Hmm, where to start... Well, I got a new job so I will blame that for what has been keeping me from updating these pages. We kegged the IPA and Rye (brewed on June 3rd) on the 27th of June. They both turned out pretty well. Marc's keg of the Rye seemed to have separated in the keg, and the last few glasses were very thin almost like water. I am still working on my keg, so I do not yet know if it will be the same. We brewed the IPA and Rye back on the 25th of June, transferred them on July 10th and then kegged them on the 1st of August. I think I like the Rye better with the added hops. Finally, we brewed the Blonde for the Burn cabin warming party. We brewed two batches (one for us, one for the party) on the 8th of August. Both batches got transferred on the 19th of August and we kegged one batch just in time for the party on the 30th of August. We got lots of great comments at the party, including a few "This is my favorite of all the beers you guys make" comments. We almost did not get to drink any of it since the tap handle and a ball lock were left behind in Seattle. We fashioned a handle out of bamboo and really lucked out with the ball lock. Birdview Brewing (which just opened this last July) was nice enough to lone us a ball lock for the weekend. We also got to meet the owners and get a tour of the brewery. It is a family run business with plenty of great beer and very friendly service. If you are ever in the Concrete area be sure to check them out.

We are going to brew the IPA and the Rye tomorrow (the 25th). The sparge time will be cut way down in hopes to get our conversion efficiency back up to where it used to be. We are adding more hops to the Rye and will also dry hop it, turning it into a RyePA. Originally it was going to be brewed for Marc's 40th birthday party, but it will not be done in time. We are still naming it Old Man Swenson RyePA though. We transferred the last IPA and Rye we made back on the 3rd, and it is ready to be kegged, which may also happen tomorrow.

We brewed the IPA and the Rye on Saturday (the 27th). The brew table sure works great. Our conversion efficiency was poor again, we are thinking that we might be taking too long to sparge, so the next time we brew we are going to cut the sparge time back. We cut the grain on the Rye back some (to the same amount as the Blonde) to make it lighter and a better summer beer. We also got the rye to total grain ratio back to 1:6 like the first rye we did, since last time the rye flavor was a bit over powering.

Brewing has been slower this year, four batches so far. The Blonde and ESB have been kegged and tapped since last time (Marc's is nearly gone). The ESB did not ferment that well and turned out very sweet, it is similar to Alaskan Amber. I put my keg of the Blonde on N2, it is pretty good. I am getting pretty good pours, but I still need to do some tweaking. The beer was infused with CO2 when we kegged it. It then sat at about 50-60° for almost two weeks (until I finished the Porter and had room for it in the kegerator). It got put in the kegerator (and chilled) untapped for a week and a half then I put it on CO2 at about 14 psi. The next day I put it on N2 at about 20 psi and tapped it. Like I said above, I am getting pretty good pours, but there is not quite as much head as there should be. I think next time I will try upping the CO2 pressure (before tapping it and switching it to N2) a bit more to see if that helps with the head.

We finally got to use the new brew table to brew a Blonde and the ESB yesterday (see the equipment page for some photos). We are still getting the hang of it, but the thing worked great. It is so nice to have three burners and not have to lift the full boil kettle up onto the other burner we used to use. We can also start heating the boil kettle while we are still sparging. It was a little tight, but it fit on Marc's deck so we can still easily go in and out of the house while we are brewing which is nice especially since it rains some much here in the pacific northwest.

Too long again since last time. We brewed the IPA and the maple porter way back when on the 22nd of January. They were transfered to secondaries on the 2nd of February and kegged on the 15th. One of the kegs if IPA went to the 6th annual Pisces party where it was well received. The brew table finally arrived from Minnesota. My dad brought it out with him when he came to visit on the 11th of February. We are going to use it for the first time to brew a blonde and the ESB tomorrow. I am hoping that I got the leaks in my CO2 system fixed. The shut off/check valves on the secondary regulators were not very high quality and if they were not set just right they leaked. I ordered some new valves and replaced the old ones. I did some leak tests and everything appeared to not be leaking, I will test it again when I have more than one beer on tap and need to use it.

The first log for 2006, I hope this year goes as well as last year did. We brewed quite a few batches last year and they all turned out pretty well. We plan to start this years brewing off next weekend. I tapped the stout for our new year's poker party. It went over pretty well. It is our second beer on N2 and the gas has been working much better this time. I had them mix the gas in the tank instead of using the mixer I bought. I do not know if not using the mixer is why it is working better, or because of the way I did the pre-tapping gas. This time I infused the keg with CO2 only and have not shaken the keg since it was tapped. I am still getting great pours with it. It may be a little on the flat side, so the next time when I infuse a beer I plan to put on N2 I may turn the pressure up some. The cider is still on tap and I have the tank connected to the keg. There does not seem to be any leaking, so I suspect there is something leaking in the secondary regulators that get hooked up when I put more than one keg on CO2. My Pike handles arrived, before we left for MN, if I remember correctly. It seems that the handles just get a different sticker put on them when the taps change, since the handles I got have several different layers of stickers. I peeled them back and did not find a XXXXX Stout sticker, but maybe I can find one and put it on the handle. I will have to ask the next time at visit the brewery.