Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

well, its in the fridge now and the yeast has been pitched. didn't think the color would end up as dark as it did, but i'm not gonna complain. the only problem i had with the brew was that i had a couple too many RyePA's while i was doing it and completely forgot to take a gravity reading. can anybody give me an estimate from one of those nifty programs? the recipe is exactly the same as above but i also added an extra 1lb bag of light pilsen DME.

is there anything special i need to do when bottling? everything should be just the same as an ale, right?

Nope. If you lagered the beer for an extended period, don't be surprised if the yeast take awhile to wake up and eat the priming sugar. You may want to keep the bottles a bit warmer during conditioning to help ensure they carbonate fully.

that's exactly what i was wondering about. like maybe 3-4 days @ basement temps? (70-75 in this heat) then back into the fridge?

I wouldn't put them into the fridge until you are ready to drink them. Leave them at basement temps until they are fully carbonated. If you've already gone through the lagering phase, there shouldn't be too much more to gain by extending the cold conditioning to the bottle. You would probably extend the shelf life by getting them cold sooner, but I don't get the impression that you want these to hang out for a couple of years.

<chuckles> it'll be lucky if any of them make it to the august meeting!!