I'm an old BC member who's been on a brewing hiatus for about 3 years now. My name is Mike, and I used to be a homebrewer
I had have 2 kids - a 4yr old girl and a 2yr old son. It's one of reason's my homebrewing took a back seat. I still see a few of guys here on FB so it's not like I'm a complete ghost - just on the BC board.Anyhow, if anyone remembers... one of the last couple of brews I did was a Flanders red. Since then I got a new computer and haven't put Promash on it so I can't check my brew notes but I *FINALLY* kegged 10 gallons today. Better bottles were used for both. Batch 1 used a wooden dowel pushed through a modified carboy lid using an S shaped airlock (I will only use these from now on). Batch #2 was fermented normally with a 3p airlock (it was dried out... who knows for how long).
I forgot to check gravity so I'm assuming full attenuation. Yes, I tasted both. I have to admit - I was a little scared. The wooden dowel batch definitely tasted better... it was sour but not over the top balsamic vinegar sour. It was actually pretty good. If I had a young beer to blend with - I can see it being pretty awesome. The normal batch I think picked up a little something... the aroma was a little off. The taste was good but there was something on the back I was picking up. Diacetyl?
I also had autosiphon headaches when racking to kegs. The fit on the middle peice I was was not good as about 3/4 of the way finished it starting sucking a LOT of air. Instead of quitting, I tried getting the siphon going again but I'm pretty sure it got a good addition of air. Fortunately it's a flanders so hopefully it won't be a biggy. Had the problem with both batches
I tossed out the autosiphon afterwards.Anyways, I'm hoping to make an upcoming meeting sometime soon... meet up with old faces and say hi to new ones.
/ramble off
