Labor Day Cream Ale

Finally finished. I began at about 11:30 this morning and the whole process took about 5 hours. Brewing in a new house presented its own set of advantages and complications but I think I'll have it down for the next brew session.

I mashed in with about 5 1/2 gallons of water and the sach rest went perfect temperature wise. 148F the whole way. I didn't have the same lautering problems I did the last time I used flaked grain. All the same, I think next time I'll put a handful of rice hulls in the mash just to be safe. My efficiency was awful. With 14 pounds of grain my initial gravity reading was 1.051. It should have more like 1.061. I'll have to figure out how to increase the yield when mashing on my system.

After the boil I had an OG of 1.059 so we should be looking at about 6-7% ABV. The yeast smelled a little fruity when I was rehydrating it. That's weird. As soon as the primary is done I'm going to rack it to a secondary and then put an RIS on the yeast cake. Should be fun.