Hummingbird Lane Homestead + StudioNot a bad little lineup by the fire pit last night. Synthesis, Arboreal, and Stillbow (still!) were all drinking nicely. I quite enjoyed the Goods From The Woods beer, which I missed out on since I was unable to make it to the event last month.
Over the weekend, I brewed a batch of starter wort, filled five jars, and headed to the Observatory to leave them overnight. Friday afternoon, I made a growler’s-worth of 1.030 basic wort. I also added a pinch of yeast nutrient and half an ounce of aged hops and divided it all up evenly between 24oz mason jars.
Made a quick stop at the Observatory today to scout possible homes for my 24oz wide-mouth Ball jars. Certainly a nice day at the top, the firefighter practicing bagpipes in the parking lot next door added a certain atmosphere that accented the view and weather perfectly. Wish I had more than my cell phone to snap photos.
Spoke with the friendly woman at Greater Portland Landmarks and once the weather cools down later in September, I’ll be leaving little bowls of wort around the Portland Observatory! Stoked about this project. In the meantime, I’m going to read up on yeast banking and finish Jeff Sparrow’s great book, “Wild Brews.”
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.
The first brew I made was a simple one. My intention was to start the pipeline of funk anew. After trying to resuscitate a 7-month old batch of East Coast Yeast ECY20 Bug Farm, I ultimately had to pitch some fresh Wyeast Lambic Blend 3278. After an overly enthusiastic churn session with the wine degasser, fermentation quickly took off.
I have started with an easy formula, one very close to my first sour brew from almost 3 years ago. 50% light and 50% wheat DME with an addition of maltodextrin near the end of the boil. The fruits of these labors will not be known for a while. I’ve made arrangements for longer-term storage for aging in a friend’s basement, but I’ll check in and update things here from time to time. I plan to do this with all the batch entries I publish online.