Beer Updates

Tonight I took gravity readings for the ESB and the American Pale Ale I brewed recently. The APA came in at 1.010 for its gravity, which was lower than anticipated (probably due to low mash temps). This one has the same weird taste the Amber has, so now I'm starting to get worried. The gravity of the ESB came in at 1.022, but that just needs more time. The ESB tastes fantastic, contrary to the other two batches I have sitting there. I have no idea what happened to the other batches, but I guess I'll leave them both in secondary fermenters and monitor how they taste over time. Sigh, at least the most recent batch worked out well.

UPDATE: After discussing my flavor issue with another brewer, it would seem that age of my yeast may be a contributing factor. The yeast in the batches that are weird was really old, but the yeast in the ESB was brand new. I'm going to plan a brew for this weekend that doesn't include too much cost in ingredients as a test batch to see if I've removed the problem by using new yeast. I plan on continuing to look for other possibilities, so we'll see what I come up with by the weekend.

Brew Day

My long hiatus from brewing is over and I'm right back into it the way I used to be. All it took was getting through that first brew day in my new place. Currently waiting for the mash to finish on my current batch. I'm making an American Pale Ale.

American Pale Ale:
-8lbs British 2-row (I know, it should be American 2-row, but I want to use ingredients I already have)
-2lbs Vienna Malt
-1/2lb Wheat Malt
-1/2oz Amarillo hope pellets (8% AA) 60 minutes
-1/2oz Amarillo 40 minutes
-1/2oz Amarillo 20 minutes
-1/2oz Amarillo 0 minutes
-Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast

Mashing with 3 gallons of water at 150F for 75 minutes.

Now I need to figure out what I'm going to brew next weekend. :p I want to reuse the British Ale yeast that the Amber is using, so I want to make an English style, but I'm not sure exactly what I want to do. Maybe a barleywine.