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In late October I decided to brew a bock to be ready for Christmas time. My dad loves stouts and porters, so a bock seemed like something he’d enjoy. Obviously covid blew up again for the holidays because we just can’t have nice things in the Trump era and so no parent visits. Womp womp.

The bock has turned out very good. AND absolutely reproducible. I’ve been very precise about times and temperatures throughout the brewing and fermenting processes AND, because I was tired of making oxidized shit, I’m now kegging and force carbonating. Highly recommended.

All kinds of things were exciting about this brew. Super sophisticated measurement taking. A brew day that went flawlessly. And a closed transfer from fermenter to keg after purging the keg of oxygen. Fancy. As. Fuck.

My Recipe.

My Notes.

My Readings.

What was notable about this brew session?
* Kegging, closed transfers, draft system -- basically a real brewery is installed in my basement now.
* pH readings -- trying to get comfortable messing with pH balance going forward.
* Flavor and color were almost exactly how I planned them when developing my recipe.

What pleasantly surprised me?
* Successfully setup a draft system with no issues -- Including finding a source for CO2.

* Having beer on tap at home is surprisingly fun.

Why can’t I officially call this my first good batch of beer?
* There is a subtle over sweetness bordering on a clove like sweetness at the start of the beer which I think is from either under pitching my yeast or my diacetyl rest stalling (or possibly both) -- I think I need to do my next lager yeast starter using a lower temp.

Next up is a munich helles that will most likely go off the rails...but we shall see if I can pull it off.