Erik the Red

Our homebrew was having a style competition for style 9D - Irish Red Ale.  I wanted to participate, and I had a homebrew friend who wanted to learn more about all grain brewing, so I invited him over and we brewed this guy up.  He, Ed, came up with the great name and he did the label artwork.  Good times, and a great beer.

BATCH #43:
12# Maris Otter
6 oz Crystal 40
3 oz Crystal 90
3 oz Special B
6 oz Roasted barley
1.25 oz EKG (60)
Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale

2/11/12 - BREWDAY:
Did a single infusion @ 153F for 60 minutes
Halfway through our boil, we noticed that it was a very weak boil so we shut it off and quickly moved it into the garage and continued.  The boil picked up so we let it go for about 15-20 minutes longer.
Fermenting at 66F, short diacetyl rest, and then I'll be kegging it.

3/19/12 - BOTTLING:
Bottled this guy today with Ed using my beer gun, and his real beer gun.

3/22/12 - SAMPLING:
Had 1 bottled in the fridge, poured crystal clear into a glass, yumm, delicious.
It's a little dark for the style, and the roast comes through probably a little more than it should, but still a fantastic beer.  Never really appreciated this style before.  Thanks to Brett for picking it!

4/2/12 - STYLE COMPEITION:
Out of 22 entries, we placed 3rd.  Not bad.

5/1/12 - NHC FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
These amuse me.  I think I should have shipped to Pittsburgh instead.

5/5/12 - VT HOMEBREW COMPETITION WINNER:
To my disbelief, we won the Scottish and Irish Ales category at the homebrew comp.  Scoring a 38.