Recent Brewings and Such

I received many beer-related gifts for my birthday -- 4 books, a magazine subscription and many dollars in gift certificates for homebrew supplies! This week I added the cash from my parents to the gift certificates, and bought myself a powerful outdoor propane burner. Today I brewed outside for the first time in my fledgling career. As long as it's not typical Texas summer weather, this is most definitely the way to go. Faster, easier to clean up, and not in the way of Jolie in the kitchen; plus it hearkens back to a more primitive and artisanal mode of brewing, the scent of boiling malt and hops drifting forthwith into God's nostrils.

The brew of the day was Grazter, an antiquated smoked beer from Polish tradition dating back to the 1500s. This was brewed in honor of Jason's familial roots, and will be enjoyed at Friedrichfest, a combination of our 2nd Annual Abbey Oktoberfest and a money-tree-raising shower for what will be by then the newlywedded couple. I've never smoked grains before Wednesday night, and I'm looking forward to tasting this strange concotion in a few weeks.

I'm also in the final stages of a Trappist-styled Trippel that was brewed for Jason and Tinamarie's actual wedding. It has been conditioning for 6 weeks now, and I think I'll go ahead and send it to the kegs next week to give it time to carbonate and settle out by September 23rd. This is my second "original recipe," the first being mentioned in the next paragraph...

I brewed my first totally un-borrowed recipe in late June, three days before Camden was born. My aim was (is) to tailor a Trappist-influenced ale with the realities of Texas summer heat, creating something relatively light and quenching with the complex fruit notes that typify Belgians. It's been a long and impatient quest, but I believe the final version that we have been enjoying around the Abbey this week met the aim beautifully. I am pleased to have the Abbey Normal prototype accomplished. Now on to the tweaking phase.