First Draft Pick.

My vision of a brew room had started long before my kitchen remodel and got it's jump start when I tore my kitchen apart.  The first step to the kitchen project was to move the range into one of the utility rooms in the basement, we rerouted the power so I could us the stove in the interim.  After moving the water softener and cleaning out some things left behind by the previous owners, a coat of
paint on the walls and a few pieces of salvaged linoleum my basement brother got from work, the room was a space clean enough to prepare food in while the kitchen was no longer in a condition to do such things.

At this point I began watching the Auction Master's site looking for the right stainless steel washing sink with a drying rack.  After a few bidding losses I got an idea of exactly what I wanted in a sink and what I was willing to pay.  There the sink was, a thing of beauty.  A deep basin for washing carboys and kettles with a drying rack that drains directly back into the sink. It completed my basement kitchen, well after a series of plumbing projects that totaled as much as the actual sink cost me the kitchen in my basement was complete.

The space was ready for brewing but with the actual kitchen had not been finished and my greenhouse season consumes my schedule through the summer, there was no brewing.  Life seemed to be keeping me from making my first batch. Which is quite alright, sometimes life has a way of filling the days without one actively looking for new projects and adventures.  It's when there is a break in the action or shift in pressures that give us a chance to experience new things.  This October I had that opportunity, the arrival of my first hop harvest was just the incentive I needed.  Finally the perishable crop of Cascade hops, created an urgency to get brewing. 

Cascade Hops from my backyard trellis. 

I recruited a more experienced brewing friend to guide me through the initial process.  Having the equipment and experience of making Mead much of the skills transfer over, though its always nice to have someone around who knows a bit more than you do.   Much like my style in the kitchen, we followed the recipe more like a guideline. With an outline of correct temperatures and timing we played around a little.  Using the supplied grains and malt extract for a Double IPA, we used the hops I grew myself and added a touch of the Farm's honey.

The grains get added.

Using fresh hops, it was hard to know how much to use. 
We went by handfuls, many handfuls.

Adding the malt extract to the wort. 

The new sink and additional plumbing works awesomely for cooling down the batch of beer before pitching the yeast.

I dry hopped during the second fermentation and added another half cup of honey for good measure. 
After the second fermentation I racked the beer with a priming sugar and bottled into recycled brown bottles I'd been saving for years.  Being well aware of my hoarding tendencies, I've been limiting my accumulation of unnecessary things.  I don't want to be one of those old farmer's piles of broken equipment and miscellaneous rubbish about, instead there only be reusable bottles, reclaimed lumber, belt buckles and vinyl records filling my many outbuildings. 

Floating science stick in the tube told me the beer sits at about 8.5%.

Pre- priming sugar samples.

Bottling, from start to finish a three and a half week process for beer. 
Another three weeks of waiting while the priming sugar and yeast find balance.

I ended up with a high alcohol count at 8.5%, a tasty auburn color with a mild carbonation which works really nice with it's sweet honey finish.  The hops came across more mild than initially expected, which can be explained by the young age of the vines they grew from.  Turned out to be a very enjoyable beer, one for casual sipping. Perhaps my next batch would be strictly from a kit to take out the variables from experimentation and to refine my skills, but I am really happy with my first draft pick. 

Hops 'Cascade' Up

Three years ago I was given a few sprigs of a 'Cascade' hops plant from a good friend, a brewer and a farmer.  I began growing them in pots at the Garden Center.  At that point I began daydreaming of trellis systems and where the best place would be for one in the yard. 

My thoughts were to build one more for aesthetics than utility, there are many system designs online for trellising hops, but I wasn't drawn to the metal poles and cables that most suggested.  I had come across some old 6x6 timbers, and decided to re-purpose them.  Along with that I found an old wood & chain conveyor belt at the Farm and the materials designed themselves into a trellis.

Rough sketch of trellis, simple and rustic.

From then it was still a process to build and implement.  Assembly went well, though it was too big for one to install on their own.  Last year, at the same time as when I dug the holes for the posts, the power went out in the barn.  This put an hiatus on the project until the power could be restored to the barn.  A slight relief was gathered when it was determined to be gophers and not my shovels that took out the power.  Though my battle remains with the yard varmints. 

This spring, the power back on, nothing was going to stop me from getting my trellis up and my hops in the ground.  Heck, I was already getting reports of batches of beer made from offshoots of my original 'Cascade'.  And here I was still watering mine twice a day in a container. 

Potted plant ready for planting.

Finally, one Monday (April 23) this spring my hopes for hops had been planted. Lets just hope its not another three years before I get to the next step with these vines, brewing. There has been much progress since the planting and before the post.  Here's a few photos of my trellis being filled with the vines of 'Cascade'. 

The Hops climbs trellis' chains with ease.

Old chain and wood rungs add to the aged look of trellis.

Little fella found the leaf tasty, don't he know the flowers are where the flavor is?

Hops have nearly reached the top, have have just begun to grow side shoots..