Beer. I do love me some beer, and it’s been too long since I’ve had a good beer post here.

Fortunately, I’ve got lots of beer stuff to discuss. First up, the newest addition to the home brewery. It’s getting to be winter here, and I decided that the fermentation part of the brewing process was lacking that engineering touch. So, I added an old surplus temperature controller from work attached to a heating pad I got from goodwill.

Just like that, temperature controlled fermentation vessels. It holds to about plus or minus a degree.


That beer in there? It’s the sweet oatmeal stout. Just transferred it into a secondary fermentation vessel today, should be in kegs in about a week, maybe two.

I’m not sure what’s in the air, but I’ve been in a brewing mood lately, so while this oatmeal stout is bubblin away, I got another batch going today. It was a lazy day, and I had about 30 lbs of grain ready to go for another batch. So, I fired up the burners today and the dining room floor now looks like this:


Thats 10 gallons of Oatmeal Stout sitting next to 10 gallons of Belgian Trippel.

It’s gonna be delicious, it’s gonna be strong (9%), and it’s gonna be ready for the annual thanksgiving party I throw the weekend before turkey day. So mark your calendars, put your liver on a strict workout regimen, and saddle up. I think this one is gonna be one of my finer creations.

Speaking of fine creations in the realm of fermented beverages, Mike and Lauren dropped by here on their way to the canyon this weekend. They dropped off a couple presents for me from Santa Fe.

They know me well.


The one on the left is a bottle of Black Butte 21 from Deschutes. It’s a 11.5% version of their Black Butte porter which has chocolate and coffee and is partially aged in oak barrels. It’s one of the finest porters I’ve had in a very long time. Really amazing flavors and incredibly dangerously smooth for something that strong.

The other one is also an anniversary beer from the Santa Fe Brewing Company. It’s called “Yipee” (which is awesome) and it’s an Imperial IPA (which is even more awesome). 8.5% alcohol and a really nicely balanced hop flavor. I really liked this beer because it’s got a great hop flavor, but it doesn’t go over the top on the bitterness. Generous dry hopping means it has amazing aroma and sweet/floral hop flavors, but won’t leave your mouth dry after downing a bomber of it. I haven’t had much from the Santa Fe Brewing Company, but if this is an indication of their other offerings, sign me up.

A good beer can put a smile on your face, and make you sleep better at night.

This is what I’m gonna be dreaming of tonight: anybody wanna make a donation to the fund?.