Happy Festival of the Reformation! 504 years ago, Martin Luther (NOT MLK) tirelessly worked at the risk of his life to bring the church back to the inerrant Word of God as found in Holy Scripture. Today Lutherans thank God for His direction and blessing in working through men such as Luther so that we today know that we are saved by faith alone in Christ. The Lutheran Reformation grew from the conviction that the Bible alone (sola scriptura) is the final authority in faith and practice. The “three solas” identified with the Reformation are sola scriptura, sola gratia and sola fide, that is, scripture alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. Thanks be to God.
This is a continuation of the last post. The Belgian Quad needs some time for maturation – about 4 months minimum. In the meantime, there needs to be something to fill the empty space in Mark’s mostly empty beer fridge. After a little thought, a stout was chosen with the hopes that it be ready for the Thanksgiving holiday.
This was a solo brew done this past Friday because Mark decided to spend his time basking in sunny California with his wife. (Enjoying In And Out Burger – and most likely a few so-cal brews.) Yes, a Friday. The last Thursday and Friday of October are annually slated for state teachers’ convention time. Having been in the teaching profession for as long as I have has taught me a few things: 1) Most ideas are recycled. Usually they come back to the tried and true. Changing things for the sake of change is not necessarily innovation. As it is said, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” I don’t need a conference to be reminded of this. 2) I can use the time more productively at home taking care of the final outside Fall things that need to be done: like cleaning the rain gutters, covering the AC unit (BTW – if your cover your outside AC unit for the winter, place a couple of drier sheets inside the unit where the electronics are located to keep mice from nesting in there. They like to set up shop in there and chew on the wires. I know from experience. Apparently, the wires taste like licorice to the mice – I guess.) The rain barrel needs to be emptied, the grass cut, the garage door lubed, etc. And beer NEEDS to be brewed. So yes, a brew session took place this last Friday since I took care of the other things on Thursday.
After a bit of deliberation, Mark decided that he would go with the stout as it ties in with the Fall / Winter season and is a change from the IPA scene. Once again, I went with the Northern Brewer version. Why try to reinvent the wheel? The stout was a partial mash brew meaning that there are some grains that need to be steeped or mashed at 152° F while the rest of the additions are LME and DME extracts.
The no chill method was used. This is now standard procedure here at the brewery. The method works well and there have been no negative experiences after employing the method multiple times. The cooled wort was transferred to the fermentor Saturday AM before work and the yeast starter added. Fermentation was going strong Saturday evening. Two weeks in the conical and then to the keg it goes for a little conditioning and carbonation. It might make the Thanksgiving timeline.
This is a lighter version of the Fieldpointe Oatmeal Stout. (I think there is a previous post on the Fieldpointe Brewery version.)
The anticipated OG is 1.049 and the IBU and ABV are classified as low. This should work well for sharing with visiting family while playing multiple rounds of Terraforming Mars all hours of the night.
Grains
- 2.5 lb – Maris Otter
- 0.5 lb – Black Malt
- 0.5 lb – English Dark Crystal
- 0.5 lb – Flaked Oats
Additional Fermentables
- 3.15 lb – Dark Liquid Malt Extract (LME): 60 minutes
- 1 lb – Dark Dry Malt Extract (DME): 60 minutes
Hops
- 2 oz – US Fuggle: 60 minutes
Yeast
- Safale S-04 Ale: Starter
Happy Festival of the Reformation! Time to watch the Luther movie on DVD.
