AmazinLarry
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- Nov 24, 2013
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Beer is, to me, an experience in and of itself as valid as any other. What is any activity but the feel, the sights, the smells and sounds and tastes that you encounter, subtle as they may be, that stimulate your brain and call upon memories dear to you? It might be a rather pretentious way of putting it, but I can't think of a much better one to express how I feel.
Thinking that way, every recipe - hell, every bottle - is its own experience, deserving of some meditation and consideration. It was only natural that I could never simply make a clone to try it out or throw together a pale for a party, carrying around that kind of sentiment. All of my recipes - even the throw-aways - end up with an identity, commemorating some event or celebrating some concept I hold dear, and the more time I spend chatting up my LHBS patrons and club members the more I realize how unusual this is.
I can't be the only one, can I? Let me hear your latest, or your favorite, or the really wacky ones that ended up in an "Interesting" beer that you just couldn't share with enough people.
Yesterday I brewed what was supposed to be a throw-away, but it accidentally became sentimental. A friend gave me two weeks' notice to get a beer together for a surprise birthday party, so I put together a SMaSH with Pearl and Perle. It came out at 1.055 (although it was supposed to be 1.045. Whoops!) and I calculated for 50 IBUs, but I'm using that dry Belle Saison yeast so it should still be nice and dry. The name "Perle Necklace" came to mind, and immediately I thought of the importance of recognizing elegance in simplicity, and it being important to remember as this fellow approached his mid-life crisis. I might have to make it a few dozen more times, depending on how it comes out!
Thinking that way, every recipe - hell, every bottle - is its own experience, deserving of some meditation and consideration. It was only natural that I could never simply make a clone to try it out or throw together a pale for a party, carrying around that kind of sentiment. All of my recipes - even the throw-aways - end up with an identity, commemorating some event or celebrating some concept I hold dear, and the more time I spend chatting up my LHBS patrons and club members the more I realize how unusual this is.
I can't be the only one, can I? Let me hear your latest, or your favorite, or the really wacky ones that ended up in an "Interesting" beer that you just couldn't share with enough people.
Yesterday I brewed what was supposed to be a throw-away, but it accidentally became sentimental. A friend gave me two weeks' notice to get a beer together for a surprise birthday party, so I put together a SMaSH with Pearl and Perle. It came out at 1.055 (although it was supposed to be 1.045. Whoops!) and I calculated for 50 IBUs, but I'm using that dry Belle Saison yeast so it should still be nice and dry. The name "Perle Necklace" came to mind, and immediately I thought of the importance of recognizing elegance in simplicity, and it being important to remember as this fellow approached his mid-life crisis. I might have to make it a few dozen more times, depending on how it comes out!
