Run for the Roses

Wow. Long time, no blog.

For starters, I had in my preparation list, over on the right there, back in July that I was looking to brew BierMuncher's Oktoberfast Ale (a play on the Märzen that uses ale yeast instead of lager yeast). It turned out really well! Made a fantastic gift to generally everyone who helped us buy/move into a house in September, when I immediately and effortlessly stopped brewing altogether.

I got comfortable on bottles and cans from two really excellent beer stores here in town. And when I couldn't make it to one of those, well, it's nice to live in Michigan, where any Meijer in the state is going to have a fridge stuffed full of awesome beer. I had only inklings of trying to figure logistics for brewing in the new kitchen. For the most part, I was just trying to get used to the changes-- new job, new house, etc. It's not that I didn't want to brew, it's that I didn't feel like I needed to.

I don't feel that way anymore. The signal light is in the sky. The suds need you, Batyeast. I never said thank you.

AND YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TO

I'm working on a Kentucky Derby-themed beer that I'm very excited about. I haven't nailed down the style yet, but I do have some options. The most fascinating: after doing some asking around on forums, I found an interesting historical tidbit called the Kentucky Common beer. It's no surprise that the grain bill looks extremely similar to the grain bill for bourbon or shine-- almost as much corn as you can put into beer while still being able to call it beer. Very American in that regard, and very frontier. I even found a link in a recipe to an old-school brewing guide (from 1902) that lists, in a nutshell, the style requirements. Roll that beautiful bean footage.

I will keep you all posted. Promise!