Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I Still Have a Six-Pack

Just one six-pack. One lonely six-pack. Last night, I cracked open a beer for dinner and saw the sad depletion of a once plentiful bounty of 7 5/6 six packs that the Enthusiast and I birthed just a short time ago. Now only one remains.

I hope you didn't misconstrue the title of this post and think that I meant a six pack of abdominal muscles. Don't be silly. I never had one of those, and I'm much further from having one now if I was ever close before.

I told the Enthusiast about our sad state of affairs, and she said, "Time to start brewing," in a matter-of-fact tone.

After brewing a pre-packaged recipe for our porter, we are feeling adventurous and hope to brew our next batch from scratch. We've kicked around a couple ideas, two of which would honor the Enthusiast's Greek heritage: an Ouzo beer (probably a stout) and a Baklava beer (I'd like to call it "BaklavAle").

[Drunkard's note: Those ideas are totally patent-pending. If you steal them I'm going to punch you in the dick. Or the cooter. Don't think I won't.]

So, my fellow home brewers, what advice do you have for concocting a beer recipe? I have a couple books to help us, but I would like to hear from you. Light up the comments like a Festivus Pole.

10 comments:

Nitmos said...

It never even crossed my mind that you might be referring to abdominal muscles. No worries.

C said...

I like the sound of BaklavAle. I'm totally stealing it!

The me-not-liking-beer thing might be an issue though. Hmm.....

C said...

Now I'm off on a whole Greek naming thing.

How about Parthenon Porter? Pericles Porter? Greek Gout Grower? Athens Ale? Artemis Ale? Alliteration Ale?

I'll stop now.

Sun Runner said...

In my opinion, you should just call it "Bouzo" (get it? Booze-O? ha ha, I'm so clever) and be done with it.

Unfortunately, my ex-husband and I never created a beer completely from scratch...we always had a basic recipe to guide us.

Have fun with your concoction!

gin hall said...

my boss highly recommends this book: http://www.radicalbrewing.com/

BrianFlash said...

I always liked getting the lightest colored malt as a base (liquid preferred) then using different grains to manipulate the color and flavor.

That plus the plethora of different hop types and times to add them to the brew gives you tons of room to experiment with.

I'll be over after you make your chocolate stout...

Anonymous said...

My advice is to start small. Find a recipe you like and modify it slightly (for example throwing cherries into the secondary if you are doing a stout - or substituting a hop variety - or perhaps dry hopping it - or maybe even switching out one of the grains). Over multiple batches you will learn the effects of different grains, hops, etc and will be in a great position to design a recipe from scratch.

kizzy said...

I agree with Virginia..that book is really great.
--I prefer running without shoes. My toes didn't get cold. Besides, if I'm in front from the start, no one can step on them. ~Michelle Dekkers - mountain hardwear

Vava said...

I can't offer any help. I find tinsel distracting.

the erratic epicurean said...

i enjoyed your brew at the motown pizza dance party and i am looking forward to an original recipe. witty names are key!