I think karma is trying to tell me not to have a party. I made a Nut Brown last week; a kit I’ve made before. When I tasted it, it seemed overly hoppy. Did I add the aroma hops too soon? It was pre-hopped malt, so it couldn’t be from over-extracting the hops. Then I realized I added almost a gallon too much water. SO stupid. Original specific gravity: 1.035 (should have been at least 1.044 if not overdiluted).

I was going to rack it while the Red Amber brewed today, but when I checked on it, the krausen had bubbled out of the airlock and the airlock barely had any liquid as a barrier. So I will rack it tomorrow and find out if it’s contaminated.

The Red Amber was also a pre-hopped kit. I made it without overdiluting (duh) and it went into the primary with no problem. SG = 1.045, well within range for this ale. I had Carlton taste it and…

What’s the deal? I didn’t even add aroma hops until the stove was off, not even for the last three minutes of the boil (as is standard). Maybe it will mellow. Who knows. But as of now, I have two very bitter beers. I was trying to brew crowd-pleaser beers. *sigh*

Besides all of this, I can’t even drink beer right now. It’s not on the SCWOB diet (thanks, Mymsie 🙂 ), so I’m sure I won’t have Oktoberfest until I can at least enjoy the brews. Novemberfest?

If there’s anything to enjoy. GRR!