I fell way behind with blog updates, so I’m really only going to attempt the highlights (she said, and then proceeded to cover everything…).

I settled on Safale K-97, which can tolerate and ferment well at around 22 C.
Maybe I should’ve picked Kveik yeast, which can tolerate much higher temps, and I don’t know why I didn’t (maybe I didn’t see it on the online store at the time).
– Katie, who claims to love beer

After that, I bought Lalbrew Voss Kveik Ale Yeast. Then, I searched for recipes for beers (that I wouldn’t hate).

“Golden Froth”

So, I did a recipe search on Brewer’s Friend and filtered the list by lower IBU (of course).

Out of the many styles that came up, it certainly caught my attention to see a Belgian Golden Strong Ale listed.

Once I finished laughing at the name Golden Froth, I decided to go with it, because it seemed to check all the boxes for me.

And, I felt good about returning to an all-grain brew for this one.

I didn’t exactly see “Belgian – Pilsner” at the homebrew shop, so I went with “Pilsner Malt – Weyermann”.

Also, not exactly “Briess – Bonlander Munich Malt”, I got “Munich Type 1 (Light) – Weyermann”.

If anyone can tell me what the fucking difference is (beyond branding), let me know in the comments!

Brewday

I brewed on July 1.

The recipe called for “rice hulls”, and after understanding their purpose, I did my best to try to mix them into the grains (bit of a pain in the ass).

While I’d remembered to add the milling fee (so the shop would mill the grains), I did not order grain bags, and I couldn’t find those vinyl mesh bags I had…

… So, I improvised with stockings I no longer use.

The final result was nothing short of horrifying / hilarious.

I texted the photos to J saying, “Boy, Morty, I really Cronenberged this up, didn’t I …”

After the mash, I used this fantastic tip from this YouTube video:

Find some kind of rack or grate, and just set the bag on there to drip.

It’s no longer arm day!

I was sent the wrong Hops

It happens though.

I didn’t realize it until I was already into my brewday, when I actually looked at the hop packages and realized they were totally wrong, lol.

I ordered (as per the recipe) East Kent Goldings. I got El Dorado. Not even close (in flavor profile or Alpha Acids).

To their credit, SFBC gave me great advice very quickly, considering I was mid-brew.

Our solution was to only add 1/2 of one package at the end of the boil. Nobody wants a hoppy Belgian.

The other (planned) late addition was the Belgian candi sugar.

I was not looking for the mythical city of gold

YEAST

As mentioned, I finally got some Kveik.

It was a packet of dry yeast, so I decided I had to at least rehydrate it (I had not planned ahead enough to do the whole “starter” thing).

Cooling and Pitching

Meanwhile, it was nice to not have to get the temp so low. I planned to target 86 to 95 F before pouring into the pail.

Well, I was too efficient at the cooling, so it was 83 F when I poured the beer into the pail (the yeast mixture was 89 F).

I took the gravity and pitched the yeast.

Once the foam went down, it looked like an OG of 1.064

Fermentation

I happily left the fermenting pail in my kitchen, which averages 80 F.

Kveik is supposed to ferment (and achieve attenuation) in record time at high temperatures; however, just because your beer is done fermenting in 72 hours doesn’t mean it’s done.

It should sit with the yeast until the flavor is right. And, of course, you get the consistent FG reading over 2 days.

Day (# days)	Gravity	Tasting Notes and Potential ABV
July 5 (4 days)	1.008	Tastes malty on backend with alcoholic burn (ew) Potential ABV: 7.35%
July 7 (6 days)	1.006	Still tastes like unfinished work Potential ABV: 7.61%
July 8 (7 days)	1.006	Tastes done ABV: 7.61%

I didn’t bottle until July 10, so fermentation took 9 days. Still quicker than a traditional fermentation.

The recipe’s target FG was 1.009, but mine was 1.006. Oh well…?

BOTTLING

After my previous bottling debacles, I fucking splurged on a $4 bottling wand.

To sum it up… it was better than not having one, but sometimes the pin in the valve wouldn’t reseat properly, and I’d get overflow and beer everywhere, even though I’d lifted the wand (which is supposed to stop the flow).

So what’s more annoying? I guess I’ll keep trying to get the hang of the wand (and cautiously and constantly make sure it’s seating properly).

I was trying really hard to not get yeast into my bottles this time, so my yield was quite small.

Saving the Yeast

I really want to become a Yeast Rancher.

That is now my dream.

So, I stirred up the “trub” and poured it into some sanitized jars. After refrigeration, you can clearly see the separation of beer from the glorious yeast.

Quick stats

OG – 1.064 (recipe target was 1.058)
FG – 1.006 (recipe target was 1.009)
ABV – 7.61%
Actual Fermentation Temp – 80 F (probably)
Actual yield – 7.14 L (the smallest yet)
Approx cost per pint – $2.33

Name: “If the Golden Shoe Fits…”

I mentioned that the name of this Belgian Golden Ale recipe I followed was “Golden Froth“…

Of course, this conjures up a lot of gross imagery.

I kinda crowd-sourced a new name, and came up with this name. Here’s the justification from my Untappd entry:

This beer was made and fermented in record time thanks to Kveik… During the world cup (which I know little about). The “European Golden Shoe”, I’m told, is an award for the leading goalscorer in league matches.
This is a fast and hard-playing beer. So, if the golden shoe fits… wear it
Katie Loves.Beer

Katie Loves Beer

Homebrew #4: Belgian Golden Ale with Kveik