We're many things, Best Ever Husband and I, but cutting-edge isn't one of them. It seems like everyone and their brother's been brewing beer lately -- or perhaps we just surround ourselves with especially awesome peeps
? -- and we jumped into the fray only recently.
The pints you see above are our inaugural brew, a porter. We brought a few bottles to a gathering at a friend's house, where it was given the name Dark Horse Porter (much better than its default moniker: From-a-Kit Porter). Dark Horse suits it nicely, actually; it's quite good, and I had set my expectations, shall we say, not decidedly high.
Our sophomore effort is brewing as we speak, and this time around we've got the name ready in advance: Christmas Cookie Ale. Take a kit for nut brown ale, add some vanilla and cinnamon, and (hopefully) you've got a tasty beverage that'll be ready just in time for the holidays.
7 comments:
Starting off with a porter, you're brave! Actually, our homebrew kit came with a lager, so that's why we started with that.
Our next batch is bottled and waiting as we speak, and we have another in Stew the Brewer, fermenting. Can't wait until the bottled one is done carbonating (it's a old-style dark brew).
It's habit-forming, so consider yourself warned.
L, yum, that sounds terrific! The porter was definitely from a kit, so don't be too impressed. I'm actually intimidated by lagers - don't they need a very specific temperature for fermenting?
Justin, duly noted. If we always have interesting beer in the house, I'm ok with that.
Brewing is habit forming! We've brewed 20 gallons or so this year. On most days we've got 8-10 different types of beer in the house.
We brewed our Christmas Ale this weekend. It should be ready to sample Christmas Eve.
Did you do the "We've got Fermintation" dance when you started to see things bubble?
In my experience, the Fermentation Dance is often followed by the Dear God, What Is That Smell? chant.
Sounds pretty cool! Would you post what went in to your brew? I'm curious to hear what went into your porter. We're getting a bit more exotic each time, though still trying to get our bearings. Did you pitch the yeast dry? What temp were you fermenting at, mostly?
I think The Awesome Husband may have done the "We've Got Fermentation" dance. I'm partial to the "This Actually Tastes Good!' dance, myself.
eaf, we used a kit and added an ounce each of vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. I'm not sure what precisely was in the kit (and to be honest, my primary contribution to the process was stirring). I do know that the goal temperature when we cooled everything down was 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and now it's fermenting in our basement, which is cooler than that. I hope that's at least a little helpful!
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