Aqua Vitae

The airlock on the rochefort 10 started fermenting bubbling about 5 hours after pitching. Clearly the starter that I made did the trick.
Now, 17 hours after pitching, the krausen is bubbling right up out of the airlock.

I’m taking the approach of removing the airlock and replacing it with a newly sanitized one whenever it seems […]

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Last night I set out to brew a clone of Rochefort 10, using a recipe from Beer Captured. I was doing an all-grain version of the recipe, which involved 19 pounds of grain. I was also milling the malt myself for the first time.
First of all it took ~45 minutes to mill 19 pounds of […]

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I’m preparing to brew one of my favorite beers, the Rochefort 10. I’ve wanted to brew this since first finding a recipe for it, and now’s the time. I went to the brew shop yesterday and left with 19 pounds of grain, a White Labs yeast (550 - the Achouffe yeast - since they didn’t […]

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I tried the first steam beer tonight. It’s very clear, with little sediment. It’s a well carbonated and has a dry finish.
I think can detect a bit of the off-flavors which Nathan has worried about. Perhaps it’s my imagination, but it seems to have a slightly stale finish. I wonder if *it is* a result […]

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OG 1.044
SG 1.010
ABV 4.5%
Unexpectedly, the BbB is already at target gravity. However, I’m going to let it condition in the secondary fermenter until the weekend, when I’ll bottle it, since I hadn’t scheduled for a double bottling session tonight.
This is a great result. It makes me feel like my all-grain mash, aeration and pitching temps […]

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The cider has been primed with a cup of corn sugar and bottled to ~48 12oz bottles. 1 gallon has been reserved for “Apple Jack”. The flavor has developed nicely, it’s going to be a dry cider (as planned) but it has a subtle appley flavor which should show through well with carbonation.
O.G. 1.060
F.G. 1.002
ABV […]

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