The latest is a Hobgoblin clone to Orfy’s recipe, and is conditioning in a plastic barrel downstairs, with bluetack plugging a CO2 leak, and a “drink on” date set for December. Although it’s a partial mash, with half malt, half extract, I did mash 6+lbs of malt, which is tricky enough, given my sparging capacity is 2 gallons, which I only found out after putting in two and a half gallons of mash.
It’s very clear to me that I’ve still a lot to learn, but as I’m sitting by the fire, contemplating my next brew, I’m very happy with how far I’ve come in the last two years, especially given that drinking isn’t necessarily conducive to learning much. Bags of crushed malt are now taking preference over tins of ready-mix, and I’m now considering (optimistically) malting my own home grown grains.
The next brew will probably be something from ‘Home Brewed Beers and Stouts’ by C.J.J. Berry, as I’ve some dried malt extract needs using up, and I’ve filled the shed, undersink cupboards and two shelves in the porch with empty bottles, it seems only right to fill them up with something, before Mrs Homebrew loses the rag and… recycles them! I want something quick and easy, so it’ll be something like a mild, I imagine, so I can get drinking it pretty soon. Also, they make great gifts to the over 18s, and the primary gifting season is nearly upon us.
Whilst making/drinking all this homebrew, I’m still working out how much CO2 is produced from one 5 gallon batch of fermenting booze, as well as trifles like how to measure mash temperatures now the expensive thermometer’s broke, how to pour a pint of beer as opposed to a pint of head from the pressure barrel, and why the beer tastes so different from bottle to bottle! I suppose the only way to work these things out is to keep doing it all again, until I’ve perfected everything. After all, it’s not about the destination, but instead about the journey. Though I won’t be undertaking any journeys until the last of the 480 pints wears off.
