My return to homebrewing in 2009 occurred yesterday on a day off. The style tackled? An English Bitter. That's right. Bitter. My first brew in 2009. My first brew session since Kimberly stated she doesn't want me around and wants to be alone.
I'm normally a happy-go-lucky guy. A generally happy person. Sadly, it takes quite a bit of effort lately and a constant fight against the darkness to keep the previous level of joy somewhat sustainable. So, to expel the demons and perform a bitter catharsis, an appropriate beer style was brewed: bitter. "My Marriage Has Made Me Bitter" Bitter.
The muse for brewing an English Bitter? Some bitter English music. Cue up PJ Harvey on the garage's CD player:
The recipe was culled from the book Clone Brews on page 111 (Thames Welsh Bitter Ale) and tweaked just a tad due to what my local Triad Homebrew had in stock hop-wise:
0.5 lb Crystal Malt 60L
0.5 lb torrified wheat
3.3 lb light Liquid Malt Extract (LME)
2.25 lb extra light LME
4 oz cane sugar
0.5 oz UK Challenger hops (7.0% alpha acid) at 60 minutes
0.5 oz UK Challenger hops 7.0% AA at 45 minutes
1 oz Fuggles hops 4.0% AA at 5 minutes
1 Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes to clarify
WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast
It was a refreshingly warm 70-degree North Carolina February day spent in the garage with my loyal dogs brewing up 5 gallons of tasty beverage.
Nice to get my head on straight, continue on with life, and do what brings me joy: brewing beer. Here's to continuing on and enjoying life.
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