Why, one does a very berry melomel instead! No slaving over a hot mash tun or boil kettle. No worrysome timing of hop additions. Easy clean up and no disposal of spent grains. And best of all, no worrying about fermentation temperature. There's 6+ gallons of must in a plastic fermenter in my garage, happily bubbling away. The most difficult part of the entire process was dealing with all the bees that were attracted when I opened the pail of honey and decanted it to pour into the water.
When you are retired, or even semi-retired, then you too can brew beer on a Monday. Today Rich and Old Jim are brewing up a Mild to bring to Sunfest. its going well so far, a tribute to our self control in terms of drinking while brewing. The wort is boiling now, with the first hop addition in and the timer counting. Old Jim is BBQing some nice sausages from Whole Foods and we'll be enjoying those along with some nice side dishes. We're going to be drinking Bear Republic Tribute Brown Ale with lunch. I'll post the recipe later, after the facts are in. And lucky us, Mrs. S.
Brewing beer with friends is about as good as it gets!
Today I'm brewing a cream ale with my friends Jim and Jimmy Alden. We're using 20% Quaker Quick Grits in the recipe.
Other than a mistake and scorching the grits the first time (another trip to S&F for another bag of grits fixed that), things are rolling along nicely. Big Jim is manning the BBQ and we'll soon be eating brats and saurkraut. Won't want to be around us after lunch!
Brewed a RyePA on Saturday, 1/28, and tried something new this time. A recent visit to Costco (AKA the 200 dollar store) turned up a gadget for wine geeks. It is called the Vinturi and is intended to aerate red wine as you pour it from the bottle into a decanter or even a glass. It uses the venturi effect to pull air through two small holes as the liquid passes down the main channel. I bought one (for about $20) with the idea that it might be useful in the brewery, as an alternative to canned oxygen and an air stone.
Was out with Marlen on other errands this morning and she spotted the brewery sign on the side of the big blue building and told me, "turn around!" We did and then I followed my nose. They were brewing. We didn't try to get a tour, but probably could have talked our way in if we had wanted. But the taproom is open as well, two buildings to the south. So what is it? Golden Road Brewing in Glendale is open now. We went into the taproom for a quick pint. Today they had four of their own beers up on tap. I had the Point the Way IPA and Marlen had the Schwartz Stout(served on a nitro tap too).
My old econo CFC is on its last legs. Time for a new wort chiller soon, so I thought I'd poll the readers for opinions or recommendations. I'm considering the Blichmann Therminator, or the Dudadiesel B3-12A or possibly the Chillus Convolutus from More Beer. Clearly the Dudadiesel has the edge on price only. Can anyone offer any other reasons for preferring one over any other here?
Has anybody yet tried brewing with some of Beanie's custom smoked malt? I'm wondering how much is too much. I plan to use the cherry smoked malt in a marzen-style lager. Wonder if all four ounces from the package is about right for a 5-gallon batch, or if that might be over the top? Opinions? Results?
