Brewsgiving: Part 2

   There are news links at the bottom of this post!

   A week passed without any beersplosions in the house, which is good news for everyone.  The airlock had slowed to about 1 bubble every 20 seconds which was my queue to rerack to a secondary fermenter and add the chocolate and vanilla.  A number of sources suggested using vodka as a disinfectant in case there are any nasty yeast or bacteria strains lingering on your vanilla.

   I'm not much one for vodka though, so i thought i'd mix it up a bit and use white rum instead.  Here's where i didn't really think my process through enough.  Two ounces of chocolate turns out to be about 4 tablespoons, and mixing that much cocoa powder into rum requires almost half a cup of rum.  Even so, it was a chocolatey goop by the time i put the split vanilla bean in.  It did smell delicious, though.

   I discovered when i got ready to set up this whole process that i'd accidentally forgotten to clean my tubing after the last time i bottled.  There was no way i was going to be able to clean the inside of 7/16" tubing ten feet long, so i went out to buy another length.  You've got to be careful when you're using new tubing though.  That new-plastic smell is chlorine off-gassing from the PVC tubing, which is not something you want in your food.  Washing in hot water doesn't help either, as the heat can release even more chemicals.  I spent probably ten minutes washing this tube in lukewarm water and running cool water through the inside of the tube.  I'm sure i won't forget to clean these tubes out sufficiently next time.

   Siphons are crazy.

   Successful fermenter transfer in a single try!  The forums suggest tasting the brew every other day to make sure the vanilla flavor doesn't overpower the brew, but since i only added a single bean and because i'm worried about contamination, i plan to taste it a bit less frequently than that.

   After a bit of sticker-shock when i purchased my last container of yeast, i've decided to save this strain for reuse in my next beer.  I haven't tried this in the past, but i intend to follow the advice of my brew books and only use yeast strains for one additional, higher gravity beer to prevent off-flavors and strain mutation.

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   In news from elsewhere in the alcoholic beverages industry, here's what's going on with whiskey!  There's also some quite interesting commentary on the difference between whiskey, vodka, and neutral spirits.