Ramble On

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Brew, Share, Enjoy ... Repeat


Neighbor Dan has undertaken some upgrades at the little brewing operation he’s had going on over there around the bend.  It all started last spring when he decided he was ready to graduate to all-grain brewing – the pots required to do this are just too big to fit in a standard kitchen, so it’s typical that a home brewer would move outside or to the garage once he or she reaches this threshold. 

In his case, Dan had room in the little barn on the property – I’ve posted in the past about his efforts to get the place in shape for scaling up the operation.  Last week I stopped by for a little while to visit him and Sally, and they told me he’d be brewing on Saturday, so I stopped by with Tessie to help out.

There’s a plan to feature a Beaver Run Brewery product at an upcoming nuptial, and he was setting out to brew a batch of the Flat Tale IPA.  I learned that he will be putting part of the batch into the new kegs, shown here.  That’s an upgrade even from the all-grain move!

While we were waiting on the boil, another one of the valley home brewers, Josh, stopped by to use the grain mill so that he could grind some malt for an upcoming brew he’d planned – an oatmeal stout.  I didn’t get the whole grain bill, but I know it includes Briess Victory, English Barley, and English Dark Crystal malts – he gave me 4 oz. leftovers of each, which I ground to save and mix in with a future brew.
 
During all of this, we sampled a few home brews.  I’d brought along a quart of the honey porter and the saison, while Dan had his smoked ale – “Rauch” – and Josh had a double IPA to share.  This was a robust range of styles, very suitable for a winter’s day.  I’d look forward to a tasting like that anytime!

Soon enough, it was dark and the boil was finished.  We called it a day.  But I can say this, that’s a lucky couple who will soon be enjoying that Flat Tail IPA “vom fass!”

No comments: