Matt's Blog

Disclaimer: My cutest reader told me that while she thinks most of the material on my blog was pretty good, the entry about making my hard cider was very boring. To her way of thinking, noone cares if I added too much orange zest, what it tastes like, etc. While it's hard to believe that noone would be interest in the details of my beer making, I suppose it's possible. So if that's you, you may want to skip the following, and all future, brewing updates.

Today I started a farm stout. That's a beer that's dark with a little sweetness to it. You know, like Beyonce. I put it in the bucket this morning and it was off and bubbling this evening. I've never made a farm stout before. I like a dark beer, especially in the winter time. And there are a number of different styles and recipies out there to try. I thought that since the farm stout has a little sweet to it, I might be able to get my wife to enjoy one too. She's not a big fan of anything darker than light brown.

Cider update: I tried one of the ciders the other day. I made a rookie mistake after bottling. Instead of putting the bottles somewhere warm where the yeast could do some carbinating for me, I stuck them in the garage where it was cold. So much for sparkling cider. Guess it's another year of still. But (without going into too many details) it's pretty pleasant. The orange does overpower the apple flavor a little. Overall, it's sweet, smooth, subtle, and strong. Everything a winter cider should be. Maybe next year we'll shoot for bubbles.