Genesis

I bet every home brewer has some quirky story about how they got into the hobby, and I'm no different. Although less a story than merely a strange and unexpected call to action, there's still a little quirk in there.

My original brewing journal - Pistachio Porter

Somewhere in the region of five months ago (sadly I don't recall the exact day and locale) I was supping on a much favored tipple, Rogue Ales' delectable Hazelnut Brown Nectar. The conversation of the polite company in which I found myself naturally turned to gelato. This in turn led to me extolling the virtues of my favorite gelato flavor, pistachio. Zzzzap! My mind instantly leapt from the enjoyable conversation to the delicious nutty beer in my hand.

There was some discussion as to people's knowledge of any kind of pistachio beer on the market. No one could think of any and a cursory Internet search (thank you smart phones!) yielded a negative. We pondered what beer would be best to complement pistachio. Obviously the gauntlet was down, and your lexically minded brew master made the snappy observation of  the alliterative supremacy of a conceptual 'Pistachio Porter'. And thus a legendary quest was born, and here I am 5 months later with one revision of my Pistachio Porter down, and 7 other delectable creations having provided delight and succor for my friends and family.

Now that I'm growing as a brewer (both in myself and my brewery) I am going to be moved to revisit and refine this original brew. Even if only by converting the recipe to all grain, I'd like to pay some tribute to the idea that inspired it all and who knows, maybe even create myself a flagship recipe in the process.

The Journal

The Pistachio Porter was but the second brew I attempted (the first being a strictly by the book newbie affair from a homebrew tome) and the recipe for it lives in my humble brewing journal. I've enjoyed my journal writing as a process of codifying my efforts, and I imagine its only going to be an advantage when I officially make the leap to the new brewing system I'm building (more on that in future posts). There's something to be said for the 'old' ways and it really has helped me order my thoughts and my brew day process. I'd like to take the time to share with you my experiences in extract brewing, so stay tuned for the odd post on each of my extract brewing endeavors in the coming weeks and months.