We spent the evening touching up the CO2 pressure on the kegs. The oh-god-so-much-foam pours were surprisingly enjoyable and gave a completely different profile to the beer. The adjustments made in the final batch took well and we found that the beer leaves an amazing aftertaste for a good 15 minutes. Also of note, carbonated kegs, much like babies and polaroids, should not be shaken.

A couple of retroactive posts on the brewing, fermenting, and kegging.

Brewing: No matter which way you cut it, bringing 40 gallons to a boil and back down takes a while. 8 hour day start to finish. Chris took the lead on sanitation and transit, Justin quality control and prep, Jamie managed the boils, Praise focused on support and wort chilling, and I tried to make sure everyone had what they needed. Brewing under a fume hood was a nice change of pace for us, by the end of the day there was a good 20+ degree difference in the ‘cloud’ of air above the lip of the hood and the air below! The excitement for the day came when we stumbled upon the fact that dried malt extract can act as a fuel-air explosive. Jamie’s eyebrows, arm hair, and curl were not permanently damaged in the advancement of science. All things considered, things went off smoothly at our first major boil.

Fermentation: The beer developed a considerable krausen overnight, overwhelming a couple of the blow-off tubes. The first time I went to the basement the symphony of blow-off tubes and and airlocks kept me entranced for a good 10 minutes before I started to get work done. It took about 3 days for the carboys to stop spitting foam, and about 5 more days for the primary to really slow down. The best part had to be the vague smell of Thin Mints that the basement took during fermentation.

Kegging: Jamie and Justin started the day at the hardware store rigging up some Y’s to speed up carbonation. The next few hours were a methodical mix of sanitizing, racking, and pressurizing. I finally got the call that kegging had started halfway through the Steelers game, arriving just in time to scrub carboys. Justin and I decided to bottle the leftovers while Jamie volunteered to brave the elements and start shaking kegs. Another 8 hour day (for those in the know) and we were ready for the brüfest.

Disclaimer: We in no way advocate the use of dried malt extract as an explosive.