Spicing for a Belgian Wit

Okay, so, I am now facing the reality that I probably (significantly) overspiced my Belgian Wit, and in exactly the way I didn’t want to — bitterness. Not because of hops: I put in an ounce of Hallertau, which gets me close to (but definitely under) 20 IBUs. That’s fine and well within style for a Wit. But the problem is the orange peel. I had left my copy of Stan Hieronymous’ Brewing With Wheat in my office (though I didn’t realize that was where it was) and ended up discovering this fact today. So I had a look at …

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Belgian Brewday: Wonmisan Wit

Today is my first attempt at a Belgian Wit. I’ve only had one example of the style, the inoffensive Hoegaarden Wit available in Korea. (I’m told it is brewed locally, or somewhere in the region, not in Belgium. It’s not bad, it’s just… well, not all that wheaty, or distinctive, or striking.) I’m making my first attempt using the Forbidden Fruit yeast, about which I’ve heard wonderful things. The other interesting thing you might notice if you look at the recipe (it’s set for a double batch but I’m doing a single batch today) is that I’m attempting is the …

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BrewJuggling…

The question of what to brew next is a delicate one. I currently have 11 kegs, in two of which I am bulk aging mead of some kind. In eight of the others, I have, or soon will have, a batch of beer, including one beer I am similarly bulk aging (a dark Saison for the fall). The seven other beers are not particularly being reserved for later, not being bulk aged, and they’re not all full — I have one keg with probably a gallon of RyePA left in it, and a Golden Strong Ale that is, really, about …

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Vampires, Confucianism, Christianity’s Latent Monarchism, and the Translation of Sociohorror

Seriously, now...
This entry is part 44 of 72 in the series SF in South Korea

(Note: I’m filing this under Korean SF, though it only fits there if we define SF as “speculative fiction”: still, I think this post does appeal to a crucial question at the heart of the reception of SF and other fantastical genres in cultures foreign to the culture of a given work’s original production. So there.) So I’ll admit it now: I’ve been watching True Blood. Yes, yes, it’s trashy. But as someone who is not very plot-minded, I have to say, it does a particular trick with a knife that I, too, am learning to do. I’m close to …

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Kim Jong Il: Middle-School Fangirl

You know those crazed Korean middle school girls who are fans of big famous idol groups, who hate the idea of their favorite popstar dating some other girl so much that narratives of gay love among those idol stars are popular in their circles? Yeah, well, I don’t know if Kim Jong Il ever put up a lesbian-fantasy website about Yun Hye-yeong, but if he did, he has certainly taken it down now. The young woman in question was in one of North Korea’s assumably few rock groups, Bocheonbo Electronic Band. So, Kim was in love with her, but she …

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