Hey Everyone,
I thought I would take the time, the first time in almost two months, to give you an update as to what's going with beer in California and what I'm up to in my beer endeavors.
I recently joined a Silicon Valley/South Bay homebrewer's group known as the "Worts of Wisdom," or "worts" for short. It's an excellent group of a few dozen people who not only have a passion for homebrewing, but also a talent for homebrewing. Hopefully I'll gain a lot from the worts and learn how to put out some outstanding batches of my own. From crisp kölsch ales, to American IPAs, to chocolate and bourbon-inspired stouts, Worts of Wisdom members have dazzled me with their brews. You are more than likely to find their beers snatching up the awards at local and regional contests.
As for my homebrewing experiences, I have yet to turn out a solid beer in my two attempts. I found that in both batches I left the beer in te primary fermenter too long. I may also be using too much sanitizing solution, especially when it comes to filling the airlock. I think I'll use just boiled/distilled water for that next time. My second beer, a dunkelweizen, looked very promising at one point with a ruby brown color and phenolic/banana aromas. But then I left it sitting there for too long and now t tastes a little too soapy for anyone's liking. I'm definitely going to try brewing it again at some point this year.
As you may know, the SF Bay Area hosted a giant "beer week" in February, bringing in many breweries from up and down the state to showcase quality brew, food and more. Sacramento, a sometimes over-looked micro-hub in California, is in the middle of its beer week right now. These events around the state and in other parts of the US like Colorado and Boston (Extreme Beer Festival March 11-13). Speaking of Boston, I'll actually be in Bean-Town next weekend — unfortunately not for the beer, but for another trade show. I'm sure I'll still have time to sample some great local beer and whatnot.
Lastly, I'm really enjoying the brews put out by Port Brewing / Lost Abbey out of San Marcos (north of San Diego). I really enjoyed their roasted, but not overly malted, Midnight Expression black lager.
I'll give you more of an interesting entry when things get...more interesting! In the meantime, please head over to my Twitter where I post some interesting news/features about beer all over the world.
You stay hoppy California,
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