I don't know about you but I found that it is extremely hard to find time to brew during the holiday season. Any free time goes to shopping, get togethers, and spending time with the kids. Not of these things are bad mind you, but it definitely makes it hard to keep up with brewing. So I've dumped two neglected yeast starters in the past few weeks and I hope I can get back on track here. I really want to get my Flanders Reds bottled and corked up here on New Years Eve. I have two different batches of Sour Red that I have been playing around with as far as blending is concerned. I've tried blending them many different ways with each other and it just so turns out that my favorite mix of the two is a 50/50 blend. This works out perfect because all I have to do is rack both of them into a big vessel and bottle from there rather than try to make sure I have my ratio right were it something weird like 55/35 or something. And no it's not some deep down lazy part of my psyche telling me that the 50/50 blend tastes best because it is the easiest way to do it. Although I think that's they way my mind works alot of the time. I'm excited to use my new corker that I bought and I look forward to popping open some of this beer with some friends. Nothing beats popping a cork off of a hefty belgian style bottle of beer. I'll take pics of the corking process, maybe even some video (or the wife will I should say) and post them on here soon. I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year.
Cheers,
Brew more in '09!
Brian
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5 comments:
Brew more in 2009...now there's a New Year's resolution that I can stick too.
Sounds AWESOME Brian. I'm brewing a Flanders Red tomorrow. My first try at one. I think I've been inspired by you!!!
Keep brewing,
Craig Belanger
Hey Alright Craig! You should make it an annual thing. Brew one every New Years Eve. Good time to do vertical tastings too. I'm drinking one of mine right now....not the new one.
I'm roasting malt for a new years day porter brew. I recently corked a batch or oaked rye pale ale, its definitely the way to go for special brews. I've only found one source of the proper beer corks thought and they are kind of pricey, where do you get yours?
I know Morebeer.com has them and now Northernbrewer.com also carries them. I just ordered mine from Northern Brewer along with the wire cages. I'm still waiting for an opportunity to cork mine up. I am trying to round up a few more belgian style bottles before I do it. I would have to run out of these. Since I'm going to have 10 gallons I'd like to have a large number of corked bottles so I can have some for way down the road.
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