Brew Day. Resurrected Post.

Brew day! It has been a while. This is my first attempt at brewing entirely from mail order ingredients. I enjoy living out where I do, but to date I do not have access to a conveniently located home brewing supply store.

I bought a new, larger brew kettle since my old kettle does not have the capacity required to avoid the boil-overs my natural gas powered burner is prone to cause. It worked like a champ, containing the churning wort trying to escape the pot.

The recipe involved a number of precisely timed hop additions. No problem. The problem is that the sheer amount of hops resulted in so much residue that transferring it to the primary fermenter clogged up the sieve in the funnel. Took a bit of doing to accomplish. I’m going to have to be cautious when I keg the beer, try to filter the particulate matter that I couldn’t sieve out initially.

The little difficulties add to the pleasure. I mean, not at the time. They’re frustrating. But overcoming small obstacles are a part of the reward of making something. And I like making things. I lack the handyman genes. They run strongly through my family but appear to have skipped me. So I write books and brew beer as my creative outlet. It works out. And I get the drink the beer.