The chickens go BOCK

I'm currently brewing my very first beer, a European Bock, using a Brewer's Best extract kit. I'm 4 weeks into the fermentation process as of today:


That's the inside of a mini-fridge that I've converted into a temperature-controlled fermenting chamber. What you can see is my 7 gallon glass carboy, a bung on the top, a piece of blow-off tubing emerging from the bung, and a small bottle of clean water tucked into the back right. The blowoff tubing allows gaseous byproducts of fermentation to escape the carboy and carries it to the water bottle. The water allows the gas to bubble out and prevents anything from traveling back up the tube into the beer.

The beer is currently in the secondary fermentation process, meaning I've already transferred the beer from a primary fermenting bucket in order to remove off-flavor-creating trub and to promote beer clarity. I've cold-crashed it and now it's lagering at around 38F.

In order to accurately control the mini-fridge temperature I picked up a Johnson Electric temp controller from Northern Brewer. It's the blue box on top of my fridge:

The temperature controller is great because it controls the on & off cycle of the fridge to maintain a specified temperature range. It has its own thermometer probe to slide into the fridge for an accurate temp reading. It has a small simple display, but is invaluable for being able to control lagering temperatures.

Also, big props to Northern Brewer. $8 for shipping really isn't bad for 3 large boxes by FedEx Ground arriving on a Saturday within 3 days. Thanks!

I plan to bottle the beer Nov. 7. It should be carbonated enough by Thanksgiving.