Mike's Wedding

Buried Castle will be featured at Mike's wedding.  Help us select the menu:
Possibilities right now:

• Dunkle Weisse
• Weizenbock
• Strawberry Blonde
• Strawberry Wheat
• APA
• IPA
• redo Karma2 or Kipuka

labels

We are all caught up on labeling the winter selections.  Unfortunately we ran short on belsnickel labels.  But this just meant we had to sample two before they got lost in the fridge.  The results are in:  It will be ready by Christmas.  a few more days of conditioning to even out the additions and it's ready to go.

Ciders

The two cider blends are in the fermenter.

4 gallons of Granny Smith (+ a touch of blueberry honey), Initial Gravity: 1.050
1 gallon of Honey Crisp w/ 1.5 gallons Granny Smith, Initial Gravity: 1.050

Both done @ room temperature w/ potassium metabisulfite to kill the wild yeast, then some Wyeast American Ale II yeast added.  This is our first cider made with fresh cider, and the first done without reaching pasteurizing temperatures first.  We'll know the results in 6-8 weeks.

Granny Crisp

6 Gallons of Granny Smith Cider and 2 gallons of Honey Crisp cider, fresh from Solebury Orchards by way of Keystone Homebrew are in the fridge.  Coming up: GranGa Chuck, Granny Crisp, and WmGa Crisp ciders.  Need to get on it while the cider is still fresh, expect fermentation to start saturday.

Happy Repeal Day

Happy repeal day.  Dec 5th 1933 marks the 78th anniversary of the 21st amendment's repeal of the 18th amendment (prohibition).   In honor of the 78th anniversary of repeal, all of our labels are printed for Karma 2, Belsnickel, and Kipuka.  They would have been on the bottles already too, but I can't find the scissors.  Up next in the celebration program:  Kipuka, first taste... as soon as Will gets home from work... stay tuned for the results.


www.,repealday.org

More Math

Did the calculations for Belsnickel and Karma 2:

Belsnickel: 15.9 Plato 7.1% ABV
Karma 2:10.6 Plato, 4.7% ABV

dunkel

Last week, we went to Sly Fox for Yani's birthday.  Along with the really big chocolate brownie cake, there was a large selection of beer to try.  Top on the list: Dunkel Weisse.  It's  a dark wheat just like another favorite from this fall:  Victory Moonglow.

Working on the recipe... this may be the next buried castle offering...
50% wheat malt, a lot of munich, plus some caramunich, maybe a touch of vienna, and some chocolate to make it nice and dark... plus wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan  to get that clove and banana flavor sly fox says is in it.

targets:
OG: 1.047-1.055
IBU: 10-16
BU:GU .21-.32
Color 10-23
ABV 3.8-4.47


Reading more about the wheats, we should have tried a  wheat sooner.  Weihenstephan would have enjoyed the warm basement this summer more than the Irish yeast.

Too much inventory right now, so there's some time to flush out the recipe... perhaps we'll start 2012 with this one?

Belsnickel and Karma 2

Belsnickel and Karma2 are bottled... should be ready for Christmas. Total yield approx 100.  Thanks Will... 2 batches and less mess than normal for just 1.

Kīpuka bottled

Kīpuka is bottled.  Yield: 51 x 12oz.  5.3% ABV.

wmga3

first. crack of wmga3 tonight..... disappointing.

poorly carbonated and a harsh bite. back int e closet for a. few more weeks f conditioning. hope t doesn't join lignite in next year's dump

Belsnickel

Belsnickel page created.  Label art coming soon

www2.buriedcastle.com/beer/belsnickel

Karma2

After a trip to pick up stuff in Levittown, we visited the restaurant store and got that new brew pot.  As a consequence we had no choice but to head to Keystone Homebrew, grab some grains, hops, and yeast and test the new pot.

Up first for the new 10gallon brewpot: an all-grain version of Karma Prez (brew #2 in Buried Castle History).

