Another several weeks since my last post, and, like always, another bevy of beers to study and appreciate. My refrigerator has been a library of liquid libations for the last month or so, making it difficult to not only polish off these beauties, but also to select which one to drink next!
Aside from that, it is exciting for me to announce that I will begin my homebrewing endeavors this weekend in my converted garage of a living space. I've got my equipment, hops, yeast, and malt extract primed for bottled perfection. Here's a little insight regarding my homebrew:
I purchased my kit...excuse me. My dad actually purchased my kit as a Christmas gift, and it looks like he made a wise decision. This kit comes from Austin Brew Supply, one of the renown homebrew shops in Texas. It's a deluxe 5 gallon kit equipped with a couple handy tools you won't necessarily find in an intro kit such as a wort chiller and secondary fermenter. The kit's recipe itself is, I believe, for a brown ale brewed with amber extract, 0.875 lbs of malted grain for steeping, and 1 oz. of brewer's gold hops. However, I decided to spice things up a bit and added East Kent Goldings (EKGs: England) and Tetnang (Germany) hops to the recipe for added flavor and aroma, giving this beer a greater balance and a little more of a bite than a traditional English ale.
We'll see just how this brew turns out. I've been reading John Palmer's "How to Brew" for a beyond-crash course guide to watching my passion unfold in front of my eyes (and drip into 12 oz. and 22 oz. brown bottles). I plan to have a writeup and some good pictures for you to check out. Perhaps this will inspire you to begin homebrewing or to develop your own recipe.
I've also started to get involved in the beer community through a local homebrewing group, whom I will talk about more as my involvement in the group grows, and sites such as BeerAdvocate and CraftBeer.com. These are great hubs for articles, enthusiasts, homebrewers and other resources.
Lastly, I enjoyed a Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout last night and wrote a review about it on BeerAdvocate, giving it an A- overall; njpink1887 is my username.
You Stay Hoppy California,
Pink
