Labor of Love Day

I think I'll call this batch The Dark Kenniggit (the Monty Python pronunciation).



It's an Imperial Stout I brewed up on Labor Day. Want the recipe? Okay, pried it out of me.



For 10 gallons:
25 lbs Maris Otter Pale Malt
2 lbs 110º Crystal
1 lb Black Barley
1 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Roasted Barely
8 oz. Biscuit Malt
8 oz. Brown Malt
8 oz. Special B
6.6 lbs Coopers Light Malt Extract, 120 minutes
3 oz. Bravo hops, 13.5% AAU, 120 minutes
1 oz. Northern Brewer 8.4% AAU, 120 minutes
Pitch Carboy #1 with Wyeast 1056 Activator; Carboy #2 gets Wyeast 1275 Activator that accidentally ruptured along with a year-old Wyeast 1099 Activator.



Anyway, that ruptured Activator? I am never sure I've popped the inside thing with my hand, so I decided to try a hammer. Bad idea, especially on brick. Once I'd spring the leak, I transfered the whole thing to a gallon baggie, but this is really a compromise on many fronts. Of course, the gallon baggie isn't sterilized but it's also not from an environment that would encourage beer spoilage microorganisms.



I did have a stroke of genius about loosening up the sides of the malt extract. I just snuggled the cans into the spent grain of the mash, let the 150-ish degree temp do it's thing. Worked pretty well.

In any case, there was maybe an eight hour difference in the lag times between the two batches. The year-old culture was one that had been sitting around awhile, I pitched it as a booster to the compromised culture.



The original gravity is also a bit of an asterisk because my hydrometer is noticeably fogged (i.e. it cracked and has taken on humidity). 1.094 is what I come up with, and that jives with the enormous grain bill and the malt extract thrown in to kick it up.



My friend Hunter Thompson and his wife came down to help.



There was an auction going on across the street, a fine pair of human beings who are moving to a retirement home brought in an auctioneer to sell off everything they've accumulated in 50+ years of marriage in a single day. I almost went over to bid on some of the tools because Jerome took care of shit, and a 50 year old air cast iron air compressor he cared for probably has more life in it than a brand new one at Harbor Freight.



I'm going to miss them as neighbors. The wife of the couple would invite Em over for things like making an apple pie. Had her over one last time a couple weeks ago after the house sold. Sweet woman. Her husband, last time I changed my own oil and struggled to get the filter off brought tools and came over and figured out how to get the thing off. Last I saw, he was still changing his own oil. Hard to picture him moving to a retirement home even if he is a WWII vet.



The auction traffic did mean a lot of questions. 'What are you doing?' Making beer. 'Really? Is it ready yet?'

It floors me that so many people have no concept how the stuff is made. And how many seem to think I'm doing something that must be, in fact, impossible. Or illegal. Or both.



But if it was that hard, how'd they make it 5,000 years ago?



People also always want to know how strong the beer is or isn't. In this case, with an original gravity of 1.094, it should finish out with a bit of authority. I had a relatively hot mash, about 155ºF, which means more unfermentable dextrines, but there will be heap plenty alcohol in the finished beer. As befits an Imperial Stout.