Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Another Home Brew

I will finally be sampling my first batch of home brew this weekend as a bit of a Mardi Gras treat. The Continental Light Ale has been aging for nearly three weeks and it should be ready to drink. In the spirit of discovery, I started brewing my second batch tonight and chose to make a Nut Brown Ale. The process was mostly the same although the first step called for steeping the grains in the hot water for thirty minutes prior to adding the malts, sugar and hops. It was a lot like brewing a large pot of tea. The grains were placed in a cheese cloth sack so that they wouldn't escape into the water and after thirty minutes, were removed from the pot and discarded. The resultant mixture was a dark brown liquid that smelled wonderful before anything else was added. As the name implies, this should be a darker, more flavorful beer. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one smells once the fermentation begins in a day or so.