A Year of Blogging

Things are looking up!

Thank you for reading my blog! This is around the one year anniversary of when I first started working on my blog. I can't say that my blog has always been easy, but it has been fun.

The main thing I've learned: It's the Yeast Stupid.
Quality ingredients matter; Grains have flavors; yadda yadda yadda. The flavor of signature beers has as much to do with the yeast as with anything else. You can't make a Belgian beer without Belgian yeast. You can't make a sour without acids and micro-flora.

If anyone is reading this please post a comment of what you've learned from brewing in your years of experiences.

New Brinkman Smoker: Pork, Pork, & More Pork

Small Place Big Brews is growing again. I am going to start including brew food. Nothing gets friends to gather around to drink your free beer like the promise of free food. I'm a huge fan of grilled foods, smoked foods, Chinese food and pizza. If I had my dream brewery it would serve somethings like this: Southern foods, ribs, meats, smoked foods, refreshing summer pale ales, saisons, sours, barrel aged beers, and wood fired pizzas. Someday after I get a house with a fenced in back yard, and a deck I'll construct a wood fired pizza oven on that deck. then I'll host my friends for brews and home cooked foods.

This Brinkman Gourmet Smoker is the first outdoor grill I've ever bought. The cost was a modest $39.95. It's a serviceable model, but with a few modifications it becomes a premium model. There isn't an accurate thermometer, the body leaks air and smoke, and the controls are lack luster. I can fix all of this.

Fruiting My Batch 001 Sour

Tonight I tried my batch 001 homegrown sour. The dregs from the jolly pumpkin beer that I cultured have given the batch a refreshing sourness. It didn't quite have the tart bite I wanted so I decided to go with blueberry for my fruit. I have around 2-2.5 gallons of brew in my carboy. So tonight I went out to buy 5 pounds of blueberries. Buying blueberries in this volume gave me a nice discount over the per pint price. Blueberries have a special place in my heart as well. My grandfather Emil was a blueberry farmer. When my mother needed a break from having kids my sister and I were sent to the farm to play. This often involved peanut butter and jelly lunches and all you can eat blueberries. I could eat lots, and often did. My over exposure to blueberries as a child caused me to detest the flavor of blueberries for the longest time. I didn't regain an appreciation for the flavors of this delicate fruit until my mid twenties (a few years back).

(read more after the break.)

Iron Brewer Brewday

I procrastinated far too long on this brew. I did what I had to do though. I have no regrets about choosing Sarah, and My Father on separate weekends over brewing beer a bit sooner. I still think a month is plenty of time for a low alcohol brew. The internet indicated 91% apparent attenuation in under two weeks. I am not too worried.

I picked up the grain and hops from Sicilianos on Friday morning. I rushed home to brew. I choose to go with fresh lemons and rosemary instead of the dried options. I used my micro plane grater to de-zest four lemons and I chopped up a sprig of rosemary. From those measures I measured out my accurate weights.

(read more after the break.)