Sometimes I make bad choices when it comes to fitting in time to brew. As you can tell from the amount of beer I brew, and the variety of beer, lets just say that I have a slight obsession. I was talking with a friend last night about how what I should do is choose 5 beers that I have made that really stand out and just brew those and perfect them. I've actually had that "plan" several times. But my problem is that I'm constantly inspired, either I read about a style, I try a new beer I really like, I come up with a cool name or concept, etc. The creative side of me is never satisfied, and thus I'm constantly brewing new beers.
The reason I mention this, is that sometimes I am so eager to get the beer brewed that every once and awhile I try to juggle to many things, while brewing because...well, I really want to get the beer brewed so I can move the focus on to the next beer I have stewing in my head. Recently, I had an experience of banging out a beer while trying to care for my infant daughter and help out my wife with some stuff, all at the same time. That was not a good idea...
El Jefe: This is a beer that I made for my oldest and closest friend, Jeff. I had been toying around with different styles and recipes for this particular beer for awhile and settled on a light, Belgian pale ale. I was inspired by beers like Stone Soup from New Glarus, and recently Springboard from New Belgium. Basically something light, fruity, with some interesting flavors but not overwhelmingly alchohly like say Delirums, or Duvel.
The brewing started off fine, but I ran into complications later in the boil, including missing the time I intended to put in the last of my extract, (supposed to be @ 15, and I put it in @5), due to a freaking out baby. I thought "I'll just let it boil for awhile longer" and so....that's what I did. I don't know what the official time was, probably somewhere around a 75 minute boil, which of course throws off my hop schedule. But since it wasn't intended to be a hoppy beer, that wasn't much of an issue. I bottled the beer this weekend, and it tasted nice and light with a hint of those Belgian flavors I was going for...we'll see how it pans out after some time conditioning. Bottom line...juggling a baby and beer making makes for a more stressful experience than I ever want it to be and hopefully doesn't result in shitty beer. If it ends up being good, I'll just chalk it up to my amazing skills :) Or more realistically the fact that in the end...its not that hard to make beer.
Irie Stout: Now for the exact opposite experience. I have this week off from work due to spring break, so I intended to get this beer brewed that I had been wanting to brew for awhile. I wanted to brew a Caribbean style stout, using orange peels and some spices to balance out the roastiness. I'm excited because I think this is going to be a very good beer. The recipe was extract, which was one less step than partial mashing, and I had plenty of time, no baby duties and a steady dose of Bob Marley playing during the brewing. I had intended for the beer to be at around 1.083 for starting gravity and ended up with 1.093, which is fine because I wanted a bigger beer. After the debacle with El Jefe, if this was the only thing to go wrong...fuck it! It's currently bubbling away and I'm excited for this beer. And the brewing experience was nice and relaxing, a great way to spend a snowy (still!) day in mid March.
For the record the following albums were listened to while brewing Irie Stout:
Babylon by Bus, Uprising, and Talking Blues.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Tale of Two Brews
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4 comments:
Best advice in brewing is still - Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew.
Especially with extract, you're always going to have something drinkable in the end (unless things go REALLY bad). I like the concept of the Irie Stout. We did an old oak stout this year and I don't want to go back down that path. I like your logic with adding something light to contrast the roast/malt flavor. Maybe try and strike hit the note of one of those fancy chocolates in the box or something (you know, the ones with the fruit filling). Anyway, I like the idea and can't wait to hear how it goes.
Cheers!
Sounds very delicious! I like the idea of balancing the roastiness, as well. Also, great music to brew with. I sometimes brew with pandora.com in background. It is a sweet site with great music. Can't to hear how it turns out (both beers) and what you will brew next.
Cheers!
Hey man, I hear ya. Juggling a needy child, and other homely responsibilities while brewing is so very stressful. I'm glad you brought this up. Eventually I will be opening up to the true experiences while brewing...from the past, and in the present. I think brewing isn't just about the process, the beer, or the moment, but there is another dimension that is about personal growth and the passing of time. If you are interested in hearing about that I'll get to writing a post.
In general though, clearing up as much time for unobtrusive brewing is very important for everyone involved (directly or indirectly). I've been finding that starting at about 5AM or earlier is great because more than half the brewday is over before the others are awake. Also, I plan some brewdays for while my ladies head to church on late Sunday mornings. I can be near completion by the time they come home.
I also wanted to relate to what you said about finding 5 core recipes and settling on them. I think about that often enough, and then I start thinking of all the beers I haven't tried yet or new ideas. But aren't we in our hay-day of brewing obsession? Lets keep in mind, that there will be a time for settling down in the future, when we're older and grayer, and set on our most favorite styles of home brewed beer.
Your Irie Stout does sound darn good. I was wondering what spices you are throwing in there. We all want to hear how it turns out, cause I think we all want to do it ourselves.
Brew-on!
Thanks for all the great comments guys. I agree with what you all said. And Ted, thanks for putting into perspective the point about making a ton of kinds of beer. In the grand scheme of things, I'm 31, have only been brewing for 4 years or so... so where's the hurry? Why not experiment with a lot of kinds of beer.
I'll obviously keep you all informed as the Irie Stout develops.
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