Part Three of Two
Because hops can be used to help maintain milk production and my wife is trying to nurse as long as possible, I started buying Keith’s because an India Pale Ale is supposed to have a higher level of hops in it. I found myself snitching a bottle periodically because a beer or two can certainly help to induce sleepiness. After about two or three months of doing this I said to myself:
“Self, you used to brew beer, you still have the equipment, why not save yourself 75% if you find yourself habitually drinking a One or two?”
“Well, Self, I think you have a point there, I guess I’ll clean my gear up and try out that kit I bought 10 years ago.”
I was expecting it to be a disaster, but outside of it having way too much foam, it was certainly palatable, and just indicative of having a bit too little water for that amount of priming sugar. So with that success, I decided to try another, and because I can’t seem to find Black Rock kits anywhere in town, I picked out a kit called a Munich Lager, partly because I was interested in brewing a something more generic because someone at work was interested in home brewing. It turned out okay, but it was a bit too traditionally German, and a bit strong-tasting for my liking. Still, it was palatable, and I drank those periodically to the last two dozen before picking out the next.
It appeared that I am still a capable casual homebrewer, and so I asked the store owner about a dry beer, and he suggested Munton’s Dry Lager. Keeping the following commandments:
“Thou shalt keep thine brewing gear sanitized and rinsed before use.”
“Thou shalt keep thine wort warm until it is finished brewing”
“Thou shalt keep thine beer warm for no less than ten days after capping it.”
And in December, I produced an excellent dry lager with a slight cider taste as all “filthy casuals” will do because they aren’t dedicated enough to brew it from scratch. And I like the cider taste, thank you.
Late January, I visited the Brew-It Store, or the Sunset Vintnery as it is called now because time was at a premium and bought the Brew Canada “Molson Canadian” knockoff. It was a different experience because the wort still had pieces of hop leaves. Normally, I don’t have a huge aversion to drinking the sediment after I drink my beer, but the taste and the oily looking sediment didn’t give me a lot of confidence, even if it was a palatable brew. Normally I save a dozen, and I have a dozen dry lager and the Munich brew, but there’s no Brew Canada Canadian Lager.
So mid-March came along, and it was time to try again. The guy at work didn’t mind that first stout beer that I made, but he was put off by the fact I had added some pretty potent hops to it. So I brewed a casual Munton’s Irish Stout, and while I’m always afraid of breaking that second commandment, five days later, I find it’s going to be a good brew.
And now, up to date, the latest kit I’m making is a double malt (so just add two cans) because corn sugar is made from corn, which has GMOs and DNA in it and my wife, being TRUE granola isn’t going to be having any more of that than she has to. While I could use table or icing sugar, I insist on using corn sugar to prime it, mostly due to the fact that corn sugar dissolves most thoroughly when compared to other sugars and will make a more consistent fizz.
I’ll be capping it in four days.