Maybe there's hope

So the trappist-esque singel went well. Hit about the target gravity, pitched the 3787, should start bubbling any minute now. Scratch that--it is fermenting. I'm kinda neurotic about the whole lag time thing. Which is why I love aeration and large starters. Anyway, the singel has a nice simple malt profile--I think the Belgian Biscuit will do nice things. It got a very vigorous boil and should have picked up some caramelization to add a little richness to what was really a pretty lean, crystal-less malt profile. The Hallertau and Spalt should provide a hop profile totally unlike anything else I've made.

And, what's more, there's hope for the smoke beer. I'm not saying it smells great, but it's coming around I think. The last few days, you'd sniff the end of the blow-off tube and positively recoil. Seeing that the fermentation was dying down, I was curious and took a little sample. As long as I had a wine thief, a bucket of iodophor, and a beer in dodgy shape, I figured there was little harm in checking on it. I think maybe it'll be O.K. A little wine glass of it does give off some sulfur, but not too much rotting egg type shit. It tastes fine. Malty. Some clean, delicate hoppiness. It just smells dodgy--a mixture of smoke, some yicky band-aid-y stuff, well, maybe it is bad. I don't know. At any rate, it smells somewhat less disturbing than a couple days ago and I call that progress. I'll rack it to secondary within a week and will give it time. It might just lager itself into some semblance of decency. But keeping it cold will be interesting. Next year I'll brew my lagers in January. I'll leave it alone and let it finish fermenting, but I may pack it in ice in secondary, or put it in the garage or something. Just had another sip. I actually think it may taste decent in a month. Let's hope I'm right.