Christmas brewing session

Today was a good day for me, spent Christmas morning with my family and was fortunate to be able to brew in the afternoon. As I was pulling something out of my fridge this morning I noticed that one of my Wyeast smack packs was swollen. I must have somehow pierced the inner yeast packet; I needed to brew so I didn’t lose the package.

Moving IPA to Secondary

The packet was for a Sierra Pale Ale clone. Like many of the kits I get I like to change them up slightly. For this Pale Ale, I got an extra ounce of whole cascade hops that I will dry hop this ale in the secondary fermenter. It’s exciting to try new ales and new methods, especially as you’re brewing this ale and the boiling hops and wert completely engulf the house. 4 ounces of Pearle and Cascade does wonders for the brew spirit.

But not only did I get to brew, but finally keg my Porter. My poor Porter had been sitting in the secondary for about 2months. Some times finding the free time to do the little things can be difficult. I also was able to move my IPA to the secondary, luckily this one is still on a normal brewing schedule.

All in all a good day for brewing.

Update 12-27-08:

Looks like the yeast was ok after all.  the airlock is percolating a good steady rate 24 hrs after brewing.