My Hubby and I brew our own beer and mead (honey wine). We absolutely lurve this incredibly economical hobby! Right now, I've got an elderflower, yarrow and cranberry mead fermenting, and I can hardly wait until October to try it! Immature mead, of course, tastes nasty like sweet vomit when you sample it at racking time (racking = siphoning it into a wine jug, or secondary fermenter) because it requires a much longer aging time than beer, which is sometimes finished in a matter of weeks. But when mead is finished....mmmmmmmmm. My first batch of mead turned out so dry, so mildly sweet (in fact, you could even say it wasn't sweet at all), so amazingly smooth that I knew this simple brewing method would be my thang. I cannot wait to try this second batch infused with herbs and fruit! I've decided to wait to experiment with anything super-fruity because they are a little more...unpredictable. I want some serious success (i.e. plenty of available bottles) under my belt before I suffer through any mead explosions or disappointments. Some things I'd like to try are dandelion, elderberry, rose, chamomile, nettle, red clover, lemon balm, burdock, catnip, mallow, and a lavender, borage & violet flower blend to make a blue colored wine, an idea from Joyce Wardwell's 'The Herbal Home Remedy Book'.
Our latest beer experiment was a Surly Furious kit from our brewing supplier (from the AMAZING beer crafters at Surly Brewing), and oh man, that is some tasty, delicious hoppy goodness!! My Hubby loves his bitter, hoppy beers, and I enjoy them once in awhile, but I'm definitely a stout-drinkin' gal, I especially love oatmeal stouts. I love the smooth, low-bitter, dark and hearty beers like Left Hand Milk Stout, Summit Oatmeal Stout, and Guinness-which is the hoppiest of the three. It's like a meal in a glass! We're hoping to try our hand at oatmeal stouts come the cooler months, but the process is a bit more complicated, called partial-mash, and we've not tried it yet. My favorite ales are things with low-fizz like Boddington's, Newcastle, and the recently discovered wonder-beer from our local Harriet Brewing Company. I am a MEGA fan of The Libertine, which is a crafted beer of superior excellence from the conveniently located Fulton Brewery (just a few blocks away and quickly becoming a second home), and everything they make is delicious. I recently had The Worthy Adversary (and by their beer names, you can tell they are The Big Lebowski die-hards, like myself) and within a few sips of this powerpunch beer, you feel as if you truly are A Worthy Adversary! I LOVE ME SOME FULTON'S!
It's much easier to brew beer in the cooler months, but especially in the dead of winter because you can just plop the wort outside to bring the temperature down quickly. We're planning on trying a Juleøl beer for Yule time, which is a traditional Norwegian beer that is made for Yule/Christmas. We will probably just grab a pre-made beer kit from Northern Brewer, using a chocolatey stout and add our own spices and/or herbs. One thing we learned the hard way with the Furious experiment is this: ALWAYS use a muslin bag for infusing herbs. It's less mess, and if you've cleaned up beer wort before, you know just how nasty the clean-up can be!!
Happy Brew-Witching!
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