The transfer to a secondary fermenter was very simple.  I moved the first fermenter to the area and then let it settle a few hours before transferring to the secondary.  It is nice to move it away from the sediment and such.  It is still somewhat cloudy and does have some debris floating still, perhaps I will use a clarifier.  I am thinking of potential ways to strain debris before bottling.  So the OG was 1.057 and the FG is 1.012 putting it about 5.9%, I am very excited to try this one.

On a side note, the first batch I brewed is delicious.  I am glad I sampled along the way but I am equally as glad that I have so much now that it has more fully developed.  I don't think I will bother tasting any other batches before 2 or 3 weeks in the bottle.

"He was a wise man who invented beer". Plato

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” 
― Benjamin Franklin

And so the first batch mellows nicely and while it is not as clear as I would like it is delicious.  Perhaps not my favorite but still very tasty.  I am looking forward to the next batch and fighting urges to sample to soon.

And then just some quotes to ponder while we drink:

“You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but in the very least you need a beer.”

― Frank Zappa

“Beer is made by men, wine by God.”

― Martin Luther

“The best beer is where priests go to drink. For a quart of Ale is a dish for a king.”

— William Shakespeare

“Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!”

― Martin Luther

“Only a pint at breakfast-time, and a pint and a half at eleven o’clock, and a quart or so at dinner. And then no more till the afternoon; and half a gallon at supper-time. No one can object to that.” 

— Richard Doddridge Blackmore

Third times the charm?

My personal favorite beer is Negra Modelo.

So of course that is what I want to be able to make for my third attempt.  Like the first batch this one was built as a partial mash, or mini-mash.
The grains used were:
1 3/4 lbs  German Pilsner Malt
1 lb Vienna Malt
6 oz Crystal 60L Malt
4 oz Caravienne Malt
3 oz Chocolate Malt
I steeped these for 45 minutes at 155-160 degrees, placed the bag in the strainer to drip out and then poured about a gallon of 165 degree water slowly through the bag, let it drip out and then discarded the grains.
I added 5 lbs Extra Pale Extract and a 14 oz Dry Sugar Alcohol Boost (55% maltose & 45% glucose), once it came to a boil.  Returning to a boil I then added 1 oz Hersbrucker Pellet Hops and 1/2 oz Tettnang Pellet Hops and 45 minutes later another 1/2 oz Tettnang Pellet Hops for the final 15 minutes.  At the 45 minute mark I also added a yeast fuel capsule.  15 minutes later (total of 60 since adding the first hops) was the rapid cool down and then the transfer to primary fermenter (with rudimentary splashing to add oxygen) and added water to make 5 gallons (actually went to about 5 1/4 gallons).  The OG at this point is 1.057 (which depending on FG should put it between 5.5% and 6.25% alcohol).

Everything I read spoke of the greatness of pitching liquid yeast so I did.  I sorta guessed here because I wasn't sure which was best.  I used a South German Lager WLP838
which I found out today produces a slight sulfur smell.  (My wife and kids were not happy with the new aromas I brought to the house, haha)
Fermenting kicked off around 24 hours and is going well.  I plan to do a secondary fermentation on this batch, so I will post again about that later.

Cracking a bottle open

I have sampled a few bottles this week and again last night (This weekend makes 2 weeks in the bottle).  Unfortunately I am not bragging about the beer perfection I found on my first trip out.  The beer is bitter and a touch yeasty.  The beer didn't carry to much of a head and had the "green" taste the experienced folks talk about.  I am hopeful time will mellow it out more and make it not only more palatable but a delicious success.

I have not blogged much on my second batch, I did it a week after my first and it has now been bottled for a week.  The second batch was a full grain batch and while it presented some beginner challenges, I think it went well.  Both batches yielded beer with approximately 4.3% alcohol.  I have not cracked one of those yet and based on the first batch will let it sit for longer.