Many little things have happened that I haven't taken the time to write about. I'd like to do a little catching up.
New Beers I've tried -
Milwaukee Ale House - Weisenbock. I think this was a contest beer that had been made and was put on their menu. Lucky for me, it was there when we cashed in a Groupon and had lunch there on thier terrace on the river. It was a fantastic combination of a weiss beer and a bock beer.
Moosehead Lager - Canadian beer. I enjoyed it, but it was nothing special. Much like big American beers, but a little better.
Sapporo - Japanese Beer. It was okay.
Furthermore Three Feet Deep. It had a nice smokey flavor, but it had a little too much of a roasted flavor. If they'd taken that down a notch it would have been a really good beer.
Probably a couple of other foreign beers that I don't remember.
Sand Creek Brewing Company - Wild Ride IPA and Hard Lemonade
Fourth of July weekend I brewed my first batch of beer - Northern Brewer's St. Paul Porter. I messed up using the hydrometer so I have no idea if what the specific gravity actually is. I know what it should be - just not what my batch also is. I also had to fudge some of what I was doing because I couldn't use the bottling bucket. My kit was missing the spigot. I went to the Northern Brewer store near my home and got a spigot for free, but not until after the beer was in the carboy. I also ran it as a single fermentation since I didn't have a secondary fermenter. I'll have to buy myself another carboy so I have a secondary fermenter. I'll probably buy two, so I can run overlap making two batches. Bottling day went well. I had a good bit of prep time because instead of buying a case of bottles, I'd kept all of my pry off bottles, so I had to de-label, clean and sanitize them. They worked quite well for bottling. Today they are ready to go into the fridge.
Having used up all of my sanitizer and being done with my first batch of beer, I made a trip today to Northern Brewer. In having made my first batch, I found that chilling the wort took a long time. So in addition to sanitizer, I bought a wort chiller. And a new kit. I wanted to try one that Amanda would try with me, so I picked up a raspberry wheat beer. I'll have to make it soon, but not today.
We also did the second anual Brewfest on the Milwaukee lakefront. They definately learned from last year. The event was big. Lots of vendors with lots of good beer. And enough bathrooms this time. I had so much fun that I have to admit I didn't take any time to take notes. I tried plenty of new beers. Some okay. Some very good. I think I took some pictures, so maybe I'll post a little more about it later.
I don't know that I've learned much more about beer. But I know that I've had some very good beers and have had a lot of fun.
New Beers I've tried -
Milwaukee Ale House - Weisenbock. I think this was a contest beer that had been made and was put on their menu. Lucky for me, it was there when we cashed in a Groupon and had lunch there on thier terrace on the river. It was a fantastic combination of a weiss beer and a bock beer.
Moosehead Lager - Canadian beer. I enjoyed it, but it was nothing special. Much like big American beers, but a little better.
Sapporo - Japanese Beer. It was okay.
Furthermore Three Feet Deep. It had a nice smokey flavor, but it had a little too much of a roasted flavor. If they'd taken that down a notch it would have been a really good beer.
Probably a couple of other foreign beers that I don't remember.
Sand Creek Brewing Company - Wild Ride IPA and Hard Lemonade
Fourth of July weekend I brewed my first batch of beer - Northern Brewer's St. Paul Porter. I messed up using the hydrometer so I have no idea if what the specific gravity actually is. I know what it should be - just not what my batch also is. I also had to fudge some of what I was doing because I couldn't use the bottling bucket. My kit was missing the spigot. I went to the Northern Brewer store near my home and got a spigot for free, but not until after the beer was in the carboy. I also ran it as a single fermentation since I didn't have a secondary fermenter. I'll have to buy myself another carboy so I have a secondary fermenter. I'll probably buy two, so I can run overlap making two batches. Bottling day went well. I had a good bit of prep time because instead of buying a case of bottles, I'd kept all of my pry off bottles, so I had to de-label, clean and sanitize them. They worked quite well for bottling. Today they are ready to go into the fridge.
Having used up all of my sanitizer and being done with my first batch of beer, I made a trip today to Northern Brewer. In having made my first batch, I found that chilling the wort took a long time. So in addition to sanitizer, I bought a wort chiller. And a new kit. I wanted to try one that Amanda would try with me, so I picked up a raspberry wheat beer. I'll have to make it soon, but not today.
We also did the second anual Brewfest on the Milwaukee lakefront. They definately learned from last year. The event was big. Lots of vendors with lots of good beer. And enough bathrooms this time. I had so much fun that I have to admit I didn't take any time to take notes. I tried plenty of new beers. Some okay. Some very good. I think I took some pictures, so maybe I'll post a little more about it later.
I don't know that I've learned much more about beer. But I know that I've had some very good beers and have had a lot of fun.
