I’ve continued to plug away at brewing projects over the past few weeks, and am enjoying the opportunity for a bit of creativity.

Beer Batch Updates

• I kegged my altbier on Valentine’s Day, and it is now cold conditioning.
• I transferred the Pliny the Elder clone into a serving keg; it went fairly well, although there was probably a gallon of beer sludge left in the bottom of the dry hop keg.
• I brewed my HOPBOX pale ale on 29 January, and it is pretty much done with fermentation. I’m going to keg it in the next few days.
• I brewed “The Simple Monk” on February 5, and the beer is pretty much finished with fermentation. I’ll probably keg it later this week. The beer was…well, dead simple–100% pilsner malt, 1 oz. Cascade whole hops, 1 package of Belgian ale dry yeast.
• On 14 February, I brewed a new pre-Prohibition lager recipe.

What’s On Tap?

• Eagle Face Oatmeal Stout is still on tap; I’m not going through it terribly quickly. It’s not a bad beer, just not in my “sweet spot” of flavor interest at the moment. It is popular with some friends, so I’ve been able to pass it along for them!
• My Pliny clone is drinking super deliciously! It’s a nice beer, although definitely a few abv points above my usual preferences.
• I just rotated my German pils into the keezer, after about 6 weeks of lagering. It is delicious, although it has a tiny bit of haze that just hasn’t dropped out yet. I wonder if it’s a result of the Viking pilsner malt?

What’s Coming Up?

• I plan to do a Scottish 70/- heavy, for something new. It’s another low-abv style, and my recipe should clock in at 3.1%.
• I have ingredients to do my Alta California lager, but I’m not sure when it will go into the rotation.

Other Notes

• I got another HOPBOX recently, with six more varieties to play with. The “standard” varieties of Chinook, Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic were in the box, along with some Azacca, Eclipse, Idaho Gem, and Triumph. I used the Triumph hops for my pre-Prohibition pilsner, for something a little different in there. I suspect an IPA or two is in my future!