Saturday Brewday - "After" Picture

After I got through blogging, I pulled the sack of grain out and added the malt extract and 12 ounces of agave extract. Then I brought it to a boil, which took some time. I added 4 ounces of Cascade and Amarillo hops, 2 ounces of each, at different times, tossing the last ounce in right at the end. I want to keep the hops strong so that I will be able to taste them when it comes time to drink the beer. The agave will add some extra sugar, and hopefully I will get a higher alcohol yield.

After boiling, I cooled the wort with my copper coil setup which I run cold water through. It cooled pretty fast, which is important to me. I heard that cooling too slowly causes chemicals to form which can affect the flavor of the beer.When it was down below 100 degrees F, I poured the whole mixture into a carboy. It was a rich chocolate brown color, and it smelled good, like a dark wheat bread. Then, I pitched the yeast, which means I dumped it in. I shook the whole thing vigorously, corked it, and put it away in a cool place.

So, that's it. 2 weeks or so for fermenting, and it will be ready to transfer.