Homebrew update

Those of you who are regular readers have likely noticed that my volume of beer reviews has decreased significantly as of late. This is not because I have given up beer for lent or some other ridiculous notion. It is because of my new found fascination with home brewing.  I was surprised how much of an amateur beer dork I became so quickly. In my circle of swim team dad friends, there are now 3 home brewers. Our conversations now start and end with pictures of the beers we have made and debates of the merits of extract versus grain only brewing.

My first batch was way better than I expected and it has encouraged me to increase the volume and up my game. One of the biggest drawbacks to only making one gallon batches is that the 10 bottles of beer that result are gone so fast. After I allocated some singles for the people who encouraged me to give it a shot, I only had about 5 bottles to myself. Now I find myself without beers waiting on two batches in different stages of completion.

This is a Maple Porter that I got from the Brooklyn Brewshop. As it sounds, it is brewed with Maple syrup. Unfortunately some of the beer was spilled in the bottling process (hazards of having an 8 year old help) and I still have about a week to wait until these babies are ready.

In order to alleviate the problem of my beer running out too fast, I procured some additional equipment from a friend and have doubled my production for the next batch.

Above is a picture of my two gallon Mardi Gras stout courtesy of Brewstock in New Orleans. The beer gets its name from the fact that I brewed it on Fat Tuesday. I know, you don't have to tell me how clever I am. After making the larger batch I realized I need to upgrade some equipment. My one 3-gallon pot is not going to cut it. It will be another few weeks until these will be ready.

The latest from my brew closet. Ten bottles of Maple Porter, 2 gallons of Mardi Gras stout and 1 Belgian Blonde from the first batch. I had figured patience would be one of my biggest obstacles to brewing success. Looks like I have some time to try some professional beers.


Cheers!