I was (finally) able to brew those two batches over this past weekend; completing them during the evening hours between Sunday and Monday, 8 and 9 October. I could probably have brewed them together, but elected to brew them one-at-a-time, just because I enjoy the process. With all equipment and ingredients cleaned, prepared, set up and ready to go, each brewing session took right about 4.5 hours. I probably could have done it faster; however, I was taking it easy and not rushing any stage of the process.
I set up everything for two identical brews, and followed the same plan as I did with my second brewing of this beer, as stated above. The Amarillo hops had a slightly different AA percentage (8% vs 8.2% for the ones I used before), so I modified the hops schedule just a bit in order to compensate; for future reference, here is the modified hops schedule:
0.8 oz @ 60
0.1 oz @ 30
0.12 oz @ 1
I doubt that this was really necessary, but what the heck - it gave me something to do.
In spite of my efforts, I did have a couple of minor glitches. On the first batch, I ended up adding the final hop addition (which should have been at 1 minute) at 5 minutes, along with the grapefruit zezt. Not a huge deal, but I am noting it here, as a reminder and in order to note any negative consequences. With the second batch, my mash temps were slightly high for a few minutes; once again, I doubt that it is going to result in any large problem over-all.
This is the first time that I have prepared Grapefruit Honey Ale using the recipe in the book, rather than with a pre-packaged mix. As far as I can tell, everything is the same, and I believe we are off to a great start. The S04 is definitely working, but the fermentation "seems" to be a little slow. I have not seen any large amount of activity with the blow-off tube, but as I recall this yeast is a "slow and steady" performer, so I am not too concerned. We are going to be out of town for a week next week, and I intend to simply let the beer do its thing, with no interference from me.
Tomorrow night, I'll replace the blow-off tubes with air-locks, and we will go from there.
More as it happens, etc. &c....
Ron