The new pot has been initiated, the wort is in the fermenter and the flyers are destroying the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It's been a long time since 3 fermenters were in use at the same time:  #1 = Kīpuka, #2 =Belsnickel, #3 = Karma2.  that means a lot of bottling coming up soon.  Thanks to everyone for the bottle donations.  Expect variety packs available by Chrstimas Break,

www2.buriedcastle.com/beer/karma2

Gourdie Ale

Chunkin is getting a makeover.  The pumpkin ale has been renamed Gourdie Ale.  Label art coming soon

Belsnickel

Bad Santa has a name... Thanks to Bill, Bad Santa shall be officially known as Belsnickel.  What's a Belsnickel, you ask?

By PA Dutch folklore, Belsnickel is a mythical companion to Santa.  If you've been bad, Santa's not bringing you anything.  Instead expect a delivery of coal or switch from this fur wearing masked man.

Belsnickel is fermenting away.  It was a little over zealous the first day, clogging the airlock but is now continuing at a nice pace.  Expect bottling by Thanksgiving.  Label art coming soon.

bad santa

winter warmer/spice ale is in the fermenter... OG came in a bit low, 1.064 instead of 1.085, not enough volume lost to boil off again. cinnamon is in the primary, vanilla on hold till bottling.

temporary name: Bad Santa (that's the name on the recipe from BYO.) Not sure on buried castle's name yet.

Full Recipe

gopro

I failed at my mission, but bill found the gopro... here's the firstish test vid

Occupy REI

We arrived @ 2100 and were the 10th tent in line (which actually became #8 once we evicted the two placeholder tents), good enough to be in group 1 to hit the corral at 1000. A cold, damp night followed by a snowy morning. REI garage sale success: pedals, tools, and gopro and new friends among the fellow campers. REI failure: let the softshell getaway

chunkin

After a rainy night into snowy day at the garage sale, the first all grain batch has been updated and renamed. Previously "pumpkin" is now "Chunkin." This beer is well into bottle conditioning. First tastes may be ready in time for Halloween.

rainy day

mash tun is fixed, cherries are ready.... waiting for the rain to stop. Bad santa sunday instead?

EDIM508 728 Challenge

Count	Qnum	Response
100	1	I'm Jeff,coatesville alt ed + cyber science teacher, + mountain biker, climber, photographer, guide
86	2	Goal = explore/integrate resources to improve student engagement, motivation, learning
89	3	Students can and want to learn. The world is waiting to be explored and undestood by them
101	4	Tech brings resources, interaction, process, engagement, otherwise difficult for classroom or student
82	5	Concerned about working with limited technology and restrictive policies at school
100	6	Alt Ed program is asynchonline learning,+ cyber school. I find and add rsrc and options for students
85	7	smaller classroom, no group instruction, mix of content areas, emphasis on technology

Kīpuka

All grain #2 - Kīpuka, Hawaiian Brown Ale is in the fermenter

Going Grain

First all grain brew day, pumpkin ale... ready to enjoy by thanksgiving

Lamb Day

Tomorrow is Lamb Day.  Two new selections created just for the event:

Lamb Day Lager

Blonde Julep

Valley Green

 Back to the Wissahickon Valley.  This time on foot.

Morris Arboretum

It was a really long time since school field trips to Morris Arboretum, so Will and I spent the day exploring it.  It was much better than I remembered.  That's probably because there no classes or presentations to go to.

Norristown Farm Park

Found another park to explore close to home.  Bill and I spent the day at Norristown Farm Park.

Lignite Bottled

Scotch ale is in the bottles:

Mash Tun

Going All Grain.  The mash tun is done... what to brew first with it?

