There Was A Glitch In The System!!!

02/26/14

At the beginning of this project each of us were advised to be prepared to reproduce our final product several times due to the likelihood of errors. I cringed at the thought of this because reproducing beer is expensive. The ingredients to brew a batch of beer costs around $40. Disregarding the fact that I had to purchase all of the supplies needed in addition to the ingredients, three or four reproductions of a batch of beer is more than I am willing to spend at this point. Nevertheless, I was determined that I could do this right within two attempts. I figured there would be at least a few minor errors in the first attempt and that I would need to conduct another try at it before the final product was usable.

It turns out that I was right after all. I followed the instructions on brew day to the letter. It felt flawless. However, upon reviewing my process after the wort had been poured into the fermenter and the yeast was already busy converting the sugars into alcohol, I came to a revelation that made me feel like an idiot. I forgot a notorious and vital ingredient: HOPS!!! 

The recipe called for hop-flavored malt extract. I remember buying non-hop flavored malt extract with the intention to just substitute real hops instead. However, in all of the excitement and new information, somewhere along the way I neglected to buy the hops and since the recipe never called for hops (due to the malt extract supposedly being flavored with them) I never thought twice about it, until now. 

I decided that instead of dumping out the batch of beer that I had recently become so emotionally attached to, I would instead purchase another set of ingredients along with another carboy for the second batch to ferment in. In some respects this error was a bittersweet occurrence. For one, it will allow me to brew another batch of beer, making me more experienced as well as producing 5 more gallons of potential brew to drink!! Also, I will be able to compare the two and although they will be different beers, I can have some sort of an idea of how much of a difference hops make in a beer's taste. 

In conclusion, I plan to visit the local home brewing supply shop in Morrisville tomorrow so that I can buy the correct ingredients to brew another batch of beer. Hopefully this time I will not forget anything. I am thinking that I will try the prepackaged beer making ingredient kits instead of buying everything individually. These kits are much more convenient and come in several different styles. It is similar to the way that boxed cake mixes are sold. The ingredients are packaged and organized so that all the consumer needs to do is decide what type of beer they want to make.

I will update my blog tomorrow with the outcome of brew day #2