Today is day 14 of the Bewitched Red Ale's fermentation in the Little Brown Keg. There is still a fair amount of particulate matter floating on top of the wort, as well as some floating in suspension near the top. It is clearing up slowly, but my research tells me it won't get as clear as the West Coast Pale Ale (WCPA).
This goes along with my theory that Mr. Beer ships the WCPA with the kit since it ends up resembling a popular style of beer in both color and clarity. Also, I suspect the WCPA would taste pretty good after a 7 day fermentation and 7 day conditioning period, which is one of the big selling points for Mr. Beer.
Visibly, the Bewitched Red Ale doesn't resemble the WCPA at this stage in any way. The experienced brewers have been telling me to trust my taste buds and not my eyes, so I have been taste testing it over the past couple of days. It is still a tad on the sweet side, so I am planning to give it a few more days in the keg to let the yeast gobble up as much remaining sugar as possible. I am a little impatient, though, since I am eager to try out my bottling wand and 1/2 liter bottles I bought with the kit last time.
I also decided to take off the training wheels for my next batch. I am going to start with the Mr. Beer booster kit, but I am going to upgrade the yeast and increase the malt extract. More on that in a subsequent post...
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