Update, apology, etc.

First and foremost...I've been busy. I'm now officially retired, and the whole process of not working anymore is a little more complicated than just not getting in the car every day. But, that's all behind me, and I can now devote myself to more important things, like beer.

One nice thing about retirement is that I have a steady income, and LOTS of free time. The best part of that is that my beer cabinet is back up to capacity.

I've made an English mild ale, a spiced winter ale, a porter, my first ever Imperial IPA, an I now have fermenting a mocha stout.

The stout has a story. My niece, Emily, for the last few years, has hosted a family party for St Patrick's Day. She makes and Irish stew, with stout in the gravy. Last year, she asked me to brew a stout just for the event. I was happy to do so.

During the past year, the wheels started turning in my head. My son and nephew both brew, so why not have a little friendly competition for next St Paddy"s Day? They both agreed, my daughter-in-law asked in, so now the four of us are competing for the right to have their stout included in that night's stew.

We're calling it The St Patrick's Day Stout Smackdown, and a friend of ours, Will Siss, who writes a column for the local paper called The Beer Snob, has agreed to be judge for our little competition. Will also has an online blog at http://willsiss.com, or http://drinkreadlive.blogspot.com/

The actual lineup of beers promises to be very interesting. I'm making a mocha stout, coffee and chocolate, my son is making one flavored with oak chips, my nephew plans to flavor his with bacon, and my son's wife will be using vanilla chai.

I've said this elsewhere. I'd like to win. But, since they all brew because of me, to some extent, even if I lose, I win.

Random Brewing Update

Sorry I haven't devoted as much time to this as previously. I've been busy getting my finances in order, preparing for Christmas, and preparing for the Mayan Apocalypse. <G>

I mention on my podcast that one thing I'm constantly re-learning is patience. I had brewed a spiced holiday ale for Christmas, but, when it was conditioned, it tasted like an ordinary brown ale. Not terrible, but without the the fruity, spicy character I was looking for.

So, I waited another couple of weeks, and tried it again. And there it was! The orange flavor was perfect, and the cinnamon was very close to what I had hoped for.

The lesson here is that no beer is a failure. Either it needs a bit more time to mature, or there is a lesson to be learned. Either way, the passage of time will make things clear.

Since the Christmas Ale came out well, here's the recipe:

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2 lbs 2-row malt
8 oz chocolate malt
8 oz 80L crystal malt
3 lbs light liquid malt extract
1 oz Cascade Hops (6.5% AA)
1 pkt dry ale yeast
1 oz sweet dried orange peel
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
=============================

Grains were mashed for an hour at 154 F, then boiled for an hour with the hops and extract. The orange peel and cinnamon were added for the last 15 minutes of the boil. Everything was strained out from the primary. Fermentation was a week, then I bottled.

Straining out the cinnamon was a bit difficult, so I might change my process next time, and add the cinnamon to the primary.

Even after 24 years, I'm still learning.

Life Is Finally Getting Better

First off, apologies for being away from this blog for so long. I've been busy trying to get my financial house back in order.

Things are finally better.

To celebrate my new improved condition, I ordered ingredients for several beers. Since I haven't been able to brew for about 7 months, i first wanted to make something fast and easy, to get some beer back in the house.

I brewed up an English Mild Ale, an easy and tasty beer, and a recipe I know by heart.

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Mild Ale

3 lbs light malt extract
8 ozs chocolate malt
1 oz Willamette hops (3.7% AA)
1 pkt ale yeast
==========================

After steeping the chocolate malt in warm water for about 30 minutes, I took them out, added the extract and hops, and boiled for an hour. Then I added this to 2 gallons of cold water, added more water to bring it up to 4 gallons total, tossed in my yeast, waited a week.

I'm really pleased with the result. The beer is low in alcohol (about 2.5%), light bodied, and flavorful.

And, most important, I'm back to brewing!

REBOOT!

My last homebrewing podcast was back on August 26. Now, my finances are better, I'm back brewing, so it only seems reasonable I start yapping about it again.

So, starting on Sunday, Nov 18, at 6:30 PM, EST, you can go to http://blogtalkradio.com/youmakewhat and listen to me prattle on about my favorite hobby.

So, I hope you'll listen, maybe even call.

Back in the saddle

I've decided. I now have beer to make, there fore, I have something to talk about. I'm restarting my brewing podcast.

My first new show will be Sunday, Nov 18, at 6:30 PM, at http://blogtalkradio.com/youmakewhat

Hopefully, I can get back the people who used to listen, and attract some new folks.

Finally, Some Good News!

The last time I had money to brew was waaay back in April. My financial picture has finally gotten better. So, one of the first things I did was to order supplies to make three different beers.

It'll be here in just a couple of days. I'm getting stuff to make a mild ale, a spiced Christmas ale, and a porter. I think I'll do the mild first, because that will get beer in the house fastest.

Also, since I can be back brewing, I also plan to go back to talking about it. I'm going to restart my brewing podcast.

It's hard to describe how happy I am. Life is beginning to look pretty good.

Unrelated

OK, this has nothing to do with brewing, but I had to share this. I saw a clip of Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I love listening to him, and I feel it illustrates a point I had made on another blog, at http://joestarot.bravesites.com. I'm not sure if I got this exactly right, but it's as close as I can remember it.

"One thousand years ago, we "knew" the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, we "knew" the world was flat. What will we "know" tomorrow?"

My point is that we don't know what we think we do. What was once nuts is now accepted. What is nuts now may one day be true.