I have brewed three more batches of beer since my brewing Hank’s Hefeweisen and hopefully got a little smarter. In keeping with the summer temperatures the first brew was California Steam, the second was Autumn Amber Ale, and the final one was a request for Pumpkin Ale.

Lessons Learned

1. Don’t worry too much about the mistakes! The first lesson I learned is that it is hard to screw up beer. I didn’t take any specific gravities on my first batch and it turned out fine. Even when I screwed up my second batch by not putting enough water in to reach the 5 gallon mark, it came out fine, too.
2. Make sure you get to the 5 gallon mark or you will not hit your starting specific gravity. On my second batch I started measuring specific gravity and I thought I was measuring it wrong until I bottled the 45 bottles rather than 50. I realized that my problem could be solved by turning on the lights and paying close attention to the liquid level. It is a little extra work but I put my batch on a table so I can get a eye level view of the liquid. For my last three batches I hit the starting gravity every time.
3. Do not skip the secondary fermentation with the California Steam. I went out of town the weekend I should of been transferring the beer from the primary to the secondary fermenter so I went directly to bottles after two weeks in the primary fermenter. The California Steam turned out very nice but it has a little sediment on the bottom of bottle.
4. I buy my two beers at a time to save shipping costs. The shipping costs for one and two beers is about the same.

This is my homebrew version of Hank’s Hefeweisen. Like the Red Irish Ale it is an easy beer to drink. Unlike previous Hefeweisens I have drunk it has a darker color. It also had a more robust head than the Red Irish Ale. Since we are without power tonight I am left to comment on the finer points of beer.