Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Homebrew – Two Fingers Amber Ale

I know I just posted a home brew yesterday, but yesterday's post was actually the second all-grain beer I have made. This one is the first.  As you can see from the photo, this beer exhibits the same chill haze as yesterday's beer.  Cloudiness aside, this beer is fantastic.  It poured with a very rich amber hue and a thick head of foam that maintained for the duration of the drink.  This beer is definitely a malt monster.  The hops are present, but the malts here definitely come into play at a much higher level.  This beer has an estimated 32 IBU and an alcohol content of 6.5%, but with the heavier body (finished at 1.020 FG) the hop presence falls slightly into the background as the malt sweetness stays in the forefront.  The hop factor in this home brew comes in the form of an after taste and in the initial aroma of the beer.  This five gallon batch has a combined bill of 2 ounces of hops, Cascade on the bittering and flavor side and Williamette on the aroma.  It takes a lot of hops to punch their way through a 14-pound malt bill though...

I racked the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout to a secondary fermenter today after one week in the primary fermenter.  I took a gravity reading of 1.014.  Since it started at 1.060, I'm hoping this beer finishes up at 1.014 and doesn't ferment down any further.  I want this beer to have a medium body, and it already has pushed over the 6% mark on alcohol by volume.  I was originally going to let this beer sit in primary for two weeks, but I decided to go ahead and move it.  I will still let it condition in secondary for four weeks before bottling it.