Oily Bohunk

First thing's first: this is a beer blog now too. If you don't love beer, lick my coin purse. With that out of the way, I can get to typing the recipe for the Bohemian Pilsner I am brewing right now:

Oily Bohunk Bohemian Pilsner:

Grain:
9 lbs: Pilsner Malt
2 lbs: Munich I
.5 lbs: Carapils
.5lbs: Carahel

Hopz:
.75 oz Sterling -- First Wort Runnings
.75oz Sterling -- When the foam breaks (-60 minutes)
1 oz Sterling -- (-15 Minutes) (add 1 tspn Irish Moss) (I am out of Moss. We will see if it makes a difference
1 oz Sterling -- (-5 minutes)
1 oz Sterling -- (-0 minutes)
.5 oz Sterling -- (Dry Hop when transfer to secondary is made)

Pilsner Urquell Yeast

Mash 12lbs grain x 1.3 quarts = 4 gallons strike water (Strike at 160 to Mash at 145 for a nice dry pilsner).

4 gallons Sparge water @ 170 (maybe should have been 3.5 gallons now that I look at my notes).

Boil 60 minutes after foam breaks -- Hop schedule above:


Here are the songs I particularly dug while brewing this up (all via Mediafire):

Agua Ardente -- Santo Samba
I Can't Feel My Face -- Lil Wayne
Reefer Man -- Cab Calloway
Jigsaw Falling into Pieces -- Radiohead
Purple -- Shuggie Otis
We're Gonna Boogie -- Lefty Dizz
Dust Devil -- Butthole Surfers

Or you can enjoy the whole thing as a playlist! (via Mediafire)

It went down like this:

Notes:

1.20.08 -- still no fermentation activity. This worries me a tad. It is probably because I put the fermenter in a very cold spot (46 degrees). I moved it to a little warmer spot in hopes that this will wake it up. The only real fear I have is of oxidation, so if the beer tastes like a wet paper bag, we will know the reason. Keep your fingers crossed.

1.24.08 -- FERMENTATION!! Hell yay-ya. The beer finally woke up yesterday; by the time I got home from work yesterday evening, the Oily Bohunk was alive with sugar-eating activity. Apparently, I had shocked the yeast into going dormant when it was too cold (carboy was next to the back door on one of the coldest nights of the year). I will likely transfer to the secondary and dry hop next Wednesday (1.30.08)

2.1.08 -- Transfer to secondary and dry hop with .5 oz Sterling

2.8.08 -- Kegged and put in the fridge. Will be ready to go in 4-6 days. Final Gravity was 1.014. I forgot to take an original gravity reading, so this does not mean much. Maybe I will figure some way to make calculations later. I tasted the gravity sample, and it tasted pretty good for being warm and flat. The color was looking nice and gold as it came through the hose. I am afraid this beer will not last long once it is ready.

2.15.08 -- I have been drinking small amounts of this beer so not to go through it before it is at its best. Right now, seven full days getting gas, it is carbonated right, but still a bit cloudy. I will photograph it when it gets clearer -- when the residual hops and yeast are all sucked off the bottom of the keg leaving just beer. This is not an exact replica of Urquell, but it is not that far either. I bet it would be much closer were Saaz available.

2.19.08 -- Looks as clear as it will get as I remember that I ran out of moss.

2.29.08 -- Finally added the picture. I am liking this beer more and more, which probably means it is almost gone. The crispy hop character is really starting to shine. This is becoming closer and closer to what I intended.