Well, what a hit! Pali’s Slapjack Super Pale Ale turned out to be delicious. Notice the AWESOME logo created by the one and only (and single) Julie Noggle… Thanks Julie!
After another three days went by, I decided to keg the beer in my 5.5 gallon Coca-Cola Cornelius Keg.
Of course, I had to continue to keep things sterile as I wouldn’t want any little critters enjoying the sugary nectar of my hoppy brew. I used iodine to do the trick, although, my father tells me that one can no longer purchase iodine at the store due to it becoming a controlled substance. I still had some left over.
Since I was in a hurry to get the beer to a point where it was sharable, I wasted no time and immediately threw it in the refrigerator (after removing one of the shelves of course) and forced 30 psi of CO2 on the beer for a period of 3-4 days.
According to my knowledge, this is call “force-carbonation” and literally forces the CO2 into the beer. I think this is usually done by the yeast when bottled and sealed. It has always worked for me, though.
After one day of carbonation you could really get a feel for the beer, however, it wasn’t quite ready for enjoyment. I could taste hints of yeast and it’s consistency was noticeably separated. However, after about 4 days I pumped some into an old Red Hook growler and brought it up to my friend, Matt Muenchrath’s 40th birthday party where it would get it’s first tasting. Luckily, the man I owe much credit to, Eric Beechly, was there to try out my first “grain beer.” When I say grain beer I mean my first batch of beer made from grains being mashed and sparged in order to make my own wort. It’s not an “All-Grain” because I did add some extract for security, because I don’t have the proper equipment to mash enough grain for a full 5 gallon batch. Also, his wife Linnae, who helped immensely during the process got to try it as well.
Also, in the picture of me pouring the beer on the left is Steve Creicher, an old friend of mine who used to give me trumpet lessons.
So overall it was a great success. And although I don’t have pictures of it, most of the beer was shared by some random people who we met using the hot-tub at the Windsor Resort while wine tasting. With all the talk of wine and wine making came conversations about beer making. So, naturally, people wanted to try my brew which was just sitting in it’s keg in the room. You see, right after I made the batch, I moved to California with my car full of everything I own. Half way down, we stopped in Sonoma Valley to meet with my parents and my fiancee, Paige’s parents for a week. Paul and Cindy, (Paige’s folks) needed to have someone bring the wine down for them because they flew up from Huntington Beach. So, after wine tasting Paige and I drove the rest of the way to Orange County with a half a keg of beer and 5 and a half cases of wine! We had a nice drive. haha…
Currently, I still have a little left in the keg, which is sitting in Paul’s garage here in Huntington Beach. That may not last too much longer…
*This recipe was BASED on FB2′s Springfield APA from tastybrew.com
5.5 Gallon Batch Recipe (as best as I can remember):
Beer: Pali’s Slapjack Super Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
Type: Partial (Half grain, Half extract)
Size: 5.5 gallons
Color: 17 HCU (~10 SRM) 
Water: Start with 2 gallons for mash. Sparge 1 gallon. After cooling add left over amount to wart in fermenter to reach 5.5 gallons. 3 tsp. Irish Moss at end of boil.
Grain: 7 lbs Brewcraft Light Malt Extract, 1lb. Carapils, 1lb. American Vienna
Mash: Carapils and Vienna 165 degrees for 30 minutes in 2 gallons of water. Sparge by pouring 1 lb. 110 degree water over the top. Bring to boil and stir in Light Malt Extract.
Boil: 60 minutes, 3 gallons
Hops: Start and finish with 1 oz. Cascade Pellets. Add 0.5 oz. Northern Brewers Pellets every 10 minutes (2 oz. total at 50, 40, 30, and 20 minutes). Total of 2 oz. Cascade and 2 oz Northern Brewer.
Yeast: Brewcraft American Ale Live Yeast.
Ferment: 70 Degrees for 6 days. Move to secondary for 4 days. Force carbonate in cornelius keg at 30 psi for 5 days. Enjoy!
