One week on from original brew date. The brew has been bubbling away energetically all week but it seems that fermentation has died down to almost nothing now. We've been moving the fermenter about to keep it in warm spots (such as the lounge, for afternoon sun). I'm thinking we will need to find a better way than this. A quick browse on Trademe shows that fermenter heating pads can be had for a very reasonable price, so we may have to explore that option before long.
Here we have our first ever deviation from simply following the instructions that came with the kit. Lynne has been talking this week with one of her workmates about the subject of dry-hopping. Dry-hopping is when extra hops, usually of a different but complementary variety to those used in the original brew are added to the Wort after the primary ferment is completed. This can be done in several ways, putting the hops into bags (kind of like teabags) or just sprinkling them straight into the fermenter. The point of this is to enhance or add complexity to the flavour of the final product. This will extend the process a bit as the wort will need to be left an extra week (or maybe even two) in the fermenter before bottling, to allow the extra hops to infuse the mixture.
Being as how she is a foodie Lynne decided that extra complexity of flavour sounded like a thing she wanted so she did a bit of online research and compiled a list of hops that would compliment a Pilsener if added to the mix. Then we paid a quick visit to our local brew shop and purchased a packet of one of the items on the list. The available hops with a bit thin of choice as they had had a bit of a run on them over the long weekend. Clearly dry-hopping is more popular and common than I had supposed.
Dry Hopped with 50g pf Kohatu Hop pellets - simply opened the barrel and sprinkled the hops on top.
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