The Horror!

Except for a few bottles of Jul Øl, I am out of homebrew!

I know! It worries me too.  Besides having to buy more pro beer, it takes a while to stock back up. So I've been working on things I want to brew. I ordered ingredients for  Seeley Axe White Ale from High Gravity Brewing last week.  I won't get them until later this week, and hopefully will brew that this weekend.  I also have ordered ingredients for an American Pale Ale that I can also brew this weekend. That's right, I'm planning a double header.

Recipes to follow!

Getting Jittery

With my mash tun at a friend's house being customized, I realize that I could run out of beer before I get it back. So, it's back to my extract brewing roots. So I dug out my copy of Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast's Guide to Brewing Craft Beer at Homeby Sam Caligione. I like the book because it uses malt extract in its recipes. So I have spent a few hours thumbing through the pages. Should I make the Ginger Saison? Tripel 'Round the World? Decisions, decisions.

What's exciting is the shorter brew day! Making an extract beer knocks three or four hours off my brew day.

Actually, I think I'll make a barleywine this time, and something from Sam's book next time.

Brewing Resolutions

I was sitting at the desk trying to decide what to brew. I know another wheat porter is in my future. Satan and I will be brewing for Nationals in January or February. But I need to cram as much brewing as I can into these cooler months to stockpile some beer for the summer.

So, I will be trying to brew as many styles as I can from Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew. And since I really can't lager, I will brew ales.

I will brew one style a month, and if I brew more, I can do other recipes I want to try

As always, keep checking here for details!

What the Future Holds

I have a short attention span. I can stick with something only so long before I move on. I am in the middle of writing a 300 page comic based on my experiences as an exchange student in Japan, called "Chasing the Sun." I got to the middle about two years ago and got started doing something else. I finally picked up painting using the Bob Ross technique because it's fast and easy. That's why I brew extract beers.

My cousin, Satan (as in "Get thee behind me. . ."), told me the other day that he wished I would start doing all grain because my beers would taste better. Then we spent almost eleven hours brewing a wiezenbock, about which I am sworn to secrecy. Some days, it's easier to get beer from a store than brew it.

I do want to return to all grain brewing. I brewed a few batches back before the millennium. I am collecting parts for my own brewing system. As soon as I have everything collected, I hope to either browbeat my Honey Creek brewing partner into welding me a frame, or I will hire it out.

Currently, I have the fittings to convert one keg and a counterflow chiller. I just received a check from my ads that will buy a couple of burners. That still leaves the parts to convert a second keg, two pumps and the electronics.

Of course, first I have to figure out my contamination problems. . .