First, I got to use my new mash paddle. It went through the mash effortlessly and really broke up those dough balls! Easier = better in my opinion.
Second, I was able to use my new high temperature tubing to transfer the 165 degree water from kettle to bucket. I also used it to transfer the wort to the kettle and I'll use it here shortly to transfer the boiled wort to the fermentor. Again, very easy to work with since it's so flexible.
Third, I got to use my new stainless steel spoon instead of my plastic spoon to stir the hops into the wort. Wow, just wow. No more wimpy spoon twisting in my hands as I stir.
Now, back to our regular programming:
The yeast starter went a little crazy on me and blew its top. I made two 2,000 ml starters - one for the initial starter and one to step it up and grow more yeasties. The first starter fermented out in two days so I put it in the fridge, let the yeast settle to the bottom, decanted the nasty starter beer off the top and re-fed it again on Thursday morning. I took of for my meeting in Monterrey and came back Saturday afternoon to this mess. Yuck! The starter is just fine but I have quite the mess to clean up!
The mash with my new mash paddle! Take that you little dough ball bastards! OK, maybe I'm just a little too excited about this.....
Did I mention that I mashed in really early this morning? Also, I had to lengthen the mash to 1 hour 20 minutes instead of the standard 1 hour. I missed my mash temp by a few degrees so I wanted to make sure everything converted.
7.5 gallons of wort on my first runnings, 8 gallons from my second runnings. 1.5 gallons of wort (that won't fit into the boil kettle) down the drain. I've got to work on my mash math so that I come out with zero extra gallons of wort.
Just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiitle too vigorous on the boil. I tuned it down and got the perfect boil going. Not too much, not too little, just right. Hmmmm. Thinking about some kind of Goldilocks Ale now..... ;-)
Just chillin'. Oh, BTW, the outlet hose for my chiller split in the middle of the hose AND the darn connector started leaking. Had to put a towel over the connector to keep hose water from getting into the wort. Hmmmm. Thinking about some kind of Hose Water Hefeweizen now..... ;-)
And, finally, the little bastards that this ale was named after. I could here these Weedomites screaming in their death throws today: "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". Damn that was irritating! ;-)
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