Well,
Both of my fermenters are now empty. I kegged up both my Dunkelweizen and the CDA (Black IPA).
The first task was doing a double keg clean out. I will fill one keg up with 5 gallons of easy clean, and then push that through my beer lines into keg 2. I then push it from keg 2 into a bottling bucket that has the tubing I plan to use while siphoning out the beer from the fermenters. The next step is to repeat the process with Star San.
It looks like I may have had my first brewing anomaly with the Dunkelweizen batch. The OG was 1.052 when I put it into the carboy. Last night when testing with my refractometer it finished at 1.028. Not even close to the 1.013 that I was expecting. The only thing that I can think of is that perhaps my Wyeast smack pack got too warm in shipping, and when I did the smack, I didn't have the proper number of yeast cells at pitching time. I think that from this point forward, even with the smack packs, I am going to get at least a 1 liter starter going the day before brew day. This is the first batch that I have ever missed my finishing gravity on. I do recall however that all three ice packs that were in the shipping container had melted by the time I got home and brought the package in the house. I always immediately refrigerate my yeast, so that may have saved enough to get to where it actually finished at.
I did take a quick taste of the dunkel, and I have to say, the sweetness lends pretty well to the roastiness of the dark wheat malt. It's going to be quite sessionable at the 3.18% ABV mark.
As for the CDA, it finished at 1.020 just as I had hoped. It's still got quite a bit of HOP AA zing, and should be quite a good beer. I'll be serving both of these beers at an upcoming Knights of Columbus fundraising dinners supporting the Holy Rosary Pro-Life group.
Special Thanks to Carlos for bringing me an extra Keg! Also, to my wonderful wife and brew assistant. Without her, nothing is possible.
