Marc’s Musings

Congratulations to Dan and Wendy Dow who suggested the winning name for my latest brew, a nut brown ale.

I’m making up labels for this brew!

I’d give you a couple as a prize, but you’ll have to come to Maine. I think mailing bottles of beer must break some sort of federal law.

Thanks to everyone. This was a fun contest. And I feel I know some of you even better than I did before…especially the names suggested via email and Facebook!

I’m getting ready to bottle my third brew.

#1 was Bombadil, a nice java stout. Tom Bombadil was a great magical character in Lord of the Rings that didn’t really need to be there but certainly makes the books richer.

#2 was Advent Ale, an sort of spiced ale. Advent is a significant time of the year for me.

#3 is a nut brown ale. But I’m really not wanting to just call it “nut brown ale.” B-o-r-i-n-g.

So would you help? There may be something in it for the winning contribution!

Just read this. Particularly appropriate given that I’m going to start my next batch today.

Give a man a beer and he’ll waste an hour. Teach him to brew and he’ll waste a lifetime. - Nuco Gordo

The kids “bought” me a Nut Brown Ale kit from MoreBeer.com for Christmas.

Today I used some gift money to get this very cool brew kettle from Northern Brewer, a wort chiller, a special burner, and some yeast.

The start of my next batch is only a week or two away. And now I’ll have even better equipment!

Merry Christmas to me!

Ben Arment has a great post inspired by the book Starbucked.

I’m intrigued by how conditioned people can be to coffee that’s so old it needs to be injected with something called “coffee aroma.” It gets that way in church too. So when the real thing comes along, where the Spirit is a living and equal part of the Trinity we worship, it’s a culture shock.

I’m content to continue being shocking!

My second beer is here! Advent Ale is here!

It’s a refreshing ale, with a touch of Christmas spices.

I’d class it as a “dessert beer.” I’ve never heard this term but it fits. Somehow an ale with touches of cinnamon and nutmeg doesn’t exactly compliment a hearty, spicy chili…

But it’s wonderful with oatmeal raisin cookies!

(Or keeping up with Facebook on the laptop you see in the picture!)

“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
— Benjamin Franklin

Picture courtesy of topix.net

So I’m currently in the process of bottling the Advent Ale.

Right now I wait for the bleach to sterilize the goods. But I’m also boiling bottle caps and bringing sugar to a boil.

So the kitchen smells a bit.

And this is the conversation that just happened:

Anna: Dad, are you burning something?

Sof: Nah! Dad’s making dinner!

Em chuckles in background

Does my cooking usually smell that bad?

Racked the beer to the second fermentation bucket today.

It’s smelling gooood!

Yep, started my second-ever batch of beer today!

I’m calling it Advent Ale because of the allspice and nutmeg. (It’s a kit beer from MoreBeer.com but Advent Ale sounds lots better than Holiday Ale!)