Now I'm no Norman Rockwell but I've been told I was a "wordsmith", so sit back and let me paint you a portrait. It started out as a sleet filled 40F day that's now turned to rain. There was also the phone call from the squeeze telling me it was snowing in B'ham and sticking in places and of course I told her not to get excited because flour and fat girls are the same way... it only gets interesting when they're covered in it. So today I chose to brew, there's no hunting to be had on this rainy now 38F day. I started my porter recipe. Now to tell you how quickly brewing has changed due to the hops shortage. I ordered this kit from NB (in November) which then had it having 4 hop additions of Northern Brewer, Perle and Hallertauer x2, I received Perle 7.7% α-acid, Perle 6.4% α-acid and Hallertauer x2. It has now changed to Summit, Perle and German Tradition x2. The hop shortage is enormous and in a future blog I will tell you about my latest trip to Alabrew (which is no longer listed as one of my favorite links on the sidebar). I need to do some investigating about what has caused this and when it will be over but damn!..Recession AND hop shortage= Armageddon? So with some quick thinking I just rolled with it and have now brewed #25 inside my Fortress of Solitude (the garage). For those of you who have visited my Ps house yet don't see the imagery, I can tell you the beer outside of the fridge is just as cold as the stuff sitting beside it and it's time for a few tasters;) So as I finish my Perdomo Criollo robusto and kick back on the imitation leather couch and watch the Discovery Channel, I think I'll just let it sit, no need for an ice bath when ambient outside is <40F. Be back in a few beers..
OG 1.066+0.00 @66F, has a long way to drop.
