Brew #2 In The Little Brown Keg

Today was brewing day #2!  I received my Bewitched Red Ale booster kit from Mr. Beer yesterday.  I decided to keep it simple and use the kit as shipped.  Before venturing into uncharted territory with different yeasts, extracts, etc., I'd like to visit my local home brew shop and get some pointers.  I now have a couple of weeks to wait, so I'll have some time to take a field trip.

After running by the store for a couple of things, I mixed up my new batch of beer and popped it in the fermenter.  The couple of things I picked up were from my lessons learned in batch #1, both for a grand total of $6.

First, I bought a small whisk for use in mixing the booster and water that gave me so much trouble last time.  Boy, what a difference.  It still takes a while (NOTHING about this hobby is fast), but the clumps break up more easily which allowed me to increase the frequency at which I could add the sugar.  I also chose a whisk that would fit into the keg during the sanitizing step.

Second, I bought a small, all metal can opener.  The only hand-driven can opener we had prior had plastic handles, and the instructions emphasize the use of metal utensils.  It also fits nicely into the keg for sanitizing.

In addition, I put my 4 cup measure into use in lieu of the baking dish.  This worked out perfectly.  I put all my utensils into the keg with the recommended amount of water for 10 minutes.  I then drained the solution through the spigot until the cup was almost full, but the utensils were still covered in solution.  I let that sit for another 10 minutes.

After cleaning everything and draining the solution, I was off and running again.  I poured cold water into the keg, mixed the corn sugar and water in a pot to make syrup, brought it to a boil, stirred the hopped malt extract into the hot syrup, poured that into the keg, added more cold water, and added the yeast.

In the can, the extract smelled like dates or prunes, but after mixing in and activating the yeast, it had a pleasant squash or pumpkin aroma.  Quite unlike batch #1, which smelled like bread from day 1.  Also, batch #2 was much richer and darker in color.  The batch #2 extract also had much more particulate matter in the can.

The pantry is looking good!!  The Bewitched Red Ale should be ready to bottle in two weeks, and the bottled batch of West Coast Pale Ale will be ready to drink a few days later.  Batch #2 will go into the smaller, 1/2 liter bottles like the one with the black cap below.