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.

So the interior is pretty well sealed up. No doubt a drafty place but I wish I could open the windows to get a breeze. I’m going to leave two jars on the top indoor floor and three exposed outside on the deck in different spots. The weather is going to be in the lower-50s and clear at night, and there is always a breeze when you’re that far up.

Tomorrow I’ll make a half-gallon of 1.030 wort with a pinch of hops and yeast nutrient and in the afternoon, I’ll drop them at the Observatory. Saturday afternoon, I’ll pick them

up and let them sit loosely covered for a few days and see what happens. Crossing my fingers for true Munjoy Hill native beer.

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.