So it's been a relatively busy summer brewing season. However, almost as important as the awesome beer that we keep cranking out, is what our neighborhood has cranked out for us. A beer bar has opened about 3.5 blocks away from our house. It's called Meridian Pint, and it constantly has a decent selection of American microbrews at a fair price. Now, I wouldn't usually hand out free plugs like this, but they've been a big help for us as well. They have a program for freely giving out their used 22oz bottles to homebrewers. I remember literally jumping into a trash dump behind a Mexican restaurant in Sugar Land to get bottles for my first batch (this was Summer 2006) because restaurants didn't want to give out their used bottles.
OK, so brews. We first revisited the IPA. The original was the Brothel's Virgin IPA, but we've had some experience now, and we're going for the Sloppy Seconds IPA. Yes, our naming scheme might not be the most savory, but at least here it's consistent. The only difference from the original, is we used more finishing hops, and we made sure to tie the hops bag less tightly so we could get more extraction. Overall, we were able to get a more hoppy flavor, and although it was a well balanced beer, it really needed to be hoppy. Our keg of it just got finished last week, and I was sad to see it end.
Our next beer is the Backsweat Grand Cru. This was named as such because DC is having an absurdly hot summer, and backsweat is just a part of life that we've all had to embrace. It's not pleasant, but it's not something unique to any one person. We all must acknowledge it mutually, and move on. This beer will comemorate the shared experience, and as we drink it in the cooling breezes of early fall, we can look back at what a great summer it was. This recipe was actually very similar to the Belgian White that I brewed back in Winter 2006 (some very brief notes on it here). We haven't tasted it yet, but I think it will be good. Here's Geordie crushing the coriander, with Chris (a helper!) in the foreground:
Most recently we've brewed a Belgian Dubbel. This one is currently sitting in primary (6 gallons worth!). It is currently unnamed, and is unlike any beer we've done before (10 lbs dry malt extract!). Also, we were supposed to add honey at the beginning, but we didn't have any, so we used maple syrup. Should be fun to see what happens. I'll keep you posted.
R, DW, HAHB,
JJ
2 comments:
Read, Drink Well, Have a Home Brew?
Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.
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