Beer Update

We bottled IPA number 2 and the raspberry ale over the weekend.
Both look and smell really nice; the unconventional way we added the raspberries (at 15 minutes before the end of the boil, steeping at 122 degrees, adn then straining out, as opposed to pitching them into the secondary fermenter) makes the aftertaste quite subtle at this stage of the beer.

Of concern has been IPA number four. We used a hella lot of fermentables: 6.6 pounds of light malt; 1/2 pound crystal malt (50 degrees L); 2 pounds of orange blossom honey; and .67 pounds demerar sugar. The weather wa really cold two weeks ago, adn I ran out of oil. Not willing to pay winter rates for fuel oil when spring was around the corner (and it's been in the 50s-70s all week), the beer fermented really slowly at first, and remaining... well, slow and steady. In fact once I transferred to the secondary the fermentation seemed to speed up. Now, perhaps this is normal, but I'm just hoping that the cold weather hasn't contributed to off-flavors like fusel alcohols.

We shall see: I DID try a small glass of the green beer, and it already packed a pretty powerful punch.