I did a whole mess of kegging tonight, to clear out fermenter space and move along some projects.

First up was my Holy Helles (a Munich Helles), which I split into two 2.5 gallon kegs. The reason behind this was that I plan to enter it in the National Homebrew Competition, and also to serve it at Easter. I didn’t want to dose the Easter beer with gelatin (in case some of our guests don’t do gelatin), but don’t much care for the NHC one.

A few notes on the helles fermentation…on 21 January 2017, the gravity was down to 1.014. At this point, I raised the temperature from 50° to 68° for a diacetyl rest. I left it at this temperature for about a week, and then dropped it down to 34° until kegging.

Final gravity was 1.012, a touch higher than predicted (1.010). With a starting gravity of 1.047, this equals 4.6% abv. That should make a nice, drinkable beer!

Next, I kegged the First Amendment Blonde Ale. Final gravity was 1.011, down from a starting gravity 1.051, for 5.2% abv. I hit my numbers perfectly on this batch–wow, what a nice treat!

I’m storing these beers at 34°, and force carbonating the blonde ale right away.