Despite a 2.5 hour long sparging debacle (our first attempt at a mashout), we ended the night at about 10pm. Thanks to Melvin. Melvin, avid homebrewer and self-proclaimed super genius, was kind enough to let us demo his chilling system as we think about upgrading our current setup. Blah blah blah, submersion pump in ice water, blah blah blah, recirculating wort over immersion chiller, blah blah blah. Let’s skip to the good stuff. From boiling wort to 70 degrees in 12 minutes.

That. Just. Happened. In case you’re interested in the details, the setup is essentially this. Thanks again to Melvin for the link.

We brewed an original India Brown Ale recipe (not a clone like some other brewers we know and do not respect). This was a first for us, so we’re excited to see how it turns out. Heavy on the hops and medium-bodied. (Don’t tell Jeff, but even though the recipe called for .15 lbs of Chocolate Malt, I added .18 lbs).

In other, perhaps more important news, Joel revealed his true colors last night after Andrew brought him one of his favorite adult beverages, Bacardi Silver Mojito. Witness the presentation ceremony. Note: No Bacardi Silver Mojitos were harmed in the making of this blog post.

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