Imperial

Imperial

Happy Yeast

That extra 3 lbs of spray malt must really be giving the yeast something to chew on. Using the five gallon rules of thumb: 2 lb grain per percent, and 1 lb spray malt per percent, will put us in the land of 9% abv. I better put this in small bottles.

Yeast Is Still At It

This time around it had to switch things up a bit. Normally I put the hops into the primary but this time I strained them out, the big stuff that is. The find stuff still makes it thru and leave a small deposit of sediment.

With a 90 minute boil the hop additions went like this:

0       1/3 Galena
20     1/3 Galena    1/3 Chinook
40     1/3 Galena    1/3 Chinook
60     1 Cascade    1/3 Chinook
70     1 Cascade
80     rest on burner
90     remove from burner and chill

Some recipes call for hops to be added at the end of the boil, only to be strained out immediately.  I figured since I am straining them, I may as well have some time in the mix.

Black IPA #26

Brew Date: 10/27/13

12 lb two row
1/4 lb caramel malt
1/4 lb carafa 1 500 LB
1/4 lb carafe 2 1000 LB
1/4 lb choc wheat
3 lb amber spay malt

1 oz galena @ 13.2%
1 oz chinook @ 12.1%
2 oz cascade @ 7.1%

safale us-05 yeast

Uncle Jim's Mash Tun

When I was up in NY I asked Uncle Jim if he would be brewing any time soon. He said no so I commandeered his mash tun. This is the same tun I posted about many moons ago. Well I can tell you it sure make sparging much easier but I think clean up is more troublesome.

When I first opened the valve the wort overshot the pot and went straight to the floor. And I can neither confirm nor deny the use of the kitchen sink sponge was used to clean the floor.

Hops and Extra Malt

I figure we will go for the higher gravity and to get there we are using an extra 3 lbs of spray malt. Even though I have the 10 gal tun, the 5 gal boiling pot is still a limitation for getting a full grain imperial brew.

Grist Remains

The conversion was top notch. It felt like all empty hulls. The little black specks are tiny bits of chocolate wheat.

Roo Pads

Re-soldered Post

 The horn is around 15 years old and it finally hit the ground. This post was bent half way off so I soldered it back. I cut the little dots off with a razor blade so there are two little shiney dots to mark the spot. I also buffed out some of the tarnish.

In Order Ready to Measure

I lined all the keys up in order they appear on the horn. The side keys might not be in perfect position but that doesn't  matter. I just wanted to get the measurements in roughly the correct order, for future reference.

Roo White Pads

I decided I would try these new Roo Pads. They went in fairly easily and not too many required shims.
The horn is back together and plays well although low B and Bb still need to be floated in.