BeerBorg

the lid to my ale pail is all distorted bulging up but no pressure on it.(I pushed in w/one finger just to se if it was under pressure) Guess I'm going to have to buy a new lid

If it's bulged like that, it may not be sealed against the pail anymore. When you push on it with your finger, it may be relieving pressure from under the lid instead of through the airlock or blowoff. Double check your lid to make sure it's securely seated all the way around.

it seems to be down and if I apply a little pressure bubbles come out the airlock. while not proof positive it's a good sign.(I think)

Last night I checked the gravity before cold crashing. On schedule to bottle this Friday evening. The FG was 1.013, quite a bit lower than the projected 1.018. I'm not really sure why it ended up that low, but I wish it wouldn't have. The flavor was not as malty sweet as I would have wanted it. The flavor was good though, I think I was getting quite a bit of the ginger in it, but am not positive though. There was definitely something there that I could not positively identify, and I think it was the ginger. The spices did seem decently balanced with the malt, but again, it could have been more malty. The color was awesome, really clear brownish red. And the aroma was nice and spicy too. Although it's hard to pinpoint it before it's carbed and conditioned, it should turn out to be good.

mine finished @ .014. can't say I'm really surprised, what with all that activity. first time I had to rig a blow off tube. I think the malt will stage a come back in by the time this conditions out. the smell was great when I opened the bucket. yeah that ginger is coming thru, wasn't sure if it was just me till now.

I hope your right about the malt coming back after conditioning, I was really hoping for more malt than we got. I'm also happy to hear you are getting a lot of ginger too. I wasn't sure if that's what it was and was a little worried that it was a weird off flavor. I'll bottle it tonight and put it away until mid December.

Just finished bottling this one. And I have to be honest, I'm not sure about this one. It's got a weird something going on. The aroma is fine. But it has something of an aftertaste. I'm not sure what it is. And what scares me is when I opened the bucket to transfer to the bottling bucket there was a slight film that seemed to be starting. And that film wasn't there a few days ago when I took the gravity reading. I didn't have my phone handy to take a picture, but I'm not sure if it would have shown up either, as it was that slight. But I seem to remember that the spiced winter ale I did last year had a little film on the top too, so maybe it's the spices.

We'll have to wait and see. This one will definitely condition at least 8 weeks before opening.

EDIT...as I look back on the recipe, maybe the 2 combined pounds of melanoidin, biscuit, and honey malt (along with the spices) may be contributing to it. All three of those malts can be tricky to use in the right amounts.

I noticed a slight film also, but as it smelled ok and didn't taste horrible; I took the rdwhahb approach. You've got me beat I've never made a spiced beer but, I think the after taste will mellow. I thought it was from the spices, might be the allspice. It was the one that should've been only 1/16th tsp. and we was going to eyeball...our eyeballs may need recalibrating.

Sounds like your seeing and smelling things very similar to me. That is comforting. And I have to keep telling myself that it's early, and this will need quite a bit of time to condition. Thanks for the reasurrance Jim.

IMO tasting a sample of something @ bottling, that you've never brewed before, conveys no meaningful information. Just serves to promote worry. We're going to have to brew this ale 3 or 4 times before tasting the sample actually means anything. Again, just my opinion.

Your absolutely right about that Jim...with nothing to compare the taste to, it is hard form a meaningful opinion on it. It's just my OCD coming through.

Comments and a pic are in the First Pour thread!!