Sunny's Ginger Wit...

...is in bottles. I am really excited about it. It tastes really great already, and I can't wait to see how the flavors develop. Now, with exactly ten days until my birthday, the timing should be just about perfect. It is a beautiful golden wheat color, and I just can't wait to chill it and drink its Belgiany deliciousness. Until then, I'll have to be patient, but I think I'll be just fine. Four bottles of ESB remain, so I'll have to ration them accordingly (I may also set one aside for a "beer archive" so that I can collect a few and then organize a tasting of a few of my excellent beers). Right now, it tastes really good. I feel like the character of the malt has really developed a lot. The beer has really developed a nice nuttiness to it, and the head/carbonation are of even higher quality now.

Now, the lager is still lagering and my primary is empty...may have to do something about that. I'm thinking about what my next brew will be, and what my approach will be for it. If I can get my hands on a couple of simple materials, I really want to try going all-grain (for those of you non-brewers, I will explain that when I actually do it). I just need a bigger brewpot and some sort of lautering system. I would really like to do something refreshing, probably either an American-style pale ale (which I will name "Ballardvale Pale Ale"), or a California Common beer similar in character to Anchor Steam, although that might have to wait until I can maintain proper temperatures.

This summer will be an exciting time for the brewery. I should be outputting a lot, and it'll be really fun.

Secondary lagering, wit to come

The lager is in secondary in the downstairs fridge and my 6.5 gallon carboy is currently sanitizing. I have to make a quick grocery run to get some extra ingredients for the wit, but I will hopefully be brewing that by some point today! I can't wait. It's my first original recipe, and I think it will be dynamite (go 'Dores). Whether or not this is currently obvious, I will not be posting the full recipe on my blog. All recipes I have used thus far have been publicly available, but I will consider this recipe to be at least moderately privileged information. Certain ingredients in the recipe will be obvious, because certain aspects of the recipe will be things I want people to get excited about. Anyway, I'm super excited and I can't wait for this beer to emerge just in time for spring.

-The Brewdude