Scotch Ale

Lignite is ready to ferment

02.Karma Prez

02.Karma Prez

Brewed on President's Day Weekend, this Carmel Cream Ale is based on a recipe collected from Homebrewtalk.com Brewed on 19 February 2011, Initial Gravity: 1.061 Bottled on 5 March 2011, Final Gravity: 1.019  Approximate ABV: 5.5 Yield:40 x 12oz bottles, 4x22 oz bottles Brewers: Jeff, Jon Primary fermentation began rapidly.  Fermenter temperature rose to 70 Degrees and fermentation overwhelmed the airlock with foam.  Fermenter relocated to colder basement, airlock replaced with blowoff hose.  On Day 2 of fermentation, temperature is down to 60 degrees, airlock has been replaced and bubbles are approx 15/minute. Malts 3 pounds extra light dme added @ 0 minutes 3 pounds bavarian dme added @ 20 minutes 1 pound Caramel 60L (steeped for 45 minutes at 150'-165') Hops 1oz Cascade for bittering (added @ 0 minutes) .5oz Saaz for flavor (added @ 40 minutes) .5 oz Tettnang for aroma (added @ 55 minutes) Yeast Wyeast German Ale Extras 1 whirlflock tablet (added @ 45 minutes) 4oz Lactose (added @ 45 minutes) 2 oz vanilla extract (added @ 50 minutes) Item Cost Muntons 60L Crystal 2.2 Lactose 4.75 Saaz 2.55 Cascade 1.49 Tettnang 2.75 M&F X-Light DME 13.5 Briess Wheat DME 11.5 Wyeast 1007 German 6.95 Caps 1 Whilfoc 0.25 Vanilla Extract 3 Bottled Water 3 Priming Sugar 0.85 Total 53.79 Unit Cost (47 Bottles) $1.14

03.WmGa Chuck

03.WmGa Chuck

WmGa Chuck is dedicated to Bill, our nonbeer (supposed nonalcohol) drinking member of the brewing team and Phil (because he's the groundhog).  WmGa Chuck is a sparkling hard cider with its foundations in Wegmans Apple Juice. WmGa Chuck was brewed on Feb 2, 2011 Bottled on March 22, 2011 Original Gravity: 1.060 Final Gravity: 1.010 15 Plato, 6.7% ABV Ingredients: 3 Gallons Wegmans Apple Juice Some Brown Sugar Some Molasses Some Honey Yeast cultured from Frozen Toe IPA

01.Frozen Toe

Our inaugural brew, Frozen Toe IPA was named for the cold temperatures encountered during the brewing day.  Frozen Toe IPA was made using recipe and ingredients from Keystone Homebrew's American IPA Kit. Brewed on Jan 22, 2011, Original Gravity: 1.065 Bottled on Jan 29, 2011, Final Gravity: 1.02 Approximate ABV: 6.0% Yield: 47 x 12oz Bottles Brewery Team: Jeff, Bill, Scott, Sara 22 Jan 2011 - IG: 1.065 @ 71.3°F FG: 1.02 ABV: 6.0% 29 Jan 2011 (47 bottles) Ingredients 7 lb. Briess Golden Light Dried Malt Extract ¾  lb. Briess Crystal Malt 20° L ¼  lb. Dingemanns Aromatic Malt 1 oz. Warrior (Bittering) (5 oz. Centennial Hops (Flavoring 1. (5 oz. Cascade Hops (Flavoring 2. (5 oz. Centennial Hops (Finishing 1. (5 oz.  Cascade Hops (Finishing 2. 1 oz. Amarillo Hops (Finishing 3) Wyeast #1272 XL American Ale II Yeast Steep grains, 30 minutes, Audubon Tap Boil above + 4 lbs Briess Golden Light DME + Warrior Hops 40 minutes Add 3 lbs Briess Golden Light DME, Boil 5 minutes Add ½ centennial hops, Boil 5 minutes Add ½ cascade hops, Boil 5 minutes Add rest f centennial, Boil 3 minutes Add rest of cascade, boil 2 minutes add amraillo 2 Gallons Poland Spring Water + Cooling Yeast, Cap, Airlock, Ferment @ 70°F Cost: Kit: 47.50 Bottled Water: $3 Date Time Bubbles/Minutes Temp 1/22 1400 0 75 1/23 0800 76 70 1/23 1300 124 71 1/23 2200 152 72 1/24 0600 132 68 1/24 1800 24 68 1/25 0600 9 65 1/25 1800 4 64 1/26 0600 2 64 1/26 1200 1 62 1/26 2000 0 63