Yes, it stormed on my brew day. It didn't get ME down!
I decided that taking Thursday as a short "work from home" day was a great idea. I always have these great ideas :)
Since I have been busy night and day working on Perch stuff, I hadn't brewed in a long time. On Wednesday, I reorganized the cellar and truly, the cellar is less than half of where it should be. I have been giving out more beer, and making less. Clearly this is a recipe for sadness.
The two most popular beers in the rotation are Grilled Lemon Cream Ale and Rosemary IPA, so... I put the word out that I'd be having a double brew day and tat all were welcome.
Throughout the brew day-fternoon (see, I just made up a word!) about a dozen people visited- it's so nice to have friends come by. This particular day, a storm blew in right at noon when the brew day was supposed to begin. I put up an EZ-Up tent and we were no worse for wear.
Paul was there early and helped weigh ad mill the grain, helped with mashing in, and- this is a first- SAT with me for a little bit while the mash water heated up.
I have these brew days, but I'm always doing SOME thing. Cleaning, getting things ready for the next step, etc. I honestly believe this is the first time I SAT DOWN at a brew day. I sat for like... 20 minutes straight! It was INCREDIBLE! Thanks Paul!
Bryan Myron brought his brew kit and brewed up a Pumking Clone. I helped him with the batch last year, and it was the BEST pumpkin beer I have ever tasted.
The rosemary for Rosemary IPA was picked in the garden at The Perch. I actually added additional Cascade at T-15 in this batch. I felt that the last batch was a bit "flat" or one-noted. In the prior batch, I used no hops beyond the bittering, letting the rosemary take it all. This is fine and it's an IPA for non- IPA lovers, to be sure. I bittered it to 60 IBU's, so it's an IPA, but with no late addition hops- every single person says "OH! I don't like IPA's and I like it" This phenomenon attests to the "Perception of Bitterness" that brewers speak of. It definitely had a lot of hop bitterness, but without the in-your-face super hoppy flavor and aroma, people perceive that there is less bitterness. Rosemary IPA is fantastically loved by all, and a litle cascade to boost some citrus pine notes will help it be just a --little-- more IPA-ish.
If I run out of Grilled Lemon Cream Ale, my mom will kill me. So- I made it for self-preservation reasons, really.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
New Brew!
OK, so more new news than brews.
I'm entering the ranks of professional brewer!
A friend invited me to join him at a new brewpub, as the head brewer. You can check out more at my "other" beer blog, LiveLoveBrew
Today, my sweet wife brewed a beer for the Queen of Brew competition. You may recall that she brewed on the 14th for practice. Today was the Real thing! She had an absolutely great time.
Bonnie brewed an extract batch. Mostly because she didn't want to bne the only one slowing down the day by doing an all-grain. When she got home, she said "I HAD NO IDEA IT COULD BE SO EASY!!!"
Well, that's a huge fail on my part. I mean, yes- I did go all-grain right away and complicate things. The issue for me was dinero. I mean- all-grain is half the cost of extract. Really. So- it's like everything else- trading money for time. Oh sure, I would be doing all grain anyways because of the control factor and because i just love the process. For her- it was the time saving and the ease of the process.
If you brew 4 or 5 times a year, extract is a perfectly good way to make great beer that you can be proud of, be creative with, and win medals with if that is something you want to do.
If you brew 60 times a year, you will be broke if you just do extract :)
Another exciting thing today- I drank my own beer, off my own tap, in my own house! My kegs were ready so yesterday I went and got new beer line hose. Today I flushed the line and tap 3 times with PBW cleaner and 3 times with Star San sanitizer, and I'm sure that if there was anything in there, it's gone now. Conveniently, I also cleaned out and sanitized 3 kegs. THEN- I filled 2 of them up with beer. Yep- I have already outgrown my kegerator!
This leaves me one keg left to fill with delicious delicious beer... if I ever have a chance to brew again at home.
On the other hand, maybe Bonnie will keep the tap at home flowing!
Prosit!
I'm entering the ranks of professional brewer!
A friend invited me to join him at a new brewpub, as the head brewer. You can check out more at my "other" beer blog, LiveLoveBrew
Today, my sweet wife brewed a beer for the Queen of Brew competition. You may recall that she brewed on the 14th for practice. Today was the Real thing! She had an absolutely great time.
Bonnie brewed an extract batch. Mostly because she didn't want to bne the only one slowing down the day by doing an all-grain. When she got home, she said "I HAD NO IDEA IT COULD BE SO EASY!!!"
Well, that's a huge fail on my part. I mean, yes- I did go all-grain right away and complicate things. The issue for me was dinero. I mean- all-grain is half the cost of extract. Really. So- it's like everything else- trading money for time. Oh sure, I would be doing all grain anyways because of the control factor and because i just love the process. For her- it was the time saving and the ease of the process.
If you brew 4 or 5 times a year, extract is a perfectly good way to make great beer that you can be proud of, be creative with, and win medals with if that is something you want to do.
If you brew 60 times a year, you will be broke if you just do extract :)
Another exciting thing today- I drank my own beer, off my own tap, in my own house! My kegs were ready so yesterday I went and got new beer line hose. Today I flushed the line and tap 3 times with PBW cleaner and 3 times with Star San sanitizer, and I'm sure that if there was anything in there, it's gone now. Conveniently, I also cleaned out and sanitized 3 kegs. THEN- I filled 2 of them up with beer. Yep- I have already outgrown my kegerator!
This leaves me one keg left to fill with delicious delicious beer... if I ever have a chance to brew again at home.
On the other hand, maybe Bonnie will keep the tap at home flowing!
Prosit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)