Cradle to grave brewing.

Hi all long time no post up here.  It's been busy at work and on the home front so unfortunately I haven't been able to brew much.  I did do a Bavarian Helles with a buddy a few weeks back, but it was an extract kit and really nothing special or complicated.  Looking forward to the taste though.  Another reason for the lack of posts is that my brewing tastes have changed slightly.  Before I was all about meads, and I think I've got that down.  I have learned now that there is no such thing as a "quick" mead.  Meaning one that is drinkable in anything less than one year.  So as my patience grew thin I decided to join up with my brother in all grain beer brewing.  In helpingnhim with his efforts I have learned a lot and I think I moe fully appreciate beer now.

That brings us to today.  I am officially announcing that I will be changing this blog to be about both mead and beer.  The format will generally stay the same.  Recipe formula, process, end results, etc.  However there will be some added posts about farming, yes farming.  I have setup a small plot at my house for barley and hops.  I am going for the full process cradle to grave for beer.  Currently I am growing three kinds of hops: centennial, cascade, and willemette.  I am also growing barley and will be making my own malts.

To start the barley field I purchased 35 pounds of barley seed.  I only used about 7 to 8 pounds for my field so I am going to set some aside for next year and set my sights on some for trials before my crop comes in.  My first batch of beer is going to be a 1 gallon batch of a Budweiser American Ale clone.  Say what you like, that beer was pretty decent and I miss it.  My hops aren't ready so I will be purchasing the hops and yeast.  The biggest upshot to that will be that the only ingredient in the recipe that is the "X" factor is my malt.

Happy brewing!