An ominous start to making this batch of Hilo Red-I broke the hydrometer and could not find our backup airlock. Not to fear, Michael o'neilled (o'neilled-synonym of macgivered-to fabricate out of materials at hand) a custom airlock seen here. It works perfectly and has a soothing ringing effect as the glass jar beneath the can tings against it during the fermentation process. Oh the smell of highly hopped wort . . .

Concerned about the island stout. Fermentation took 30 hours to commence and stopped after 36 hours. Will transfer to secondary fermentor this weekend and cross our fingers.

priming our stout

I've read some blogs about using corn sugar vs. DME in priming before bottling. The most authoritative and convincing items I've read describe how corn sugar is 100 per cent fermentable, and the DME is not, which will change flavors and perhaps leave a kreusen in the bottling. Still, more and more recipes are using DME for priming, and I'm seeing more and more brewers announcing that they will move that direction. The say that DME give better beer texture, head, mouthfeel, or "smaller bubbles." In the interest of island adventure (yet lacking the guts to go on a Kauai boar hunt), I would propose a stout priming of 2/3 or 3/4 DME and 1/3 to 1/4 Alameda honey. I think the honey might go well with the stout, still remaining fully fermentable, and the DME will provide the vaunted mouth feel and good head. (One should never discount the value of good head.)

Proposed label for new red ale

This is shows red ginger ('awapuhi 'ula'ula) superimposed over a stylized image of Rainbow Falls in Hilo. Here's hoping the beer merits the label.

Batch 4

Highly hopped red or amber ale. Hygrometer out of action; will wishful thinking substitute? We discover that we are men of faith. Speaking of faith, we need to post a photo of our new airlock.
This photo actually shows our version of a mash tun--Anyone ever try using a slow cooker to maintain the proper temp ranges for the mash?

Batch #3 brewed 12/15

Big Island Stout: 'twas a thick, dark brew, even after dilution with 3+ gallons of water. Jim did a great job of maintaining the temp for the mash phase. The new wort cooler (insertion design, 1/2 inch copper tubing) seemed to have good cooling effectiveness, dropping 20 degrees in 15 minutes on slow trickle. I failed to properly prep the yeast, adding it only a few minutes after breaking the inner bag in the yeast container. Is it bubbling yet? Stay tuned for Jim's update