Cookapelli

that is the goal for my weizen bier

lautering the wheat wort

tribute to the future beer, I'm sure it's an ancient tradition

hops have been added and the beer racked to a secondary fermenter

It’s been a while since the last post, mostly because the inn has been quiet, so no playing with food. I did finally get to experience some food and culture in Austin, TX recently at the national innkeepers conference. It was my first time to this event and while some of the food seminars weren’t really what I was hoping for I did get to experience a brilliant wine tasting and food pairing session. Ike Johnson, from Max’s Wine Dive gave a brilliant and fun chat about wines. I’ve spent some time studying wines and fermentation in general, but I really learned a lot from Ike. Hilary and I went to experience the wine dive for Sunday brunch and I’ve got some new ideas to use in my own breakfasts!

Jonathan and I have begun the final planning stages of our annual Cinco de Mayo feast at the Oxford House Inn, here in Fryeburg. I think this year we are going to focus on some Mexican comfort food as well as some distinct regional specialties. If you want to get a chance to have truly authentic Mexican food then make reservations soon as this event sells out quite quickly. Of course I’d love it if you stayed with us at the Admiral Peary House and got to experience a Mexican breakfast the next day.

While spring is happening here at a frantic pace, I’ve realized that I need several beers to be completed soon so that I can prepare for our spring herb tour, where I am showcasing hops as our herb. So the first beer brewed last week, Mad Half Hour, is a British special bitter with a twist. This, if it tastes good will be my entry into the Longshot contest this year. It has been through primary fermentation and is sitting in secondary while being dry hopped with some nice Goldings hops. The next beer, brewed yesterday is a bavarian hefewiezen. Our water here in Fryeburg is actually too soft, clean, and pure for some of the beers that I want to make and I’m going to have to spend more time playing water chemist than I ever wanted. While mashing the wheat and barley for the hefeweizen I didn’t get as much yield from the grain as I had hoped for. This looks like it was water chemistry and a probable faulty thermometer. So the next batches of beer will get some water analysis and a new thermometer.

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