Home brewing antics can now be found at my other blog; http://gettinggrist.blogspot.com/

Monday 21 March 2011

Drought

Dark times at home.My homebrew haven is no longer the retreat it should be. Unbelievably, there’s nowt to drink. Or next to nowt.

An unbelievable state of affairs I know, and I’m doing my best to get my house in order, but last night I had to resort to commercial ale. Actually, it’s no hardship, and while some brews remind me why I like to brew my own, others simply inspire me.

And it’s not a complete homebrew drought, it’s just that I don’t have much ready; I have half a keg of the something I’m saving that to take to friends at the end of the month. I also have 5 gallons of an IPA conditioning, 5 Gallons of Schwarzbier lagering and 10 gallons of another IPA fermenting. So plenty of beer, just nothing ready. Well, nothing other than the Simonds, and that’s not really a quaffing ale.

So I cracked open a couple of wheat beers. Not my usual poison of choice, but unless you try these things you never know. I only brewed 5 gallons of the Simonds because I convinced myself it wasn’t my type of beer, and how wrong I was. So I’m not about to dismiss the wheat beer, just because it’s something I wouldn’t normally pick.

I was impressed with the clear wheat beer. Not because of the clarity, but it genuinely tasted nicer. A fresh, well carbonated beer with banana up front and definite hints of clove in the finish.

I didn't think much of the other, and while neither will become regulars in my shopping trolley, I probably would buy the Kristall again, most probably at some stage during the summer.

So, what I need to do now is get another brew on PDQ. A lowish gravity ale that I can get ready quickly, to restore some order and plug the gap I currently have. If things go well this week, maybe I'll fire up the brewgear again on Friday. Until then I have jobs to do up the allotment. It's going to be a busy week and work will simply have to wait until the weekend.

Expect an allotment post real soon.

5 comments:

  1. I am in a similar position. Lots of beer but none to drink (well OK, half a pin, but you get the point).

    And expect a certain amount of derision if you are enjoying a beer with amber malt in it. You see? You are turning. It'll be brown malt next... Maybe not.

    I agree with you about boughten beer. Some is clearlt inferior to your own but some makes you think, "how can I make something like that?"

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  2. My situation is opposite, I have loads of beer in. Problem is from now on Im brewing at home so I have to sort a few things before my next batch. Looks like I might well be in a drought period in not too long.

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  3. @mentaldental I'm expecting a few jibes over the Simonds. It's one of the best tasting beers I've made and I can't believe I only brewed a 5 gallon batch. See you on Tuesday for a taster!

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  4. I am going to miss real wheaty beer. I love it. I love everything about it. Have you ever brewed a gluten free batch?

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  5. @Beth - you're not the first to ask this. Ali mentioned a gluten free batch, but it's not easy to do on a homebrew scale http://plot66.blogspot.com/2011/03/homebrew-review.html#comments

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