So, it's a Society

After quite a bit of discussion, it was finally determined that the Backyard Brewer's are a Society and not an Association.  I'm not really sure what the difference means.  In my mind, both get an emblem...perhaps as a Society we get a flag too?  Certainly, as a Society, we at least get an excuse to wear smoking jackets as we retire to the lounge.  Whatever we want to call ourselves, some of us shouted "present" as we brewed at Dave's house this past Sunday.

Compared to last winter, this was probably our chilliest of outdoor brew sessions.  With the leaves still falling, the temperatures followed suit and dropped like a brick too.  The cool weather led us all to donning jackets and hats while avoiding the spontaneous combustion of denim as we warmed ourselves at Dave's fire pit.

Since our little brewing society is as mobile as a fleet of gypsy wagons, we have gotten pretty good at being self-sufficent no matter where we are.

Thanks to my buddy Matt, I put my spanking new (to me) tackle brew box to work.  I was planning on adding a new thermometer to my kettle today too, but the thought of screwing it up and being left with a keg with a half inch hole in it didn't set to well for me.

Style wise, Drew brewed a Belgian Tripel, Dave a Double IPA, Eric a Christmas Ale and for me, a Pale Ale.

As host, Dave did a great job of keeping us fed, which is always a brew day tradition.

First up, was some grilled bacon that Dave had previously home cured.

Around mid-day, Dave cranked out some fattys.  Thankfully, there is a picture to give that sentence context:

Another brew day staple. One fatty was with regular pork sausage and the other with spicy.  Both were great.

Dave's wife Abby finished off the day with some amazing cabbage rolls.  Dave knew we had to incorporate pork into everything and accomplished the mission effortlessly!

On the brew front, everything went well.  My aeration stone failed me again, but outside of that, everything else seemed to be spot on.

Along with all of the beer making, we of course participated in some beer drinking.   We all marveled at Dave's new draft system and enjoyed Eric's portable keg.  After a quick hit of the bung, his gallon of homebrew was ready for dispensing.

The name of his IPA? I'll leave it for the label...and it's accompanying illustration.

For the record, it was great and I wasn't walking funny afterwards.

After six hours from beginning to end, we all walked away with full bellies and a combined 20 gallons of soon to be fermenting beer.  Zoe was kind enough to chauffeur me and all of my "stuff" home too.

Drew and I realized it has been just over 2 years since we first started brewing together.  Honestly, I don't know where the time has gone.  Since it's inception, we have gone from a bunch of stumbling homebrewers to just a bunch of homebrewers who happen to stumble late in the day.

Each brew day we eat a little more than the last, get a little more judgmental on our creations and continue to learn quite a bit from our own mistakes.  To me, the association moniker connotates a loose group of guys who get together to brew.  This is not a loose group.  We are bound by more than a common interest.  We are passionate, we are homebrewers, we are friends, we are a society and I wouldn't name us any other way.  Now I'm off to find a smoking jacket.