Don’t ask about batch one because I don’t want to talk about it. Pouring that much would-have-been beer into a drain feels like an almost unforgivable party foul. Batch 2, a hoppy porter based on extract and mixed crystal malts, went well except that the boiling wort needed more attention than expected. The homemade wort chiller worked well.
Waiting 24 hours for the airlock to start bubbling was agony. Starter cultures for me and to hell with kit directions. It’s not like I respect recipes-as-written for any other type of food.
One question for the community: I bought a 2-gal. fermenter to try making beer with genetics research yeast, so now I’m searching for beer recipes that go well with (or cover up) suboptimal yeast strains. Finnish sahti comes to mind, although I’m not sure that many will appreciate a sour juniper-tinged rye beer that tastes like bread yeast. Or will they? Discuss.
***Update***
As per the comments, feel free to submit names for my first successful batch made with genetics yeast. The winning entry will go on the label.