Whelp Pale Ale is a Success!

I broke into a bottle of Whelp Pale Ale over the weekend and it is definitely a success. The carbonation brought a nice balance to the malt and hops. It has a good hop aroma and a very smooth hop flavor.

This beer went down way to fast, especially at a little over 6% alcohol by volume. I haven't had time to work on getting labels printed up for the bottles with things going on and work and home, but I hope to eventually get some. At the very least I will put the larger labels on the bottle carriers.

I will try to get a six pack over to Dallas, it might have to be delivered through John because summer brings a different set of priorities.

For those of you that follow this strictly for warmachine I am sorry to disappoint, but I am going to be writing more about outdoor pursuits, yard and garden activities, home remodelling, beer and beer brewing, and I do hope to get some model assembly and painting in on occasion.

If there was a game store a little closer to home I could see getting more games in. Kim and I have created our own table and we are creating some terrain. We will play occasionally at home so that we don't completely forget the rules.

I hope to make it to the FLGS a few times this summer, but as I mentioned there are other things that take priority right now.

Time to try Whelp Pale Ale

Whelp pale ale has been carbonating in the bottle for a week now and should be ready for an initial flavor and carbonation test.

For best results I will wait at least two weeks before letting anyone else try it.

The hop flavor should be intensified even more with the increased level of carbonation. This beer is definately not for the person that typically stays with the large, commercially brewed pilsners.

No....I'm not Dead!

I have felt like dying the last couple of weeks, but no I'm not dead.

Nothing beats an early summer cold... oh wait, yeah having an early summer cold while travelling cross country.

I was in North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, got a cold and then came back to Utah and felt like I was going to die. I would have preferred if the weather had stayed overcast and crappy but not it got nice.

I suffered through work and am not feeling a little better. Whelp Pale Ale is now carbonating it bottles.

I will try one in a few days but it is best to let it carbonate for a couple of weeks.

We travelled to Idaho and visited the family. Played with all of the crazy neices and nephews and went to my brother's graduation.

With the weather warming up it looks like warmachine has dropped down a bit on my list of priorities. Work is keeping me pretty busy with an upcoming food safety audit. When I'm at home we are working on the yard and garden and preparing to start finishing the basement.

Oh and and the really fun side of things I am researching stuff to do when we go to Oahu and Maui. I am still finding some time to get hiking in and hope to at least get a few nights in a bag this summer.

I hope to still get the occassional game over in Logan and Kim and I have created our own board and we are making terrain so we will get a few games in at home.

We have artwork!

Thanks to Florian and G'DayBloke. I just have to figure out how to print it the right size. I don't deal with photoshop or printing much other than documents.

But let me know what you think and I give all of the praises to those guys. This kick's ass!

Whelp Pale Ale......Day 14

Ah, what a lovely two week old baby.  I don't have children, but treat my beers as tenderly as anyone would a child.  Well other than the shaking at the beginning to get some oxygen in there for the yeast.  I don't suggest anyone do that with a real baby.

We are 14 days into fermentation and it looks like primary fermentation is complete.  We started with a specific gravity of 1.054.  At the end of primary fermentation it looks like the specific gravity is 1.008.

This is the formula for calculating percent alcohol by volume.

((Beginning specific gravity - end specific gravity) x 105) x 1.25)

Using the 1.054 and 1.008 the %ABV (Alcohol by Volume) is 6.0375.

I tasted the sample that I pulled and it has a very floral hop aroma and taste.  It will be transferred to the secondary fermenter with additional hops tomorrow and will age for another two weeks.  The alcohol content is set, now it is just going to be adjusting the flavor and mouthfeel with additional hops and carbonation.

Girl on Girl! Sorry, meant Cryx on Cryx

Now I know it isn't exciting, but tonight will be my first battle against my own faction. I am playing Geoff, who is infinitely more experienced at table top war games, but I'm only slightly terrified.

I am still not sure who I'm bringing to the table tonight, but we are going to be playing with MKII rules. I have not spent the time going through the new rules and cards so it could be a slower game than Geoff likes. I am also planning on playing some models I haven't played, so it could be brutal.

If only Whelp Pale Ale was ready to drink I could have a bottle of that to provide some liquid courage.

I will post my list and how the battle turns out tomorrow. There is a possibility of a 25 pt MKII game against Menoth later in the evening, but I will have to see what how late it is.

Whelp Pale Ale, An Update

It has been a little over a week since the beginning. Fermentation started rapidly and continues more than a week later at a slower pace.

The brew will stay in the primary fermenter for another 3 or 4 days before I start to take hydrometer readings. This will give me the percent alcohol based on a starting gravity of 1.050. I will put the actual equation in here when I begin to take the readings. I can never remember it off the top of my head.

When I have two consecutive days with the same specific gravity I will transfer to the secondary fermenter. I am going to be adding another ounce of pelletized hops to the secondary fermenter to give it that extra tangy hop flavor. The brew will then sit in secondary fermentation for an additional two weeks before priming and bottling.

With this type of beer I would want it to sit in the bottles and carbonate for at least two weeks, but I always become impatient and will probably try one about 5 days into carbonating.

I am still looking for some artwork, so if anyone has come across anything please let me know.