The end of a brew

We finished the keg of Elevenses Ale yesterday and watched the Giants play a spring training game. It was a good combo. The brew was tasty and the baseball was fun. And the Giants won. Elevenses Ale taught me to plan my hops a little better. The big earthy flavors of the Northern Brewer hops are best suited to a sweeter, more robust beer. This beer was supposed to have some crisp spiciness in the malt but it got a little overwhelmed by the hops. It was still good, just a little out of focus. I'll have to try some more rye malt in future batches.

There's still plenty of stout left. I plan to have some for Matt Cain's exhibition game tomorrow. Recently I had three other homebrewed stouts. Tommy-O, Steven Otto, and Mancy & Her Bitch all cooked up stouts for St. Patrick's Day. All were excellent and it was joyous to share the fruits of our labors. Homebrewing is a wonderful endeavor. You should try it. My final word on the stouts? Steven Otto's magically chocolate-y stout was my favorite. But Tommy-O's dry stout was mighty fine, and he did a brilliant job with his pupils (M&HB) and their outstanding first effort (more time in the fridge on the next batch, though). I'll be back with my thoughts on my version of a 2011 SP stout in another post.


a.d. VI Kal. Apr.