BATCH #5

PRUSSIAN SOLDIER

(Barley Wine)

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GRAINS STEEPED UNTIL 170�F

HONEY ADDED AT 90 MINUTES

DME AND LME ADDED SLOWLY BETWEEN 90 AND 60 MINUTES

NUGGET HOPS ADDED AT 60 MINUTES

1 oz CASCADE HOPS AT 25 MINUTES

WHIRLFLOC AT 15 MINUTES

1 oz CASCADE HOPS AT 10 MINUTES

1 oz CASCADE HOPS AT 1 MINUTE

TOOK 12 MINUTES TO COOL WORT TO 90�

1 oz CASCADE HOPS INTO TERTIARY FERMENTOR

KRAUSENED 11g OF ALE YEAST (AND � CUP CORN SUGAR) INTO SECONDARY FERMENTOR

PITCHED CHAMPAGNE YEAST (AND � CUP CORN SUGAR AND MOLASSES)

KRAUSENED 10g OF CHAMPAGNE YEAST (AND � CUP CORN SUGAR)

TOTAL 5.5 GALLONS WORT AND TRUB

15 MAY 2004

            This is a McCarthy original recipe.  Essentially I wanted to get rid of all the extra ingredients I had lying around, so this is my plan.  One change to the plan, I did not have enough specialty grains (though I certainly used enough extract!) and after tasting Sammy Adams' new Scotch Ale I realized the peat smoke flavor is overdone.  So I used only 4 oz of peat malt and all the 40 lov. Crystal I had left over.

            I decided to call it Prussian Soldier because as good as it may seem, it will kick your ass!  OK, the Prussians never made ales, only lagers.  And they eventually were conquered.  But what the hell, it sounds like a good name anyway.

      BREW

           Man, this was like mixing motor oil.  I mixed for a half hour before adding the hops and starting the clock.  It smells, well, like mud.  I did not have enough grains to really add some odd flavors, so I hope it turns out nice enough.  Time will tell.

16 MAY 2004

            In the middle of the night there was a whole lot of noise, and it kept clogging the tube with trub, so there was no way to get an accurate count of how many blurps there were.  In the morning, when it was back to a steady pace it was at 93 blurps per minute, a new record!  Then, shortly before noon I timed it again, exactly 100 blurps!

18 MAY 2004

      TRANSFER TO SECONDARY FERMENTOR

            Well it has the second dose of fungus in the carboy with it.  It is happily bubbling away through the airlock.  Already it has a 7.125% alcohol by volume.  This is definitely all going in 12 oz bottles, because no one will be able to drink any more than that!  In the pail (primary fermentor) I could have let it sit another day or two.  I did not use any bags for the hops, so there was a ton floating, and I think it was not done completely, but I really do not know.  Either way I am sure I did not hurt it, but it was harder to transfer it without getting a ton of crap in it because it was still floating.

01 JUNE 2004

      TERTIARY FERMENTATION

            Did not transfer back to the pail, for fear of contamination (and laziness).  The champagne yeast was started in a quart of water and some molasses with some dark sugar in there as well.  It started just fine, but I jack-assed myself because I had planned to transfer to the pail.  The difference was that the pail is larger than 5 gallons, and the trub would have been left behind.  So adding a quart of liquid was not a problem.  In the carboy it is.  So I made the starter and poured about half of it in before the carboy was chock full, and the best part of the starter was sitting in the gallon jug!

02 JUNE 2004

            It looks to have taken just fine.  It was blowing hops up through the tube this morning, so it was OK.  The other side effect of pitching the yeast in the carboy is that I have no clue about what the hydrometer readings are doing.  I will make the 'official prediction' now and say that I will get 10.3% a.b.v.  What do I base that on?  Hunch.  And the fact that if I am wrong it doesn't matter!

            Given the amount of trub already settled, and the dry hops that I added yesterday, I think I will get about 4-4� gallons from this batch (around 40 bottles).

06 JUNE 2004

      QUATERNARY FERMENTATION

             Added a half cup of molasses and water that I used to pitch the next package of yeast.  There does not seem to be any renewed action.  The brew itself smells quite good, though quite strong.  I tasted a few drops from the end of a spoon I sterilized and used to push the hops back down, nice.

09 JUNE 2004

            When it started to bubble up through the airlock I used a sterile turkey-baster to remove an ounce or two.  This left a little room for the CO2 in the top, and gave me an opportunity to try a little.  POTENT!!  Unfortunately, the peat flavor is too damned strong.  We will see how it settles.

11 JUNE 2004

            When I woke up this morning I saw a bubble go backwards through the air lock!  I can only imagine that the lower temp over night slowed the fermentation, and a high pressure system rolled in at the same time, because there is no reason on Earth that yeast would suck in air!

14 JUNE 2004

      BOTTLE

            Uneventful, 47 bottles.  Tasted like ass.  Smoky ass.  The alcohol content was lower than the ten percent I expected, but *% is plenty for me.  I was just hoping for better utilization for a better flavor.

20 JUNE 2004

            Tried one just for shits and giggles.  It still tastes like ass, but much better.  It was a strong peat flavor followed by a thick, dark roast coffee flavor, but finished with the cascade's citrusy hops flavor.  The overall mouth feel was more that of motor oil than beer or wine, but it does seem at least a bit lighter than on bottling.  Carbonation was mild, but there.  Color was blacker than pitch, it left a ring around the glass that was difficult to see through.

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