Isn't it a beauty? The picture does not fully convey its size, but this 3 liter Erlenmeyer flask is an impressive piece of glass. Yes, as you can see I've taken another step deeper into the homebrewing pit and have been making yeast starters for the last three batches of beer. This is to multiply the number of yeast cells in advance, in order to achieve the optimal "pitching rate" for good fermentation.
Shown in the picture is the starter for our #13 Weißbier which turned out fantastic, exactly to my taste. A light and fruity summer beer, topping our previous wheat beer, and many of the ones you can buy, if I may say so myself. Naturally, it is all gone by now.
Following up on the last brewing post, I have to correct something I wrote there. The #11 Bockbier was a disappointment after all. It had a very strong buttery taste, coming from diacetyl which in turn resuls from poor fermentation. The strong wort got far too few yeast cells, so they did not manage to clean up this unwanted byproduct. Now I know better.
Then there was a technical mishap. I had the brilliant idea to get some cool air from my beer fridge into the fermentation box beside it, to regulate the temperature better. So I drilled a large hole into the fridge wall to place a ventilation fan there. But I did not know that modern fridges' cooling lines run within the side walls as well, so I accidentally cut one off, effectively destroying the fridge. Luckily, used fridges are cheap and I have gotten another one meanwhile. Another lesson learned.
On to more joyous things; while I write these lines, I am having a glass of our #14 Stout which I think is quite a success. Subtle roast and chocolate aromas, not overdone; black as night, fittingly low carbonation, and tasting mature already two weeks after tapping to bottles.
Still in the fermentor is the #15 Dunkles, a dark lager in typical Munich style. I will bottle it this week-end and brew the next batch at the same time, #16 YAPA. The Erlenmeyer's airlock is bubbling away already.
Bonus picture: When cooking the Stout, I maxed out the 30 liter pot, filling it to the brim.
