Sep 02 2006
The tally is up…the bottles have been counted…
It looks like we have collected enough for me to brew 4.45 batches of beer before needing to wait for bottles to become available. And by my calculations, if my friends and I can manage to drink approximately 2.75 gallons of beer tomorrow during our Labor Day bash, I will have enough bottles for 5 batches of beer!!! What does this mean, O Gentle Reader?
Basically, it means that I have a whole bunch of bottles. It also means that I can brew a batch of beer every 3-4 weeks or so and end up with about 25 gallons of beer in my cellar. (Minus loss from drinking said beer during the interim.) What does THIS mean???
It means that I no longer have to wait until I have drunk the last batch before starting the next, which is very key. You see, in order to perfect the art of brewing, the process cannot be a new thing every time I start it. In order to learn from the mistakes of the past, I must be able to acutely remember the past, and that can’t happen if I’m waiting 10 weeks or more between batches. More beer also means spending less money on commercial beer except in special circumstances.
For those who care, I think my first batch is going to be a Scotch Ale. My very first brewing experiment was an emminently drinkable Scotch Ale that I made from an ingredient kit. I think this time I’m going to go for a mash or at least a partial grain brew instead of doing mostly yeast extract. We’ll see how it works, of course.
Watch this space for a date. I expect to be starting my first beer within a month. And my next beer a month after that. One of my goals for this year is to have a Christmas/Winter Ale ready around wintertime. :)
on