Missing Your Target Doesn't Equate Failure...

...At least in brewing. This is probably true for most efforts, but in this case, let's just focus on beer. As I said earlier, our Banana Nut Brown surely did not come out "bananaey," nor did it come out all that nutty. Further, it was pretty dark and maybe a bit thin on body. So, what we initially intended to brew did not necessarily come out in the end. However, it has received consistently positive remarks from objective tasters. Even I think it's good. And if anyone is going to be critical of his own creation, it is I. Plus, most people were pleased the beer did not have a strong banana taste, although they may have been curious about the possibility. So, it was a success. Here are a few pictures of the final product and the brewer who created it!










As for my barleywine, that too was quite an adventure. I was pretty confident with my plan and the recipe I had developed. After having an all-grain brewing session under my belt, I felt confident about the process, too. The brewing day did not go smoothly, though. I won't go into the whole day. Long story short, my initial mash temperature was too high, so I needed to spend time cooling it down, otherwise I wouldn't get proper conversions of starches to sugars. Then I didn't get a great extraction from the mash and then ended up gathering too much liquid to boil. So I did a 2 hour boil (for a second I thought I was Sam Calagione brewing his 120 minute IPA) so more liquid would evaporate. My first addition of hops (which were in the boil for the full 120 min.) were a crap shoot. These were a random mishmash of old hops given to me by the tour guide at the Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth, NH. He explained that these hops, although old, could be used just as well as bittering hops, but not aroma hops. And since he was offering me several ounces, I took them happily. Anyways, so I didn't know exactly what hops I was using, didn't know how old they were, and didn't even use a scale to measure how much I was using. So, let's just assume I used 2.5 oz of regular 'strength' bittering hops. The rest of the brew day was fine, but after nearly 7 or 8 hours of brewing (by myself!), I was pretty exhausted and frustrated. I was definitely not identifying with the idea of "relax, don't worry." I did have a homebrew, so at least I got that part right. To top it off, my beer got off to a very healthy, fast, vigorous fermentation, which is ideal for the quality of the beer. However, this also means one thing: beer volcano!! When the beer ferments, CO2 and all that nasty stuff that is bubbling at the top of the fermenter rush upwards until the only place to go is OUT! The beer spewed all over the laundry room, causing quite a mess. [It looks like the picture here, although this is not mine.] Apart from the pain of cleaning this up (actually, my roommate graciously cleaned most of it), I was pretty happy, because it meant at least the beer would be healthy. At this point, my barleywine is conditioning in the secondary fermenter doing quite well. I tasted it during the transfer, and it is actually good. It's going to be about 7.5-8% abv, which is fine, although I hoped for a bit higher. I'm considering letting it rest in there for a while, although it'd be fun to have ready for Christmas. I've also toyed with the idea of adding something to the fermenter to give it an interesting flavor, like raisins, or oak chips, or vanilla, or something like that. Maybe Chipotles. Those things are in everything these days, which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Who knows though, maybe they'll find their way into my Barleywine!

Not Slowing Down

Sunday is brewing day! The next beer is going to be a Barleywine, a style I have never made before. It's going to be a hefty one, too, which I'm excited about. I'm doing another all-grain batch, since the first went off so well. This one is almost twice as big, though, using about 16.5 pounds of grains!! The only tough thing will be to be patient enough to let it condition, as stronger beers often need a few months to mellow out. So, it'll at least be ready for Christmas, but most likely it'll be better by February, March, and perhaps even next winter! I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and I forgot to mention my other challenge. Colleen is totally ditching me in order to go baking with someone, so I'm all on my own. The literature often advises brewers to enjoy a brew throughout the process. I guess I'll have to enjoy double the amount since she won't be there to drink hers! Can't argue with math.

Wood....

The main purpose of the title of this post is to poke fun at Jake, because he tries to take credit for inspiring me to start my blog in the first place. One of my first posts about my veggies was quite similar to his. So, if you read Jake and Mary's latest blog post, you'll notice the similarities, at least this time.

However, I'm titling this "Wood..." because I need some to knock on. Many of you know of my agonizing efforts to find a roommate over the past few months. Finally, I think I have one. At least, I gave someone my keys today, and she gave me a check. As long as that check doesn't bounce and she doesn't use those keys to steal all my stuff while I'm out at work, I'm golden! I hate the fact that that's actually in the back of my mind, because that kind of stuff happens. So, I'll just knock on wood and assume everything will be good. Now where can I find that wood?

That reminds me. Did I ever tell you of my ingenious invention, co-created with Corey, that involves the simplest yet most widely needed materials? I call it the "Knock On Wood Block." Basically, it's a piece of wood. But oh! It's so much more. Not only is it wood, but it's wood specially designed to bring you luck, as well as those whom you are trying to send good vibes. We first came up with this during the 2004 World Series, during which Corey and I felt compelled to knock on wood at every single moment the Sox needed a little luck. And if you forget what happened.....they won. All thanks to our knocking. Just think of it! This block could be designed for any occasion, any home team, personalized, whatever! It's portable, light, and can come in any shape or size based on your personal needs. The production costs would be low and the value, well, that's priceless if it does for you what our knocking did for the Sox. Of course, I'm a social worker, not a business man. But, I'm convinced this could go places. If anyone out there wants to go in on this with me, maybe make a small investment, I'm ready to go. Just don't steal my idea and leave me in the dust. I'm not in a trusting mood lately.

Maybe later I'll tell you about my idea for selling bottled water outside clubs at 3am on the weekends. Well, that's pretty much all it is, so that's the idea.