So this year I am going to do what I think a lot of other people have done and probably are already doing. The beer that I am going to brew on Saturday will be an Irish Red. After that I am going to do some sort of British Ale and then move on to a Scottish Ale. When these beers are complete I am going to tackle different beers from Europe that I have wanted to try and brew. My wife is wanting me to attempt a fruit Lambic but that one I want to do some research for a good 4-5 months before doing. If anyone else has done this let me know!
Before you tackle fruit lambics ask yourself whether your wife likes those from Lindeman’s or those from Cantillon. Big difference. My wife likes the Lindemnn’s, and my fruit lambics tasted more like Cantillon’s. Which explains why she hated Cantillon’s beers when we visited in October 2013.
I too like to try brewing my favorite European beers, as some of them, especially the lower gravity ones, rarely arrive here in good shape. Plus, they are more of a challenge. Anyone can knock out a APA/IPA/IIPA that tastes great, try making a great Dusseldorf alt or Czech pilsner.
For the next 6 months, I’m gonna be happy to brew what I can when I can. I’ve got a BGSA sitting on matsutake mushrooms now and brewed a Duss. alt yesterday. Next week I’m doing 4 batches to evaluate different sugars, then I hope to sneak in an IPA sometime after that. Then I have 5 samples from Cascade Candi Syrup I have to brew with and evaluate. I had visions of brewing a Maibock soon, but I don’t know where that’s gonna fit. All of this on top of an incredibly tight deadline for the next book and travelling to promote the current one.
I brewed an Imperial IPA yesterday and have plans for a Maibock next month. I’ll be thinking of you when I brew it.
My retirement is sure a lot less hectic than yours.
Brewed Saison on New Years, IPA this Saturday, Coffee Stout in two weeks. All are trial beers for my wedding. Late to the game and if I am not happy, I will be making final adjustments on the next batch.
I’m trying to commit to brewing every 3 weeks. That’s 17 batches per year. Unfirtunately, I have about 25 batches in mind for the year. Will be interesting
Recently brewed APA. Gonna brew a standard bock, dortmunder, and all new hop varieties IPA(s) soon. Belgian
blond and American/oatmeal stout (Shakespeare-ish) hopefully after.
4 - 10 gallon batches and 1 - 15 gallon batch. Only 5 gallons of each beer is going to be served. The guys helping me brew and ferment these are taking the other portions. I’m paying for 100% of the ingredients.
4% 80/-, 5% kolsch (nelson fhw of course), 6% coffee stout, 6% saison, 7% IPA. Brew day is in 6 weeks and I’ve wasted way to much time brewing small test batches that I never get around to bottling. We will also have unlimited wine and a keg of a commercial pro-am beer from my saison recipe with basil in it.
Jonathan (mort) was going to be part of the brewday, but alas, he is moving back to the land of the topper and leaving more pliny for me.
Yeah, I needed a bit of everything and wanted to spread the ABV out. Having glasses printed with a monogram that our photographer is designing. Cheaper to buy and freight glasses compared to renting them.
This year I’m going to try to brew less, but give those brews the attention they deserve. My wife had some serious health issues last year, so free time was tough to come by. When I got a free day I would brew, but then a lot of batches got stuck hanging around waiting to be bottled/kegged/consumed.
Right now, I have 3 single-hop test batches going. The next 6 months will probably include a couple of lagers (my standard “Erocktoberfest” and a hoppy pale lager), my table saison, and some Berliner Weisse experiments.
I don’t have any plans for brewing this year, really… Maybe brew more lagers, more beers that I enjoy drinking instead of beers I only want to drink now and then. Kinda makes having 5 gallons of baltic porter not too appealing… But 5 gallons of helles, totally. Just need better planning I guess. I kind of want to stop reusing yeast as much and start brewing by style more sporadically instead of having to really plan what beers I’m brewing around a yeast. Don’t like being constrained…
Your wedding plans and beers sound sweet, Steve. If I ever get married, I’d like to do something similar. Get a jockey box setup and serve beers to people at the reception…
I’ve been veering toward beers that I can’t easily buy. Im working a series of Helles and Dunkels through the cold weather. Once it gets nice and warm I’m going to fill all four of my Speidels with farmhouse beers and take a break through summer. Spend more weekends on the Ultra this year, and we’ve got a couple bluegrass jam festivals to go to. Fall will probably bring me back to UK beers and I’m overdue for a good milk stout.