Well, to be honest, batch 4.0, the red ale from the Severn Bridges Brewing Co-op (also known as Tickle Kitten Golden Happy Ale) was a miserable failure.

What went wrong:

• During the boil, we had a second pot going to get us up to the 5 gallon mark because we did not have any sterile water. Unfortunatley, this exta pot put us up to the 7.5 gallon mark, diluting the beer. We tried to boost the alcohol content by adding sugar and boost the bitterness by adding some free hops courtesy of the Ag Effort co-op.
  
  
• The beer may have been saved if I didn't leave it outside (note that the carboy is clear glass) for a couple of months exposing the beer to massive ammounts of light and temperature variations. This killed a lot of the yeast inhibiting bottle conditioning -- the process where sugar is added immediatley prio to bottleing to give the yeast extra carbon to form carbon dioxide, thus carbonating the beer. The result? flat beer. After letting the beer sit for a couple more months, the beer finally carbonated itself, but there were still off flavors which were probably a result of leaving it ouside for a few months.

That didn't stop Sam from drinking a few bottles of it. At first he said it was "OK" but then decided not to like it anymore. Also, the bottles we used weren't exactly clean, as Tamar had an interesting experience with gushing. I've still got a good 60 beers or so sitting in my closet, so if anyone wants some old, mediocre beer, stop on by.

What I've learned from this batch:

1. Don't be sloppy
2. Using the wort chiller outside reduces the chances of flooding your kitchen
3. El Mariachi is the best place in Davis to get 12oz bottles, just raid their recycle. Make damn sure they're clean.