Sad Time

I don't know what is sadder.  My lack of posting as of late or that no one seems to visit.  Maybe I have visitors, but no one leaves comments.  Anyways, on to what new.

Pumpkin beer was a hit.  Very short lived, but had lots of positive feedback and then it was gone. As with any beer that I craft there is always a reserve that I save.  That brings up the idea that I have had for many months now.  I will be having a reserve party every few months to have these reserves sampled and see how they hold up through time.

The next beer is almost ready to go.  Moved into the keg and a few bottles today.  This is a red beer and will be tapped in a couple of weeks.  I will be hosting a poker tournament which will feature this lovely brew.  I will have a few Bud Lights on hand for those who do not drink good beer.

No pictures this time, been busy.  I would suggest leaving comments on this or a few other past post if anyone would like to see more updates.  Otherwise, just contact me in person to see whats going on.

The Label

Ladies and Gentlemen, I post for you the first official label of the Decatur St. Brewing Co.

The art work is provided by the one and only Melvin Lambert of Phoenix, AZ.

The beer still needs time. But I will be printing this label and pasting it to the bottle soon.

Check back soon.

Pumpkin spice is all that nice...

Okay so since the pumpkin is in the bottle I have had time to do my math and final alcohol of this beer is 7.0% ABV (alcohol by volume). That isn't bad, but could have been better.  Seems like there was still some fermentable in the final measurement, but it was close enough.  This is the first full batch return to the bottles since getting the kegs and I am a little worried that the carbonation is going to be lacking, hence moving to the kegs for forced carbonation.

On another note I have moved one step closer to going to a full mash instead of the partial mash I have been doing.  I will post more on that later.  Have a good night to everyone.

Now we wait...

The pumpkin ale is in the bottles.  Looks mighty fine! Here are some pictures from bottling day:

Ended up with 36 bottles, which isn't bad considering most of the starting volume was from the pumpkin.  This beer has an amazing orange color. The taste is still to spicy (cinnamon and cloves), but you cant even tell there is alcohol in this beer.  That is a little scary since its around 7.2% ABV.  I think a couple weeks in the bottles with mellow out the spice and make this an excellent fall beer.  Still no label to show with this yet, still working on it as well as the artist who is working on the image for this particular brew.

May start working on my red beer this weekend, need to check if I have an empty keg to clean and that all the seals are well.  Last time I checked one was leaking CO2 so it wouldn't stay carbonated.  This is all for now.

Oops! To Strong

Racked the Pumpkin into the secondary.  It is tasting mighty good.  Has a slight pumpkin taste on the back end and a nice beer taste up front.  Added the spice to the secondary so that it should have more of the pumpkin pie taste to it.  Will taste it again in a week to see how its turning out.

So I was shooting for a drinkable 5% ABV and it turned out a little bit more than I was hoping for.  I was worried about the fermentation as it didn't seem like it was doing much the first few days, so I was going to add some more yeast.  After the test tonight, I have decided that adding yeast will not be needed.  This will be a true home brew and will be closer to 7%.  I know that many of the lighter drinkers may be deterred by the stronger beer, but it is still turning out to be a good brew.  I look forward to enjoying this with friends and family over the fall season.

Things to look out for:
- 2010 Pumpkin Spice updates- 2010 Redheaded *@#! brew ingredients are in my possession
- 2010 Winter Special- Talk of 2011 Oktoberfest brew
- Possible 2011 entry into contest (local or national)