FestiveAle

Eric and I spent Sunday serving up a homebrew demonstration at FestivAle, a beer tasting event at St. Christopher's Church annual festival. After getting conned talked into helping out several months ago, the last couple of weeks left us wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. We did a brew demo last summer, which went well, but FestivAle was bound to be a larger event, with more people. We spent a lot of time at our day jobs trying to give the appearance we know what we are doing. Now this same mindset was required for our hobby. Were we up to the task? Oh, most certainly.

First off, the organization was great. We had a spot right next to the main tasting tent where we set up. Since canvas tents, open flame, and the fire marshall don't go well together, we were just outside.

Yes, it was hot enough outside to start a boil without flame, but the instant close shade made the heat a non-issue. Also, the iron that our setup was situated between playground equipment was not lost on us.

The only downside to the day was the 12 pounds of crushed grain I dumped in the backseat of my car on the way over. The tub was apparently precariously perched on my mash paddle and thanks to my "light" braking, the tub hit the rear of the seat, the lid popped off, and the grain landed on the floor of the backseat. On the plus side, I recovered most of it and the car will never have a need for an air freshener as the dominate odor from her on out is crushed grain.

During the day we had a steady flow of observers. Although some were brewers and some were not, all of the onlookers shared a love of good beer. They asked inquisitive questions and great stories.

Eric brewed a wit beer and I brewed a "strong amber ale". My recipe was taken from an old beer style book Wendy gave me on our trip over to England last month. Culled from old notes found by the authors, the recipe dates back to the 1790s. Although called a strong amber ale, it is really more of a bitter. Comprised entirely of pale malt and 5 ounces of Fuggle hops, it should be a rather pale, slightly hoppy beer.

Besides getting in our brews, we also took part in the tastings. We were thrilled to participate and hope we left a good enough impression to be asked back.