Well, after a couple of weeks of the beer fridge sitting empty, there are now two full ones waiting for the love and attention only a house full of people can provide. Last night they were tapped, and I had the pleasure than doesn't come often enough: evaluating my time and effort by the pintful. First off, the IPA I made didn't really come off how I had hoped. It seems clear to me that the problem is mostly one of hops, namely not enough. Not enough boiling hops, not enough dry hopping. Easily fixed next time. And then for the amber. This beer is pretty damn good. I used Horizon hops for the bittering hops, and they definitely have a different flavor. I thought they might be overpowering, and when I racked the beer into the secondary they were a bit too much. But now it just works very very well. Yeah for beer, thats what I say. And now to the future: I'm on track for a full scale, purple-clad, scepter wielding Imperial Porter. I think I might give up calling it a Baltic Porter, as originally planned, but that is certainly the inspiration. This one won't be done for a while, as it is going to be a huge huge beer. And as we all know, it takes time for beers to grow. I'm excited. Should be a busy day Sunday, what with brewing and then also bottling two other batches in anticipation for the homebrew party up in Seattle. Luckily, I've got two kegs of beer to help me through.
Well, another weekend is at hand, and another brew day is planned for Sunday. While I have been planning on following Big Dave's suggestion and trying my hand at a Baltic Porter, I think I need to put it off for a week. If I brew something a bit lighter this weekend, I can have a very nice yeast bed to pitch the porter onto next weekend. So that is the plan. Therefore, Sunday will be the inaugural batch of Basement Brown, named after the basement, where the magic happens.
In other basement-brewing notes, I racked the IPA I brewed a few weeks ago into a keg and started dry-hopping it. I racked the Red Eye Rye to the secondary and upon tasting I must say I am very excited. This third try at this recipe is definitely better thant the second. It should be a hit at the homebrew party out of Seattle the first weekend of October. At this point it looks like I will be bringing the only 6-pack of the Auf Wiedersehn Alt I get my hands on, the Pivo Pilsner I have been lagering for the last few months, and of course the Pappe original, Red Eye Rye. I expect I will be rather popular. Oh, and probably rather drunk.
Portland is blessed with a populace that give beer the attention it deserves. There are some amazing beer festivals for each season, and it seems new ones pop up every year. Port Halling, a brewpub out in Gresham, is hosting an organic beer festival this Saturday, and it should be great. Unfortunately, i will be heading the wrong direction (west instead of east) to go camping and will miss out on all the fun, but i implore anyone out there that actually reads this stuff to represent and sample some beer. Hell, write a review of the event and i will put on here with all my drivel. Now if that isn't encouragement, i don't know what is.
For the third weekend in a row, i fired up the kettle and brewed me some beer. I tried my hand, for the third time, at my first truly original recipe, what i lovingly refer to as Red Eye Rye. The first batch was awesome, the second batch was good but not as, and i suspect this one will be somewhere in between. I chose RER because i will be heading up to Seattle the first weekend of October for an awesome homebrew party/tasting/contest extravaganza, and i thought a Ryan Pappe original would be a good contribution. The RER, a six pack of Aufwiedersehen Alt, and perhaps some of my yet to be released Pivo Pilsener will be my entries in the tasting. Last year i was awarded second place for my Portentious Porter, and i would like to represent again.
In other news, the huge fig tree in our yard is spitting out fruit by the pounds, so the house is trying to get creative. Barry found a recipe for fig wine, so we should be giving that a try here any time. The brewing adventure continues....
I did brew again this last weekend, an amber that I pitched on the yeast from the IPA, so it should ferment very well and very quickly. That leads me to consider this upcoming weekend, and the brewing opportunities there to be found. Anyone have any suggestions for a style? With an IPA and an Amber heading for the taps within the next few weeks, perhaps something a bit different? Also, if anyone wants to get me a lovely gift, I could use a nice powerdrill for installing taps, building stands for kettles and such, and for general menacing of the housemates.