(in which Brian peeks out from his hole and doesn't see his shadow)
And just like that, it's been almost six months since M and I pulled up stakes in Tucson (though she still spends about half her time there) and moved to Durham.
On the beer front, I am actually trying something really dangerous: seeing if I can replicate myself. Currently doing their thing in the basement are another batch of Ollie's Darwinian Dubbel (you don't need a link to scroll down 7 posts do you?) and another I've dubbed Shenandoah Pale Ale (in honor of the street we now live on) which I also brewed in October. Both turned out really well (and were consumed very quickly, except for a few mags of ODD I've reserved for cellaring) so I figured this was worth doing.
They won't be exactly the same...the ambient temperature in the basement is about 15 degrees cooler than it was in October/November (though this is rapidly changing now) and the dubbel in particular is fermenting much, much more slowly and steadily as a result. Also, I left the British Ale yeast out this time. I had to make a couple of ingredient substitutions on the pale ale as well due to availability, but this actually seems to have brought the color closer to what I was aiming for in the first place anyway.
I'll post a recipe for the pale ale when I decide which version is better.
Once bottling is done (this weekend/week) it's time to look at the next round. Some things I'm thinking about doing next:
--I've never attempted a stout, though I am somewhat hesitant to do this in advance of warmer weather
--a tripel of some sort (I know, spring is for saisson, but whenever I drink a saisson I tend to end up wishing it was a tripel)
--a California common (aka "steam beer", until Anchor decided they owned the word "steam"). I have a recipe I made a few years back that might be worth revisiting.
--A kolsch, which is something else I've never tried, and the basement temp is nearly ideal if I can just get my hands on the right yeast (this may involve mail order).
Anyway, I know quite a few homebrewers read this page when we can be bothered to update it, so...what do you all have on tap for this spring?
On the beer front, I am actually trying something really dangerous: seeing if I can replicate myself. Currently doing their thing in the basement are another batch of Ollie's Darwinian Dubbel (you don't need a link to scroll down 7 posts do you?) and another I've dubbed Shenandoah Pale Ale (in honor of the street we now live on) which I also brewed in October. Both turned out really well (and were consumed very quickly, except for a few mags of ODD I've reserved for cellaring) so I figured this was worth doing.
They won't be exactly the same...the ambient temperature in the basement is about 15 degrees cooler than it was in October/November (though this is rapidly changing now) and the dubbel in particular is fermenting much, much more slowly and steadily as a result. Also, I left the British Ale yeast out this time. I had to make a couple of ingredient substitutions on the pale ale as well due to availability, but this actually seems to have brought the color closer to what I was aiming for in the first place anyway.
I'll post a recipe for the pale ale when I decide which version is better.
Once bottling is done (this weekend/week) it's time to look at the next round. Some things I'm thinking about doing next:
--I've never attempted a stout, though I am somewhat hesitant to do this in advance of warmer weather
--a tripel of some sort (I know, spring is for saisson, but whenever I drink a saisson I tend to end up wishing it was a tripel)
--a California common (aka "steam beer", until Anchor decided they owned the word "steam"). I have a recipe I made a few years back that might be worth revisiting.
--A kolsch, which is something else I've never tried, and the basement temp is nearly ideal if I can just get my hands on the right yeast (this may involve mail order).
Anyway, I know quite a few homebrewers read this page when we can be bothered to update it, so...what do you all have on tap for this spring?
posted by Brian @ 8:54 AM
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