Recent Brews

We've brewed two more batches since my last brewing status report. On September 1st, we brewed a 10 gallon batch of our Celebration clone and named it Festivus. It came out very well in my opinion, very hoppy and somewhat bitter. Since we forgot to measure the original gravity, we don't have an estimate for alcohol content, but I think the vast quantities of hops provide a significant psychoactive component. A very relaxing brew.

While we were brewing the Festivus, we were admiring the Chinook hops growing in my yard, approaching readiness for harvest. We decided to brew a fresh-hopped ale and scheduled another brew date just two week later to coincide with harvest. We gathered about a pound and a half and used it all in the brew.

When kegging the Fresh Hopped IPA, we only dry hopped one of the kegs (because we only had one hop sock free). The non-dry hopped keg was tapped a couple days ago, and the dry hopped keg was tapped this evening. I definitely prefer the dry hopped version. The difference is very noticeable. The hoppines of the batch that wasn't dry hopped is so much less pronounced, it may not even qualify as an IPA when measured against the style guidelines. But it's still a good brew.

Oktoberfest in Palestine

Ran across this story on the BBC's site the other day. I found the closing paragraphs most inspiring:

At one point, a young man who has come from Ramallah confides to me that he is a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant offshoot of the Fatah faction.

This shy young man tells me why he - a Christian - wanted to join the quasi-Islamist group, branded a terrorist organisation by Israel and its allies for a string of suicide bombings in Israeli cities.

Then he looks down at the glass of beer in his hand, and around at the smiling crowds, and says it is the first day he has been truly happy for many years.