First State Brewers Blog

Homebrewing club for the northern Delaware area

Archive for November 23rd, 2005

MorePublicity

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005


OK… So all you people out there that received a MoreBeer catalog in the mail, get that guilty look off your faces. You know who you are. Did you notice the testimonial on page 27? I just did today, and I nearly fell off the can when I saw it. If you didn’t get a catalog, or missed it - check out the attached image.

Between that and showing up in Zymurgy, its been a very weird month for me. Too bad they didn’t spell Delaware correctly. ;)

More Oaked Vanilla

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005

I’ve got a 3qt starter of Dry English Ale (WLP007) on the stirplate as we speak. I’ll probably brew the Oak Aged Vanilla Porter on Friday morning. The rest of you nuts can spend Black Friday running around to shopping centers beating each other up for a couple of bucks off, but I’m staying home.

This batch I am actually going to use both chips and oak cubes to see if the taste is any richer. Cubes are more pricey, but I’m hoping they are worth it. I may also add a 3rd vanilla bean.

In addition to the Homegrown Pale Ale and Abbey Dubbel I have planned, I think I need to do some of the following soon too:

  • Ommegang clone
  • Coffee Porter
  • Bourbon Barrel beer (maybe a clone of Stewart’s McBride Strong?)
  • Maibock!!!
  • American IPA

As you can see, I’ve got lots of stuff I want to brew… But they obviously won’t happen this year (Except maybe the Ommegang clone). I’ve got 2 oz of oak cubes that have been sitting in Jim Beam for a few months now, and a couple nights ago I put 4oz oak chips and 2 more oz of cubes in some bourbon as well. I figure that they won’t really go bad, and at worst I just give them to someone in the club to experiment with (once they are soaked thru).