So, we have been fairly busy recently when it comes to brewing. That English Barley Wine that almost made us kill ourselves is in the bottle and already carbonated. The title we came up with was "Crom's Communion" Crom being the god Conan the Barbarian prays to in the movie... "Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it.". I used a fancy pants website to make a label as well.
It came in at 10% exactly, and it tastes just dandy at the moment, but 6 months of age on this fellow will make it wonderful. As for other beers I bottled up a new Braggot that we are pretty excited about. It is full of American Hops and lemongrass, the hops being very forward for a Braggot. It has bulk aged for a few months, and it has been in the bottle for about 4 days now. I'm looking forward to how this guy evolves over time.
Also, two days ago Quinn and I brewed up another batch of Sven the Spartan. Many things about this batch is different, especially in the grain bill. We felt that we would be driven to the poor house if we kept brewing Sven like we did before as it was over $100 buck for a 5 gallon batch. With several modifications later it is closer to $60 or so a batch. We also plan on reserving one gallon of this batch and doing something super special with it... details to follow.
Quinn pulled out all the cardamom infused stops on his latest "Dolphin's Monocle". With several million secret ingredients and a lower (more traditional) ABV this new batch of his Wit Beer is re-named "Blue Dolphin's Half Moon Monocle." It's nice to make a session beer now and again just to keep things interesting. It's in secondary right now, and should get bottled very soon.
As for what's coming up, a Brochet mead (Burt Sack Mead) as well as a couple Gruits. I've written a recipe for a Black Gruit and Quinn is thinking about a traditional one. Those should be kicked out in the next month or so. Anyway, talk to y'all later.
---Ricky
