The American Homebrewer's Association (AHA) sponsors the annual Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day. Last year I registered with the AHA, and a bunch of friends came stopped by to see how I make beer. We all had a great time. There was a lot going on that day...brewing, active fermentation, and we almost bottled a batch too.
The beer we brewed was an Old Ale. It was kind-of unfair, but... you see...I just didn't know it would progress the way that it has. At the this time last year, I thought this beer would have been bottled in about 3-6 months. This beer is...well...still fermenting! After racking it onto a blend of Lambic yeasts, brettanomyces and lactic bacteria, it is turning out to be a very distinctive beer. But it's still going, and if any of them show up again this year, they can observe the thin white slimy skin-like layer of yeast colonies (pellicle) formed on the surface. It's starting to develop its sour taste as of late. So far the plans will be to rack 2 gallons into a couple 4 liter jugs for more aging and for blending with future beers, and then bottle the remaining 3 gallons.
This year we will be brewing a quickie. A session style beer called Sterling Pearl. I'm really excited about this one because the hopping strategy is like no other beer I've made before. I guarantee participants will get to try it in as short as a month.
Sunday, Nov. 4th, my kitchen brewery is open to anyone who is interested in learning about the brewing process and participating in various steps. I brew just about all of my beer from scratch. We will run through malts, milling, basic water chemistry, mashing, lautering, boiling, hops/utilization, chilling, sterilizing, yeast handling, wort aeration, and temperature control. The whole process lasts about 6 hours. Water and grain prep will begin at about 9am, and we will "mash-in" at about 10am.
All of my brewing books and magazines will be available to page through, and some of my most frequented websites will be up for viewing. I will provide coffee, tea and pastries in the morning, and Jimmy John subs for lunch, plus various home brewed beers for tasting. If you are interested in participating, please contact me through my registered residential-site #83 on the AHA website.
I think this is the first brewday I've had to cancel. It's just being postponed till next Sunday 11/11. Cadence has been sick since Monday, then Sarah and I have become quite ill over the past day and a half. Hopefully we will be ready to go by the eleventh.
