In the beginning...

This week I bottled one of my firsts - my first all grain batch of beer as well as my first beer brewed solely with Brettanomyces. The recipe came from Wild Brews, and other than using a different yeast strain that he suggests, it is pretty much right out of the book.
10 lb Pilsner malt
11 oz white wheat malt
5 oz acidulated malt
2 oz crystal pellet @ 90 min
.5 oz crystal pellet @ 2 min
Wyeast 5526- Brettanomyces Lambicus
Target og- 1.060
Actual og- 1.063
fg- 1.005
7.85% abv
91% apparent attenuation
75% actual attenuation
2/17/10- Mash at 148 for 90 min - temperature actually rose into the low 150's near the end. Sparge and boil for 90 min. Chilled and added to fermenter with yeast.
2/19/10- No visible fermentation activity.
2/20/10- Late in the evening, finally visible fermentation. Bought a second yeast strain just in case this didn't happen. In a water bath at 78 degrees.
2/26/10- To secondary. Gravity at 1.006. Tastes yeasty, slightly sour. Moved to garage to cold age.
3/20/10- Tasted twice since moving to secondary. Very fruity upfront, with a long, lingering finish similar to red wines - leather, hay, tobacco. Flavors developing. Temps in the garage have varied, but I would say the average is in the low 40's with lows in the 30's and highs in the 50's.

Cold aging in the garage.
3/25/10- Bottled with 3.75 oz corn sugar. Got 4.25 gallons or 44/12 oz bottles. Can't wait for it to carbonate!

In bottles.

Clearing and carbonating.
4/11/10- First tasting.