Brewing Done

My brewing season has come to a close. This past week I bottled my last two batches that were on deck, a mild and an American pale ale. I thought about it the other day, and I still consider myself a relatively crappy homebrewer. Still, let me briefly share a thing or two about what makes beer: grain, hops, and yeast.

Grain is the foundation of beer. It gives beer body and flavor; it makes it a food. It dictates whether a beer is nutty, roasty, smoky, chocolatey, bready, biscuity, or none of the above. It "dresses" beer as well, determining whether it appears pale mellow gold or an achromatic black.

Hops. Yes, it adds bitterness, but it also adds flavors/aromas that we might describe as earthy, floral, piney, spicy, or even citrusy. They are to brewing what salt is to cooking. While nothing short of necessary, "appropriate" usage varies wildly. Hops are happy to pilot the plane in an Imperial IPA or just sit coach in a dry stout.

Yeast is the wizard behind the curtain: seemingly magical, but alive and mortal. Like the rest of us, it sleeps, eats, shits, and dies. Grains and hops are what beer is made of, but it is the yeast that actually makes the beer. Really, brewers don't do much more than farm yeast and then pick up what is left behind.

It's true. I mean, when I think about it, I mostly just move liquids around and then eventually drink said liquids. And I'm completely fine with that.

Drinking: Belgian wibier, Brown ale, ESB, and whatever scraps are left
Bottle Conditioning: Mild, American pale ale
Fermenting: Nothing
Planning: Nothing...maybe a saison. Maybe.