To paraphrase RWE: "It's not the destination, but the journey"
For me brewing is a hobby that affords me a distraction from life's responsibilities and an outlet for my need to tinker. It's the one creative outlet that I can wrap my head around with the added benefit of end product I enjoy and can share with others.
Like everyone else, I strive to make each batch my best by researching, sharing ideas (Thanks HBT
), planning style and fermentation/lagering times to when best consumed, creating the recipe, carefully selecting ingredients, etc. etc. Heck, this is beginning to sound more like work than a hobby....
So just like the rest of you, I did all the groundwork. Prepped starters, ingredients, water additions, and equip. Brew day comes and I hit all my temps, pH, and even beat my gravity targets!!! I must be getting good at this!!!
Put the carboy to bed and next day fermentation looks good. 3 months till July and I'll have a great Kolsch to drink on hot Summer days...
Fast forward two days and it hits me: How did I beat my gravity targets?.... I put in a pound of honey malt instead of 1/4 lb....Crap!
There is so much in brewing that we try to control and along the way there are so many mistakes or missteps that we can make. Was it the last minute dinner guests and too many bombers of Green Flash or Kellerbier the night before brew day where began weighing out my ingredients at midnight? Or was it my haste on brew morning to get going that I just forgot I only need 1/4 lb of Honey Malt and dumped the whole bag in my mill?
Who knows, who cares. I'll sample the beer and if too sweet for that perfect Kolsch, I'll maybe add no-sugar Koolaid Lemon and try to make it a honey lemon Shandy.
Point being, I had a great brew day. I had fun. I made beer, and this little mistake gives me something else to noodle over. Like I tell my son, if we didn't make mistakes we would never learn or improve.
Who else out there is creatively thinking of ways to recover from seemingly minor mistakes? Who else has dumped a batch, only to brew their best yet on the next brew day?
When life gives you honey, make lemon Kolsch...Or something like that.
For me brewing is a hobby that affords me a distraction from life's responsibilities and an outlet for my need to tinker. It's the one creative outlet that I can wrap my head around with the added benefit of end product I enjoy and can share with others.
Like everyone else, I strive to make each batch my best by researching, sharing ideas (Thanks HBT
), planning style and fermentation/lagering times to when best consumed, creating the recipe, carefully selecting ingredients, etc. etc. Heck, this is beginning to sound more like work than a hobby....So just like the rest of you, I did all the groundwork. Prepped starters, ingredients, water additions, and equip. Brew day comes and I hit all my temps, pH, and even beat my gravity targets!!! I must be getting good at this!!!
Put the carboy to bed and next day fermentation looks good. 3 months till July and I'll have a great Kolsch to drink on hot Summer days...
Fast forward two days and it hits me: How did I beat my gravity targets?.... I put in a pound of honey malt instead of 1/4 lb....Crap!
There is so much in brewing that we try to control and along the way there are so many mistakes or missteps that we can make. Was it the last minute dinner guests and too many bombers of Green Flash or Kellerbier the night before brew day where began weighing out my ingredients at midnight? Or was it my haste on brew morning to get going that I just forgot I only need 1/4 lb of Honey Malt and dumped the whole bag in my mill?
Who knows, who cares. I'll sample the beer and if too sweet for that perfect Kolsch, I'll maybe add no-sugar Koolaid Lemon and try to make it a honey lemon Shandy.
Point being, I had a great brew day. I had fun. I made beer, and this little mistake gives me something else to noodle over. Like I tell my son, if we didn't make mistakes we would never learn or improve.
Who else out there is creatively thinking of ways to recover from seemingly minor mistakes? Who else has dumped a batch, only to brew their best yet on the next brew day?
When life gives you honey, make lemon Kolsch...Or something like that.
