Ides of March Bottled in June - Plus the next Fermentation Friday is set

Almost three months to day after brewing, the Ides of March RIS and Quercus borealis are FINALLY in the bottle. Justin and I got together after dinner and two hours, three bombers, and four cases of sanitized glass later, we're sitting on two cases of each rendition.

So how are they tasting at the moment? Fantastic, actually. The QB has really balanced out, leaving an oak-ie, bourbon-ie nectar suited only to be imbibed during a cold winter's eve. The RIS is pretty balanced itself, with a nice dark fruit and roast character with a moderate bitter. I'm excited to see what they are like carbed up.

Up next, More Missionary Position (MB0020) and an American Pale Ale (MB0019). Both are happening Saturday as a prelude to a celebration commemorating the 28th anniversary of my escape from the womb.

And on an unrelated note, Travis over at CNY Brew is hosting this month's Fermentation Friday. Check it out and join in the blog-tastic fun.

Cheers,

Dave

Home Brew Update

Not much on this front right now. Just a lot of waiting on really big beers. Justin and I did get a chance to check in on the Ides of March Quercus borealis. After 3+ weeks on the bourbon soaked oak chips, the "oak aged" character is pretty prominent. Even though the barrel-aged character is pretty strong at this point, we decided to let it go for a few more weeks to see what happens. We'll always have the option to blend it with the regular RIS. We shall see what happens.

The Missionary Position (MB0018) is still slowly finishing up fermenting. I'm guessing at least another week and we'll be where we need to be.

Cheers,

Dave

Quick Hitters - RIS Update

Last night Justin and I FINALLY transferred the Ides of March RIS (MB0016) and the Ides of March RIS Quercus borealis (MB0017) to secondary. Respectively, their FGs were 1.031 and 1.035. Not exactly where we wanted them, but after 54 days in primary, rousing the yeast, pitching new yeast and a helluva lot of waiting, It had to be done. So we racked on over to our secondary vessels, being sure to add the Oak chips with Wild Turkey to the carboy. Off they went to the basement for at least a month, probably much longer to bulk age and then be bottled for a tasty winter treat. I hope all is well.

Up next: The Missionary Position BSA - tomorrow. More to come.

Cheers,

Dave

Ides of March Strikes Again!

Well, technically the Ides of April. So Justin and I checked in on the Ides of March RIS double batch tonight, expecting to be able to transfer to secondary to free up our primaries. Well, not so much. After 31 days in primary, we had a "FG" of 1.036 and 1.034 respectively for our two batches.

So as of tonight around 7:00 PM, we repitched a pack of Safale US-05 into each brew. Hopefully that gets us down to where we need to be, right around 1.021-ish. We shall see soon enough.

Cheers,
Dave

Better Bottle Bitter Bottled

With a shoutout to my man Tolkien, Muckney Brewing would like to present our Eagle and Child Ordinary Bitter. Named after the Eagle and Child in St. Giles, Oxford, England, a pub frequented by J. R. R. and C. S. Lewis, this bitter is our take on a classic Ordinary Bitter.

"Trying" to stay in style, this batch was summarily screwed up by Dave due to a lack of attention paid to the recipe. In my defense, I was brewing from memory (read: didn't look at the computer on the bar) while bittering and reverted to my original bittering schedule. The problem: my original schedule was about 10 IBUs too low to style. It was orignally to be a Best Bitter (8B), but ended up low on the OG tip, too. Read about it here.

So what did we end up with? A well balanced, quaffable session brew. A nice copper color, decent bitterness and a good caramel malt profile. I can't wait for it to carb up. Rating to come.

After Justin and I bottled the Bitter, we turned out attention to the Ides of March RIS. Long and short of it - they're still fermenting. With SG's of 1.040 and 1.034, neither batch is anywhere near the projected 1.021 FG. Took a couple samples, replaced the lids, and we're now letting them roll for a bit. Check back for updates.

Cheers,

Dave