Last updated 11 years ago by Matthew Hunt
Brewing in a more properly-equipped kitchen changes everything.
Since restarting my homebrew hobby after our move to Portland, my brewing interest in wild ales has exploded. With some inspiration from people like Mike at The Mad Fermentationist and Dmitri over at BKYeast, I decided to explore the realm of cultivating the “terroir” of Munjoy Hill.
Living in a condo means limited interesting places to capture wild yeasts, so I thought about other areas of the East End that might be interesting and the Portland Observatory came to mind immediately. Built in 1807, it has a long history and is the only surviving maritime signal station in the United States. The interior, although partially rebuilt and renovated, is filled with rich old timber beams and structural details. The microflora possibilities are endless and there is no single place on the hill with the potential to capture Munjoy terroir as completely and deeply as this. At least, this is my line of thinking so I contacted Greater Portland Landmarks, which maintain and operate the Observatory to inquire about leaving some “wort pods” there for a day or two to see what I could come up with.
I am no scientist. I’m not even an amateur one or play one on TV. Thankfully, there are others out there that have had similar ideas and were kind enough to post their experiences online. One such person is Mike “Oldsock” Tonsmeire who documented the process on his excellent blog.
