.

My Black Feather is an American Stout, and what makes this year stick

out is that Titletown gave out gallons and gallons and gallons of

stout wort this year, and I got the feeling that the stout category is

going to be huge this year, and will take a beer that really stands

out to do good this year. So far I have two seconds with this beer.

Last years version took a ribbon as well, but I was not happy with it

what so ever. I had changed up the recipe a bit, and it was no where

near as good as the previous batches. So we will be back to the

original and see who she fares against a full field.

I have been pondering doing more of the mini batches this fall and

winter. I like doing the minis 'cause I can still use my every day

equipment with out any change in procedure, yet experiment a bit more

on flavors with out wasting a ton of money. And now that I have my

mill ordered I can drop that price even further.