New brew

So we stopped by the brew shop today. We were able to taste two beers. One was the whiskey stout the other a pumpkin spice porter. My next beer will be the whiskey stout for sure but I am thinking a pumpkin spiced cream ale as well. Any thoughts?

11/19/2012
The guys at Anuway actually added unfermentable sugar to this brew. It gave it a slightly sweet taste on the front of the tongue and the familiar bit of a stout on the back of the tongue. It was very nice. I to believe I will be picking this kit up in a week or so to start a brew of this.

Connection between Hops and Marijuana?

Hops Plant

          OK I wasn't so sure about this article until I read it. Now I find this subject very interesting! And the mad scientist in me wants to know what would happen if you actually used both in a beer brew!!!

          Anyone out there in CO or WA who are brewers want to give this a try? Could make a most interesting beer for sure!

Hmmm foamer beer?

BeerSci: How To Make Beer Foamier

   This is an article I was reading on PopSci and thought I would share... thought it was most interesting!

          The article is well worth reading. Take a few minutes and read. I an so betting into this whole brewing things. Anything I find I will make sure to share through the blog posts.

New supplies... so excited!!!!

          So this evening I am going to pick up two Ball Lock Soda Kegs so I can start using them for some of my beers. Though I will still be bottling some of the beers, I want to get to the point where I have beer ready sooner, especially seasonal type beers. One Saturday I am picking up a small deep freezer. The brewing shop has a device that will allow me to control the temp of the freezer so it will be perfect for my kegs... AND making lagers... that one I am really excited about as I love a good lager.

11/13/2012

          I picked up the two 5 gallon ball lock kegs and two liquid connectors. Got them for $90. from all the sites I have been looking on that is pretty darn cheap for the two. They are in great shape... a little scuffed on the outside but all the connection ports and seals are good. The guy even had them cleaned really good. Next week I am going to go ahead and pick up a seasonal beer and a whiskey stout beer (it has chips from a whiskey barrel for flavoring... this should be AWESOME). 

My brewing name.... who knows I might be the next Sam Adams!

          So I hung out with friends in Tulsa yesterday. We went hiking on a 4.4 miles (2.5 hour) backpacking tracking. It was wonderful. I am such a big kid in the woods... especially when there are huge stones around for me to climb. There is just something about those stones... they are the bones of our mother. I feel so close to her when I am near them.
 
          There was a nice big rock I climbed and sat on for a nice little rest. It came to me the name for my brew.... 'Sitting Stone Brew's'. It is a play on the Standing Stones... and because I love nature and sitting on large stones. So there is the name of my brews!

Orange Spiced Agave Wine - started 11/1/2012

          When I went to purchase my first around of honey from the local co-op I saw that they had fresh bulk agave nectar. That of course made me wonder what it would be like to brew with agave as the base. I know that agave is the base for Tequila but what would it be like as a wine or even a beer?

          So I talked with Larri about what would it take to create a brew using agave. She explained it should be just like doing any other wine or mead. She helped me come up with a really great recipe for making it. Here is the recipe:

TBS (To Be Started)
Ingredients:

• 1/2-1 gallon agave nectar (for 2 gallon bucket)
• 1 gallon Purified Water
• 2 lbs of sugar
• 1/2 gallon fresh organic orange juice
• 1/2 lb dried orange peels
• 3 cinnamon sticks (Mexican food aisle has great cinnamon bark sticks)
• 3 whole cloves (Mexican food aisle has great cloves) 
• 1/2 teaspoon pectin enzyme
• 1 Campden tablet
• yeast nutrients (1 1/2 teapsons for 4 days)
• mesh bag
• 1 2 gallon fermentation bucket and lid
• 1 airlock
• easy clean sterilization solution

11/1/2012
Sterilized 2 gallon bucket, lid, and airlock. Boiled half gallon of purified water then dissolved agave nectar and sugar into the water. Once cooled a bit added 1/2 gallon all natural orange juice, pectin enzyme, cinnamon sticks, 1 Campden tablet, and gloves. Placed lid and airlock on bucket. Filled airlock halfway with water. Letting stand for 12 hours before adding yeast and yeast nutrients.

11/2/2012
Added yeast and yeast nutrients. Replaced lib and airlock.

11/17/2012
Moved this wine over for secondary fermentation bucket. Liquid is still very cloudy at this point. I added yeast nutrients, Campden tablet, and pectin enzyme because there was still a lot of orange pulp in the wine. There was still a heavy spell of juice, cinnamon and cloves. The muck was very thin and runny at this point. Replaced lid and filled airlock.

1/15/2013
Moved wine over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The aroma was so slight I could barely smell it. The flavor was a ting bit tangy, sweet, and mild. I really am excited to see where this will be since it is only a few months old.

A name?

          OK so I am trying to come up with a name for my brews. I thought about something like 'leaning tree', 'standing tree', or 'druid tree'... heck even 'A Druid's Brew'... what do you all think?