it's aliiiiiiiivvvve!!!

last night i brewed up batch #4 of beer. this one is special because it's the first time i made up my own recipe. the ingredients arrived a week later than i'd hoped so i didnt get to brew as soon as i'd have liked.

i've got the thing down mostly now, to the point where i'm considering all-grain because extract is too simple (and restrictive).

but first, my worry: i thought i'd killed my beer. i thought i'd made DOA beer. i screwed two things up:

1 - i didn't "thaw" the yeast long enough. the vial says 3 to 6 hours out of the fridge before pitching. i let it stand 2 hours at the most.

2 - i pitched at 90F. supposed to pitch at 70F.

the beer didn't show any sign of fermentation after 12 hours. after 22 hours it had a little scum on the top and maybe a bubble in the airlock. after 25 hours it's barley burping but it's not dead.

huzzah!

i'm aiming this time for a belgian stout. black as night, fruity as a frenchman. sweet, not too carbonated, not too hoppy, not too familiar. that's the plan, at least, and since it doesn't appear to be dead, maybe it will come to fruition.

one thing i had suspected and hoped but dared not until now to utter:

yeasties are tough motherfuckers.

i shouldn't have been worried, but i didn't follow all of papazian's advice (my first fully sober brewing experience, i'd say) so of course I worried. balls!