We didn’t end up brewing the Sugar-Eating Peace Monkey ale this past weekend. It turns out that we need to use "very ripe" bananas for best effect, and since we didn’t actually plan (outside of planning to get together to brew), we gathered many happy yellow fruit and proceeded to hurry and wait.

How long do you have to wait before four hands of bananas start to go all spotty?

We* did throw together the makings for a Russian brew called kvass. Kvass relies on malted barley and flours for its sugar, and in place of hops, it uses peppermint tea. This experiment led to my first experience with sparging, and I’ll confess that straining the goop resultant from the making of beer is something of a project. Curiously, this too was an exercise in poor planning, since it wasn’t until we had separated the bulk of the solids from the liquid that we learned that the recipe calls for fermenting the lot together.

So, I started freaking out for fear that the yeast wouldn’t have enough sugar on which to feed. clayrobeson remained calm. "Half of the brewing process is experimentation," he said, "The worst that can happen is that it produces a weak brew."

By Tuesday, the Kolsch yeast we pitched was happily burbling away. Granted, it may well not ferment to its full potential, but it seems that our little beasties managed to find something to eat.

Of course, this has me thinking that I’m way too much of a perfectionist.



* Per usual, the process was something of a group activity. wildflowersoul, c_m_i, and jawalter all partook in the ooey-gooey fun. ("I’m helping!" photos are sure to follow.)

The ginger mead, now officially dubbed Soylent Mead, also got bottled along the way.

Current Mood: architectural
Current Music: Portishead, "Wandering Star"