Sunday, June 1, 2008

Rain, Thunder, Lightning, Hail, and Beer...Oh My!

I had a friend of mine over last night to join me in a brew session. We had a Belgian Strong Golden Ale all ready to go and the session went pretty well. Well, except for the weather. This was the worst storm I've ever been through in Greensboro. There were high winds, torrential rain, lightning, thunder, and hail. It last for about an hour. And because the drainage is so poor in my back yard and patio, we ended up with about 6 inches of standing water. At least the brew session could continue on the screen porch while I went into manual labor mode.

The water was rising over the foundation vents (which is very bad by the way), so I had to get out the shovel to start tearing out some old landscaping to allow the water to drain properly down the storm grate. The previous owners somehow thought it was a good idea to block the drains with railroad ties. So I got to tear out bricks, logs, and grade the mud back down towards the drain so my house didn't float away.

And back to the brew session. After I cleaned up a bit, we continued after an extended mash. Everything else went off without a hitch. I had intended naming this beer Golden Boy, but I need to come up with something better to remember this storm by. Below is the recipe...

Recipe Specifications--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.075 SG
Estimated Color: 6.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients-------------------------------------
12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel
1 lbs Vienna Malt
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt
1 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (30 min)
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min Aroma Hop-Steep)
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)
1 Pkgs Belgian Golden Ale (White Labs #WLP570)

Mash Schedule---------------------------------
Total Grain Weight: 13.50 lb
Saccharification: Rest 60 min at 150.0 F
Vorlauf: 1-2 gallons as needed for clarity
Fly Sparge: 45 min at 180.0 F

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