With all my posts about brewing here, you might think I’ve stopped writing… but I haven’t. Indeed, I have a short story or two on the go, and I’m hoping to have them go somewhere soon. One is called The Clockworks of Hanyang, which is developing nicely now (I posted about it close to a month ago, and it’s still developing, albeit slowly). The other story is “The Brewsters,” a tale of post-apocalyptic brewing. The idea had occurred to me a few times, but finally when it came up during a discussion on the homebrewing board I frequent, I decided …
Category: BEER & HOMEBREWING
‘Tis the Saison
So the last couple of days were busy: I was given only a few days to submit some “necessary paperwork” to some committee, I’m not sure which one or whether it’s of any use to them. I also formulated my final exam for my Film course, which I’ll be giving today at noon. And of course I was grading student work. But along with all that, I finally got in a mazing session–that is, I made some mead, which I discussed here–and I made a beer too. Le Premier Fois Saison Saison is, as the name suggests, a seasonal beer. …
No Boil Bokbunja Melomel
UPDATE (17 Dec. 2010): I wrote this up on Tuesday but forgot to post it. Therefore, it refers to a future act which actually happened on Wednesday. Just so you know. The melomel, incidentally, is in a bucket right by my desk, bubbling away happily. Must remember to do a DAP addition this evening. And by the way, I haven’t racked the Golden Strong to clear, but I should be doing that soon. (As soon as I can rack my Persimmoned Wheat off the fruit and put it in a closet on my balcony to clear.) ORIGINAL POST (written 14 …
Brew Plan: All-Wheat Berliner Weisse
Making a beer with only wheat in your grist isn’t supposed to be easy, but I heard someone refer to it on a podcast, and ever since then I’ve wondered how to do it. The problem, of course, is the mash tun. When you brew with grains, you have to mash them, and wheat is not like barley. Now, when I say “mash your grains”, I don’t actually mean mashing them up. It means, basically, soaking the crushed grains in warm water to get some nice chemical reactions, like loosening up proteins, getting enzymes to convert starches to sugars, and so …
Pseudo-Sahti Boiled
I’m not sure how soured it went in the 36 hours or so that it sat there–I could taste a touch of tartness, but not a lot–but I figured 36 hours was long enough to let the wort sit, so I boiled up the Pseudo-Sahti on Wednesday morning, with the following “hop schedule”: First Wort: 10 grams Amarillo 5 grams Cascade (because I didn’t have enough Amarillo) 40 grams crushed Juniper berries 15 grams uncrushed Juniper berries 2 grams Laurel Leaves 3 Minutes before Flameout: Irish Moss (oops, should have been earlier… been forgetting the Irish moss a lot lately!) …