I have definitely been neglecting the blog for sure. To be fair, I haven't done a whole lot of brewing as evidenced in my "What's Brewing" section. Yesterday was the first time I brewed since well before Thanksgiving. I even rushed out to the store to get the ingredients and make a starter, and then let it go two weeks before brewing! With the holidays coming up, it's getting tighter and tighter to budget in some time (and money) to do much. The basement is cooling down to some nice temps for lager brewing (steady around 57-58 now). Unfortunately, it will also significantly slow down my sours. Last week, I did keg up the IPA, and damn that beer is nice. I think it'll take another week before it hits its prime.
One other piece of advice I'll give to any brewer as well (even though it should be self evident): calibrate your thermometers! I noticed yesterday while heating up my strike water that all three of my thermometers were reading about 10 degrees difference. It's likely the reason that I'm getting way over attenuated beers (probably have been mashing around 145-149). I'll take Mike's advice and invest in a good one. Any ideas?
And to the poll. There was a lot of discussion over at Beer Advocate about what is the best beer for a diverse and lengthy holiday meal, be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years etc. Honestly, I'm generally in the company of wine drinkers, so that's what I drink. I was surprised not to get one vote for it. I do agree, however, that Belgians (usually pale, and/or saisons) are probably the best at tackling a wide range of food.
Coming up, I'm looking at what lagers I want to try this year. Since I've got a Cal Common fermenting, I'm think of doing a cream ale with the cake and trying out these Citra hops I picked up. Along with that, a Schwartzbier to please my girlfriend, and a doppelbock. That may be it, but I'll see if I can squeeze something else in. (Perhaps a light lager for fun).
Look for the recipe and notes from the Cal Common, and a tasting of the Christmas Saison, IPA and Westmalle Clone soon.
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This thermometer is the best, it is consistant, and has the same reading as all of my 4 other thermoresisters which are all reading withing 0.2 degrees of eachother. From a homebrewer perspective 5 theremometer usually means 5 different temperatures, not so with that thermometer...and apparently they can survive a short swim in the mash tun...
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