I Don't Care What John Palmer Does

Well, most of the time anyway.

A few months ago, August or September, I read that John Palmer and Jamil Zainashef do not transfer their beers to secondary. The risk of oxidation, they say, is too great. And they say they don't have a problem with clear beer.

So I stopped racking to secondary. Here's the problem I keep having:

I have been drinking on this keg for a week. Except for the first few glasses, the beers were relatively clear. I increased the CO2 by 2 pounds to carbonated a stout off the same tank. And I poured the above beer. Full of floaties. I'm going to have to wait a couple more days for this thing to settle down again.

You would think that after six or seven glasses like this, there wouldn't be any more floaties. You would be wrong.

So from now on, I'm racking to secondary.

Scottish Surprise Scottish Ale - R. I. P.

I took one last sample of Scottish Surprise Scotch Ale and dumped the keg.

I'll try it again. But it will be next year.

Conical Woes

Satan sent me an email about our conical woes: ". . .read below….does that sound familiar?
"Acetobacter: Oxidizes ethyl alcohol to acetic acid, creating vinegar. Aerobic or micro-aerobic-must have some air. Tolerant of hop resins and low pH. Forms tough pellicle. Most common in lightly carbonated draft beers.
"Causes acidity, turbidity, ropiness. Forms a greasy looking pellicle on the surface of infected beer. Easily prevented by excluding air-keep carboys full, or flush with CO2!
"Too much head space perhaps?"

Vanilla Porter R. I. P.

My first mistake was buying a stainless steel conical. Second mistake: Making a sour beer in it. Third mistake: Fermenting a porter in the conical. Fourth mistake: Keeping the sour porter to "see what would happen."

I made a Vanilla Porter, and when I kegged,I put the vanilla into the keg. I should have known, or at least anticipated, that whatever bugs soured the porter would consume the vanilla.

This stuff smells of rubbing alcohol. Very Astringent smell. The beer is cloudy, or muddy as Satan called it, and tastes sour. Not a bad taste, but I'm not sure I want to drink more of this.

I may have to get a real beer to cry into.

A quote leaps to mind: "I could have mixed it with chocolate and vagina and it still wouldn't have helped." -- Justin Crossley, the Brewcaster.

Scottish Surprise Scottish Ale - Kegging notes

I sampled this the other day, and found it had no aroma and no flavor.

I kegged it tonight. My OG was 1.030. My FG was 1.008. I poured up a cup of the beer to measure, and noticed it was pretty clear. It smelled of yeast, mainly because I shook it up when I moved it into the kitchen to keg. There is a hint of maltiness and some hops, but it is surprisingly tasteless.

When I opened the conical to clean it, I discovered white flakes that looked wax- or plastic-like had adhered to the sides. Anyone have a clue?