Beer #2, Irish Stout

My second beer was an Irish Stout. It was a hybrid kit from Phantom Brewing in Hartford Connecticut. I know that home brewing as a hobby greatly increased during the Covid pandemic. Craft breweries and beer brewing supply stores opened up all over the place. However; as the guidance from the CDC changed in mid 2021, and businesses started to open, the popularity of this hobby began to wain. I saw the effect of that when I visited Phantom Brewing for the first time in November of 2022. They are a craft brewery and beer making supply house. I was the only customer in the store when I went on a late Friday afternoon... and while I was like a kid in a candy shop, I felt a bit sad for a business that seemed to be on the decline.

The kit consisted of some roasted barley, some chocolate malt, and some dark malt extract in powder form. When this was all boiling it smelt smokey and chocolatey with hints of dark coffee. The Hops were East Kent Golding... a total of 3 ounces. During the one hour boil, hops were added as follows: 1 ounce at 60 minutes, 1 ounce at 30 minutes and one ounce at 10 minutes. The yeast was Fermentis SafAle English Ale S-04. Following are my brewers notes:

11/05/2022, Brew Day

Had to purchase a grain bag for this one for the malted barley. This process worked fine. It was no messier than my first beer. After the boil, I was able to quickly cool my wort by submerging my 8 gallon mash pot into a larger lobster pot, with a hose running in between the two pots. This water movement pulled heat out of the mash pot, and I had the wort down to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in about 1/2 hour. Transferred everything to the fermenting barrel and pitched my yeast. This was a dry yeast that I had to mix with warm water first, to make a yeast starter. Starting gravity was 1.066. The fermenter was then put in a dark closet at room temperature of about 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

11/18/2022, Bottling Day

Fermentation complete, ending gravity was 1.017, for an ABV of 6.43. I set up a bottling bucket and added some Northern Brewer Sugar Primer, and then xsfrd in the fermented beer. I then bottled 17 liters in swing top brown bottles, put all bottles in boxes/cases, and let condition for two weeks at room temperature.

12/02/2022, Tasting

This is a fantastic beer. The smell was chocolatey and smokey with notes of coffee and caramel. The texture was velvety, even though I carbonated in the bottle (versus using forced carbonation with C02 or Nitrous). This beer was a huge hit. The beer was ready around the same time I was hosting a chili cook-off at my home, and I think 9 liters were gone by the end of that party. Within a week or two, all of this beer was gone. Note: Within 5-6 weeks after bottling, this beer started to go flat in the bottle... probably because the swing top caps aren't 100% airtight.