Chapter 9: Nut Brown Ale Tasting & Guild Meeting

November 19, 2013

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

This was a pretty busy weekend… but first, let’s start with a Nut Brown Ale Tasting. This batch was original cooked up four weeks ago… and we were really excited since it kinda smelled like chocolate. Unfortunately I was a little under the weather this weekend (thanks to a coworker, but she took it worse than I did) but we still tasted it at the four week mark… and it was REALLY good. It had a nutty, full flavored taste to it similar to Rogue’s Hazelnut Nectar Brown Ale… but again, didn’t quite have the lingering taste, which I believe comes with a little more aging… so I’ll have to fill you in on that in a few weeks (probably during Thanksgiving dinner).

Summary

Nut Brown Ale
Malt Extract Kit	5 gallons
Ingredients
Fermentables	6 lbs	Maris Otter Malt Syrup
Specialty Grains	1/4 lb	English Chocolate Malt
	1/4 lb	Belgian Special B
	1/4 lb	Belgian Biscuit
	1/4 lb	Briess Special Roast
Hops	1 oz	Fuggle (60 mins)
Yeast		Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
Cook Date/Primary Ferm	10/20/2013
Secondary Ferm	Not needed
Bottled	11/3/2013	2 weeks
First Taste	11/17/2013	4 weeks
Reaction		Delicious, great nutty flavor
		Hints of chocolate & roasted nuts
		Aging may help even more
Adjustments?		Great recipe really
		Perhaps maple brown?

Saturday, I took Dizzy to a wonderful place that some friends from SLC referred to me from their visit last week, Harley Farms Goat Diary in Pescadero, about an hour south of the City. About twenty years ago, a British lady named Dee Harley came out to the beautiful coastal town and got some property… and basically slowly but surely went from a few acres of overgrowth in her property… to a fully functional goat dairy with some serious award-winning cheeses. Of course, Dizzy is a HUGE fan of goats & worked on a dairy in Sacramento… and these were some of the nicest goats (and llamas) that you could even imagine. Hell, they’re so pampered that if I’m reincarnated, I wanna come back as one of Dee’s goats. Seriously… they’re a masseuse away from living YOUR dream too. Anyway, here are some pictures…

After the tour, we headed to Half Moon Bay Brewery in time for the sunset… and to try their beers & sliders. All of which were pretty good… some more pictures…

Tuesday, we took part in the meeting of the SF Homebrewers Guild at Anchor Steam… with special guests SF Mead Company!!! As mentioned in our last post, we're making a mead of our own... so it was great to pick their brain & make contacts with them in case they'd be interested in any future collaborations... and they were surprising open to the idea... but there's a LOT of experience in the guild when it comes to Homebrewing & making great beer. The meetings with the guild are fantastic... and the beer is free, though you have to drink responsibly to pay attention to those around you & their wisdom... and also to drive home safely.

Damn… it’s just a good time to be me… and I’m incredibly thankful for it!!! Have a great thankful day everybody!!!