March already nearly gone and not a blog entry in sight. Have no fear, beergeeks of the world, a long-due update is here at last!
The past month has been rather busy, with a bunch of brews and other beery events in swift succession. A short (ahem) recap is in order.
The Emelisse crew hosted a get-together-again for the lucky attendees of their earlier first edition of HomeBrewDay. Yours Truly attended the former as well as the latter, and was rewarded with not only 20 liters of Emelisse IPA wort, to ferment at his own leisure and in the comfort of his own home/brewery, but also with the scoring of a few new beery acquaintainces. Homebrewers are a jovial lot, and both days were a hit as far as I'm concerned.
I did some pretty left-field experiments with Kees' beer, adding citrus peel and ginger in secondary for one batch, and Thai herbs&spices for another.
Neither brew ended up entirely drinkable (*) but at least I learned a thing or two about whacky ingredients in beer.
In case you're wondering, a third batch is still chewing on that pomegranate you see on the right. More news on that one if I ever got to bottle it.
*) which is BrewSpeak for "entirely undrinkable". As in "dishwasher fluid".
While we're on the subject of brewing disasters: that kagami biraki brew I've been meaning to serve the dudes and dudettes at Honbu Dojo is another dud. A loud, smelly and blisteringly bitter dud, but a dud nonetheless. My hefeweizen yeast, which was less than enthusiastic during primary fermentation, refused to impart any hefe-qualities to the brew, so it ended up thin, watery and decidedly off-center where hops are concerned. It might still mellow out eventually, but there's no way I'm serving that at the dojo, lest I turn them all off of beer forever. I'll need to come up with another brew if I'm ever to be taken seriously again whenever I invoke BrewDay as an excuse to miss training, but I've an idea or two. More news if and when.
What with all the brew mishaps happening lately, I rallied BeerBert and BeerFrank and together, we entered the Brouwland Competition. Our entry will be a saison which we soured prior to primary fermentation using a specially selected Lactobacillus started.
It's ready to be bottled now, and it's looking very promising. Apples, and a bit of vinous complexity not unreminiscent of Flemish old brown ales, coupled with a mild but very present tartness make this a brew I really look forward to brewing again, even if it never wins a prize. Which I'm hoping it will though.
We brewed this one in the morning (the wort had to sour for a few days before we could boil it) so we had time for another brew. Veyversleyck version 2.0 will be a bit beefier than the one I brewed last year, with more focus on the (deliberately mucky) mud-colour and a bit more hop-centeredness. Pacific Jade is still there, this time joined by its granddaughter Waimea. Shoudl be ready for secondary any day now, altough the main reason it's still sitting on the yeast is a sudden shortage in fermentation vessels which I hope to remedy someday soon.
Also nearing the end of primary is a SMaSH (*) beer using second generation saison yeast and Summer hops. Smells promising already, although I'm not picking up any of the promised apricot/melon touches. Very curious as to how that one will turn out.
*) Single Malts and Single Hops. What it says really: a simple recipe with minimal ingredient complexity.
Spring is showing its pale winter skin and all around shoots are sprouting.
Spring also saw yours truly and the Missus visiting London again, where a visit to the Kernel proved incompatible with British Airways' Hand Luggage Only policy.
The guys and girls at the Kernel are absolute darlings, and their beers are by for the most impressive UK brews I've tasted so far, so if you're around, stop by to say hello and have a brew. I had their barrel aged saison (which tasted suspiciously like what I had in mind for our competition brew but I'm trying to think of that as a good thing) and their brown ale, both of which were yum, but it was the Polaris pale ale which really blew me away. Definitely a hops I need to get to know and brew a few beers with.
March also saw me adding another 1 to my age, an event which was celebrated with food and beer and, most importantly, friends. Say what you will of beer but once enjoyed, it's gone. Friends, when well cared for, are forever. Thanks, y'all!
Greetz
Jo
The past month has been rather busy, with a bunch of brews and other beery events in swift succession. A short (ahem) recap is in order.
The Emelisse crew hosted a get-together-again for the lucky attendees of their earlier first edition of HomeBrewDay. Yours Truly attended the former as well as the latter, and was rewarded with not only 20 liters of Emelisse IPA wort, to ferment at his own leisure and in the comfort of his own home/brewery, but also with the scoring of a few new beery acquaintainces. Homebrewers are a jovial lot, and both days were a hit as far as I'm concerned.
I did some pretty left-field experiments with Kees' beer, adding citrus peel and ginger in secondary for one batch, and Thai herbs&spices for another.
 |
| Brewing with veggies. |
In case you're wondering, a third batch is still chewing on that pomegranate you see on the right. More news on that one if I ever got to bottle it.
*) which is BrewSpeak for "entirely undrinkable". As in "dishwasher fluid".
While we're on the subject of brewing disasters: that kagami biraki brew I've been meaning to serve the dudes and dudettes at Honbu Dojo is another dud. A loud, smelly and blisteringly bitter dud, but a dud nonetheless. My hefeweizen yeast, which was less than enthusiastic during primary fermentation, refused to impart any hefe-qualities to the brew, so it ended up thin, watery and decidedly off-center where hops are concerned. It might still mellow out eventually, but there's no way I'm serving that at the dojo, lest I turn them all off of beer forever. I'll need to come up with another brew if I'm ever to be taken seriously again whenever I invoke BrewDay as an excuse to miss training, but I've an idea or two. More news if and when.
What with all the brew mishaps happening lately, I rallied BeerBert and BeerFrank and together, we entered the Brouwland Competition. Our entry will be a saison which we soured prior to primary fermentation using a specially selected Lactobacillus started.
 |
| By which I mean we poured in a bottle of geuze. |
 |
| Wort souring. Note the presence of wild kraüsen, also known as "infernal spawn of evil". |
Also nearing the end of primary is a SMaSH (*) beer using second generation saison yeast and Summer hops. Smells promising already, although I'm not picking up any of the promised apricot/melon touches. Very curious as to how that one will turn out.
*) Single Malts and Single Hops. What it says really: a simple recipe with minimal ingredient complexity.
Spring is showing its pale winter skin and all around shoots are sprouting.
 |
| Meantime Hops-in-a-Box finally showing their true colour. |
Spring also saw yours truly and the Missus visiting London again, where a visit to the Kernel proved incompatible with British Airways' Hand Luggage Only policy.
 |
| Thank you, terrorists of all and any presuasion, for not yet being caught with explosives in 100ml bottles or I'd never have got this one across the Channel. |
The guys and girls at the Kernel are absolute darlings, and their beers are by for the most impressive UK brews I've tasted so far, so if you're around, stop by to say hello and have a brew. I had their barrel aged saison (which tasted suspiciously like what I had in mind for our competition brew but I'm trying to think of that as a good thing) and their brown ale, both of which were yum, but it was the Polaris pale ale which really blew me away. Definitely a hops I need to get to know and brew a few beers with.
March also saw me adding another 1 to my age, an event which was celebrated with food and beer and, most importantly, friends. Say what you will of beer but once enjoyed, it's gone. Friends, when well cared for, are forever. Thanks, y'all!
Greetz
Jo
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