Yesterday was bottling day– all the Cold Moon Pale Ale has been bottled, quite neatly, thanks to a spigot-bottling stick. No more sticky wrasslin’ with the siphon tubing! The Cold Moon was all about using up what I had– some light spray malt, crystal malt grains and cascade hops and calling it a Pale Ale. It was my first experiment in dry hopping as well. Thanks to Simon, Oblivious and Zak for the pointers!
Today I’m brewing more of an experiment– I’ve had a notion to brew something akin to my favourite candy– chocolate-covered orange peel. I hit a snag when I went to the local brew shop looking for some spray malt that wasn’t extra-light, and that’s all the unpleasant shop owner had. He was too busy endlessly chatting to some punter about his range of kits to help. Despite my patience– waiting a good 10+ minutes to be noticed, and then some polite inquiries which were met with barking and vague pointing. Why, in the day of hot competition from internet vendors, do brick-and-mortar places not get their customer service in order? If it’s easier and more pleasant for me to shop online, that’s what I’m going to do, despite the sticker on the door of the shop that insists I should “Shop Local.”
I dropped thirty pounds in this place, feeling like a chump, leaving with the wrong stuff entirely. But, I’m brewing with it anyway. Generic ale yeast & extra-light spray malt will hopefully be tempered by chocolate and black malts for steeping and loads of cascade and Amarillo hops which will be added late in the boil, and later to the fermenter (dry hopping).
One of the best things about brew day– the hops and boiling wort make the kitchen smell like some bacchanalian garden of plenty. Oh, and it’s a good excuse to make a dent in the stash– in the name of research. I’ve had a bit of Dogfish Head 60 minute and Meantime Coffee porter. Oh, by some sympathetic magic that I might make a melding of the two!
Impy Malting 