Taking Stock

Since deciding to get back in the brewing hobby last week, I realized that some of the ingredients I have on hand might be expired or nearing expiration. Furthermore, even though I have plenty of stuff here to make all of the beers in my original plan, the actual order I make those beers in might need to be adjusted to account for the different ages of the HMEs and UMEs I have.

So, first things first, inventory!

After a careful count, I have discovered that I have the following:

• ORIGINAL Hopped Malt Extracts (HME):
• American Devil IPA (ADIPA) (x2)
• Bewitched Red Ale (BRA) (x1)
• Cowboy Golden Lager (CGL) (x1)
• High Country Canadian Draft (HCCD) (x1)
• St Patrick's Irish Stout (SPIS) (x1)
• West Coast Pale Ale (WCPA) (x1)
• NEW Hopped Malt Extracts (HME):
• American Ale (AA-2) (x1)
• American Porter (AP-2) (x1)
• Classic American Light (CAL-2) (x1)
• Patriot Lager (PL-2) (x1)
• St Patrick's Irish Stout II (SPIS-2) (x2)
• Unhopped Malt Extracts:
• Creamy Brown UME (x2)
• Mellow Amber UME (x1)
• Pale Export UME (x1)
• Liquid Malt Extracts:
• Robust SoftPack LME (x3)
• Smooth SoftPack LME (x1)
• Miscellaneous:
• Booster Packs (x2)
• 16 oz PET bottles (x16)
• 24 oz PET bottles (x12)
• Sanitizer Packs (dozens)

I had previously paired up all of the original HMEs with UMEs and Booster Packs to allow me to consume all of the ingredients without anything being left over, so leaving those pairings alone is just fine. Those six brews are:

• Angry Weasel 2 (Pale Ale) = WCPA + Booster
• Bitter Buzzard (English Bitter) = CGL + Mellow Amber UME + Pallisade Hops
• Dark Epiphany 2 (Irish Stout) = SPIS + Creamy Brown UME
• Exterminated IPA = ADIPA(x2)
• Farty Monk 2 (Belgian Dubbel) = HCCD + Creamy Brown UME
• Red's Revenge (Special Red Ale) = BRA + Pale Export UME + Booster

The new HMEs are self-contained and do not need either a UME or a Booster Pack, although adding an LME to any of them will add body, flavor, and other subtleties. Since I have 4 LMEs to go with the 6 new-style HMEs I have on-hand, there isn't any reason I can see to integrate them into the overall plan, which now looks like:

• (2x) Dark Epiphany (Irish Stout) = SPIS-2 + Robust LME
• Inevitable Betrayal (Pale Lager) = CAL-2
• Nevermore (Porter) = AP-2 + Robust LME
• Soylent Amber = AA-2 + Smooth LME
• UNNAMED Lager = PL-2 

So.. arranging the brews so that older ingredients get consumed first, while ensuring that I don't make back-to-back batches with "malty" or "hoppy" flavor profiles, and doing my best to keep from making too many "light" or "heavy" beers in a row, I've come up with the following schedule:

• BB-14: Inevitable Betrayal (Pale Lager): CAL-2 (alone)
• BB-16: Dark Epiphany 2 (Irish Stout): SPIS-2 + Robust LME
• BB-17: Soylent Amber (Ale): AA-2 + Smooth LME
• BB-18: Nevermore (Porter): AP-2 + Robust LME
• BB-19: UNNAMED Lager: PL-2 (alone)
• BB-20: Farty Monk 2 (Belgian Dubbel): HCCD + Creamy Brown UME
• BB-21: Dark Epiphany 3 (Irish Stout): SPIS + Creamy Brown UME
• BB-22: Angry Weasel 2 (Pale Ale): WCPA + Booster
• BB-23: Bitter Buzzard (English Bitter): CGL + Mellow Amber UME + Pallisade Hops
• BB-24: Exterminated IPA: ADIPA(x2)
• BB-25: Red's Revenge (Special Red Ale): BRA + Pale Export UME + Booster
• BB-26: Dark Epiphany 4 Irish Stout: SPIS-2 + Robust LME

Tomorrow I'll be pulling together the ingredients for Inevitable Betrayal.... because this is a fertile beer and we will thrive!

Hey, Didn't You Used To Be My Blog?

So, after a couple of years of idleness at the Picobrewery, Buzzard's Brew is back!

I took a quick inventory of the HMEs and UMEs this weekend, tossed all of the old PET bottles and replaced them with new ones from Rural King (Sixteen half-liter PET bottles - woo hoo!), and dug out the old Beer Plan spreadsheet to see what the original schedule was.  Turns out that except for fresh Pallisade hops and some brown sugar, I've got everything I need to for twelve varieties. So, without further ado, we're resuming with BB-XV, Original Sin Doppelbock. The label is still awesome, though I'll need to touch it up. This is BB-XV, not BB-XII. And the bottles will be 16 Fl Oz, not 32. But otherwise - yeah - I can work with this. I still have the original artwork, and my account at BeerLabelizer should still be valid, so I don't see this as being a problem. [UPDATE:  The label image has been fixed!] Original Sin will be based on the Linebacker Doppelbock HME and Creamy Brown UME.  It should produce a malty beer, 4.6% ABV, 34 SRM (color), 22 IBU (bitterness), and will weigh-in overall as a Class-5 Brew. I'll be making the wort, pitching the yeast, then setting it aside to ferment today. I'm hoping the ingredients are all still "good", particularly the brewer's yeast.

The original schedule called for an English Bitter - Bitter Buzzard (BB-XIV) - as the next beer, but with no hops on hand we're skipping to BB-XV and will prepare to make the Bitter in a few weeks. Besides, I will need to get some more bottles first.

Recalling the time it takes to make beer, the fermentation process takes a minimum of 2 weeks, then another 2 weeks for carbonation once the beer has been bottled, followed by 3 days of cold conditioning, makes a 31-day process.  So, the overall schedule (including future brews) for the next 3 months - assuming I keep on track - looks like:

Original Sin Doppelbock (BB-XV):  25-Jan (today): Brew & begin fermentation. 8-Feb: Bottle & begin carbonation. 22-Feb: Transfer to cold conditioning. 25-Feb: Doppelbock ready

Bitter Buzzard English Bitter (BB-XIV):15-Feb: Brew & begin fermentation (assuming I have Palisade hops & brown sugar). 1-Mar: Bottle & begin carbonation (assuming I have more bottles). 15-Mar: Transfer to cold conditioning. 18-Mar: English Bitter ready

Dark Epiphany 2 Irish Stout (BB-XVI): 8-Mar: Brew & begin fermentation. 22-Mar: Bottle & begin carbonation (assuming I have bottles available). 5-Apr: Transfer to cold conditioning. 8-Apr: Irish Stout ready.

Should be a fun spring.