Poopsie's Problem amber birthday ale

My first problem batch. It turned out OK! I made this on my wife's birthday as a gift to her. Like our marriage, it didn't always go smoothly, but everything turned out OK in the end.

Brewer:	Rathole		Email:	rathole2331@yahoo.com
Beer:	Poopsie's Problem amber birthday ale		Style:	American Amber Ale
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5.5 gallons
Color:	18 HCU (~11 SRM)		Bitterness:	26 IBU
OG:	1.048		FG:	1.022
Alcohol:	3.3% v/v (2.6% w/w)
Water:	1 tsp gypsum at the start of the boil
Grain:	.5 lb. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
Steep:	Steep the grains in a grain bag (or cheesecloth) at 155° F for 1/2 hour
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.052	5 gallons
	7 lb. Amber malt extract
	Irish moss in the last 15 minutes For aroma hops, add at end of boil, shut of heat and steep 10 min
Hops:	.5 oz. Hallertauer (4.4% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Willamette (4.9% AA, 60 min.) .5 oz. Kent Goldings (5% AA, 5 min.) .5 oz. Willamette (4.9% AA, 5 min.) .5 oz. Kent Goldings (aroma) .5 oz. Willamette (aroma)
Yeast:	Coopers ale yeast, dry and rehydrated
Log:	Brewed on 9/30/2003 (Happy 41st honey!) Everything seemed to be going well, OG showed 1.043 10/5/2003 transferred to secondary, gravity of 1.022 uh oh, that was strange but it tasted fine... oh well, slow fermenter, right? 10/10/2003 Things go sideways... gravity still 1.022, and it has an off taste as well as an astringent bitterness. A frantic call to my brewshop with the somewhat ambivilent recommendation to try a starter of champagne yeast and see what happens, plus he tells me to lighten up and stop worrying so much. Yeast is started for too short a time, and I pitch it. Several days later: Despite some indication of fermentation, I take a gravity reading which stubbornly remains at 1.022 and I am getting a nasty smell of cooked artichokes. Checking my books and a web search, I figure this is maybe "DMS", or "Dymethyl sulfide" and there ain't a good thing to say about that anywhere that I can find. 10/15/2003: I figure maybe my batch is drain cleaner, but decide I have nothing to lose by leaving it in the carboy and seeing what happens. 11/10/2003 I have already gone through a couple of other batches, and check on the now forgotten, and given-up on birthday ale. Surprise! Although there is still a slight astringency, the cooked artichoke taste is surprisingly muted and perhaps almost gone. Gravity still shows 1.022, however. 11/15/2003: Figuring I have nothing to lose, my friend loans me one of his corney kegs and we keg it. Still slightly astringent with pretty much no artichoke taste. 11/21/2003: First taste of the fully conditioned brew. Surprise! while not the best thing I have ever made, it tastes fine. The first glass out of the keg (my first time kegging) was kinda metallic and nasty. My experienced kegging friend suggests this is due to mung and slop being picked up from the bottom by the pickup tube. Each glass gets better. 11/23/2003: Drinking it now. Surprisingly good! Just the slightest trace of an astringency, very light off taste slightly mettallic in the backround, mostly because I am really looking for it. A little more bitter than the IBU's would suggest. Lightly malted with a nice light, complex aroma from the combined hops. Another brew saved from the septic tank!
Carbonation:	1/2 cup of priming sugar, kegged and locked down with 30 psi CO2
Tasting:	I learned something from this brew. #1: Don't give up! Sometimes you just have to wait and see what happens. #2: I have since made another brew using only carapils as the specialty grain, and got the same high final gravity. I think it has a lot of unfermentables, and that the alcohol level is higher than would be suggested. I would only suggest using carapils in combination with other grains, and only 1/4 to 1/2 lb per batch, max. #3: Relax, have a homebrew!

Recipe posted 11/23/03.