Brew #23: Honey Amber Ale, May 31, 2015

Here's another kit I bought from Midwest Supplies, which I brewed to the recipe.  I bought this in January or February before I started brewing all grain and it sat in my basement until I had the desire/opportunity to brew it.  This was a bit of a spur-of-the moment, "what am I going to do this weekend" brew.  Because I had the equipment for it now, I brewed this one with a full boil.

Recipe
Batch Size: 5 gal
Boil Size: 5.5 gal
Target OG: 1.054-1.058
Target FG: 1.010-1.016
Style: Amber Ale
Recipe Type: Extract with specialty grains
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Water:
Charcoal filtered York water

Specialty Grains:
8 oz Caramel 80L
2 oz Roasted Barley
2 oz Belgian Special B

Fermentables:
6 lb Gold LME @ 60 min.
2 lb Minnesota clover honey @ 10 min

Hops:
1/2 oz Galena (pellets) @  60 min.
1 oz Fuggles (pellets) @ 2 min.

Other:
1 Whrilfloc Tab @ 15 min.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Brewing Notes
5/30/15 - Yeast Starter:
I made a 2 L starter for this one.  I wanted to give this one a little kick start because the yeast was near expiration date. As usual, 8c water, 8oz extra light DME, 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient, boiled 10 minutes and chilled.

5/31/15 - Brew Day:

• Sanitized (star san) my cold side equipment in the big mouth bubbler primary.
• Heated 5.5 gal water to 155 F in 8 gallon stainless kettle on my outdoor propane burner.
• Steeped specialty grains at 155F in muslin bag for 20 minutes.
• Removed the grain bag and held it above the kettle to drain.
• Brought to boil
• Shut off burner.
• Added all of the LME
• Returned to boil, set timer for 60 minutes and added:
  1/2 oz Galena (pellets) @  60 min.
  1 Whrilfloc Tab @ 15 min.
  2 lb Minnesota clover honey @ 10 min
  1 oz Fuggles (pellets) @ 2 min.
• Brought kettle inside and chilled with wort chiller to 74 F
• Transferred to BMB, then topped off with 1/2 gallon room temperature water to get to 5 Gallons
• Took an OG reading of 1.060, corrected to 1.062.
• Pitched entire yeast starter
• Put the BMB in the beer corner of the dining room with a blow off tube.

5/31/15 - 6/9/15 - Primary Fermentation:
Gravity was 1.008 when I racked to the glass carboy on 6/9.

6/9 - 6/27/15 - Secondary Fermentation

6/27/15 - Bottling:
Bottled with 5oz of clover honey (0.42 cups) boiled in 2 c water to prime.  Gravity was 1.008 (7.1% abv).

??? - First Taste:
Dry and a little Meady.  This one was popular too.