F4-01-01-04: Boot's Brown Ale

Label inspiration: Beer was named after a squirrel that hung around my yard. He had white feet so I called him Boots.

From Mr. Beer's website:

(Mr. Beer’s American Double Brown Ale)

ABV- 6.5%         SRM-         38         IBU- 50

“This Double American Brown is a big, chewy ale that combines the finest 2-row barley with caramel, chocolate, amber and cara malt, creating a dark brew with lush, velvety malt flavor. It is hopped with Riwaka and Pacifica, lending it a a fresh, floral and berry-like snap to complement the chocolate malt flavors. The included Safale S-04 dry ale yeast provides a clean, balanced flavor profile, characteristic of traditional Brown Ales. This brew will keep you warm as the nights cool off!”

1 can of Double American Brown HME

1 packet of Safale S-04 Dry Ale Yeast

Brewed batch on August 22, 2010. Yet another easy recipe from Mr. Beer. I didn’t add anything extra to the recipe this time. I will probably try cane sugar instead of carb tabs this time to see if I can cut down on the “floaties”.

UPDATE: Royally screwed up on the making of this beer! My can opener didn’t work well and I’m not sure I got all of the extract out of the can. Also, I managed to pour a bit out onto the fermenter instead of IN the fermenter, which meant that I had to account for the loss when I filled up the fermenter at the end of the process with water…which I didn’t. Well, I tried. I couldn’t see the line that well due to the crappy lighting in my kitchen (I tried a flashlight to no avail). 

After two days, the temp is hovering around 72-74 degrees.

After one week, it’s about 72 degrees. It looks like the krausen is gone, at least most of it from what I can see. Weird…after only a week?

Bottled batch on September 12, 2010. Tasted it before I bottled it. Pretty damn nasty, maybe cidery/vinegar…not sure but it might be infected. I’ve tried and tried to be super-cautious when it comes to sanitation- maybe it’s not good enough. OR, perhaps I am looking for a miracle.

Before I bottled the batch, I washed the bottles in warm water, then I put them in the oven at 175 degrees for a little over an hour. After that, I used One-Step.

For the first time, I used something organic- Domino’s Organic cane sugar. The Mr. Beer instructions say to use ¾ tsp for carbonation but I used just under 1 tsp for good measure.

I heard about a bottling trick that I tried this time. I filled the bottles up and placed the caps on the bottles BUT I didn’t cap them fully until I was done filling all the bottles. Maybe it pushed out some oxygen in the process. 

September 18, 2010 Just picked up the bottles gently, turned them upside down diagonally and turned them a few times before I put them back in the box.

October 2, 2010 Placed bottles in refrigerator.

Tasted my first beer of the batch on October 12, 2010. It wasn’t bad. A little “young” though. I think it’ll be good in a few weeks.

Tastes the beer again on November 19, 2010. It really wasn’t that good at all. It had lost it’s flavor and tasted like it was bad.

November 25, 2010 Actually not that bad at all. Took a few to the folks’ house and they liked it a lot. 

January 3, 2010 After a month or so, the beer really came together. I think this is the best one yet. I gave a few to a friend of mine at work and he liked them a lot. I have two left and I am enjoying them this evening.

OVERALL SCORE: 7 of 10