Goldings Single Hop Pale Ale MK II

Brewing this weekend, and making some changes to my pale ale recipe.  I'm thinking of switching out the base malt from US 2-row to Marris Otter to give it a maltier, nuttier taste, along with additional hops to up the bitterness and increase aroma.  I love me some brew days, gettin' excited already.

Longshot Brewing Competition

It's here... the Samuel Adams Longshot Competition, in which homebrewers across the country will submit their best to be judged by the brewers at Sam Adams at the mother-brewery in Boston, MA.  Two winners will be awarded a one-time royalty of $5,000, as well as the honor of having their beer brewed and released by Sam Adams in a special edition Longshot variety 6-pack with the other winner and the winner of the internal competition in the brewery itself.

The category this year is the BJCP category 23 - Specialty Beer.  This is pretty much anything that doesn't fit into the other 22 style categories, and includes beers with unusual ingredients or brewing techniques.  For example, a beer brewed with juniper berries or boiled with white-hot rocks would fit in this category.

I've been thinking about what I would like to try - smoke beer?  Something spiced?  I've always like Thai flavors in food, especially soup.  Tom Yum soup carries flavors of lemongrass, kaffir limes, chiles, and coriander (in the form of cilantro - I know, not the same, but shut up it's my beer).  The coriander lit off a flashbulb for me - witbier.  Wits are a belgian wheat beer, with a slight lemony tang from the grain, a lactic tang, and a subtle spiciness from coriander and other spices, which taken all together seemed like the perfect canvas for a Tom Yum Wit.

But shhhhh... don't tell anyone...

Empty Kegs

Big weekend - finished off a keg of ESB and a keg of mild.  Good thing I have a batch of pale ale finishing up this week, because I am definitely out of beer.  I'm thinking about doing either a saison or bier de garde next weekend...

The Mash

Hello Internet, and welcome to The Mash, a beer, brewing, and fermentation-focused blog.

Before I was of legal age, I wasn't yet aware of the variety of beers available. Through mass media exposure, the only brews I was aware of were the standard macros, Guiness, Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, and Leinenkugel's (my dad's suds of choice). The first time I walked into a liquor store, I was amazed by the array of six-packs they had - and what the hell are bombers and growlers? I walked out with 6 bottles of something I bought merely for the cool looking skeleton dude holding a brewski on the label, Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

And I haven't looked back since.

I began homebrewing because I wanted to try to make something that tasted as good as that first sip of a real craft brew - something hoppy, malty, and above all, flavorful. I'm not sure that I've succeeded yet, but I hope that someday my beer can make someone realize that there's a bigger, bolder, and brighter world out there than PBR tallboys and Corona.

And that's what brings me here - I want to share my thoughts on beer and brewing, recipes, techniques, reviews, etc. Like the mash of a brew session, I hope that The Mash can be the start of something great, but if not, hey, it's still beer, right?