The Label

Stimulated by our many happy experiences with craft beers in the mountain west, we have decided to brew our own here on Skinny Island.  It is to be called “Palmetto Pale Ale” and, true to our policy of full disclosure here at the Post, we will document the entire process, come what may.  This is not our first attempt at home-brew; we made a very decent ale some ten years ago, but we have forgotten much of the process, so we are pretty much starting from scratch again.  Yes, kids, this is perfectly legal; you can make as much beer and wine as you want.

Here goes.  We started by setting up our propane cooker back in the hammock outside, so

The set-up

we wouldn’t catch the place on fire.  You bring 2 1/2 gallons of water to about 150 degrees, then add the dry grain ingredients, chiefly barley, in a tight mesh bag, (no that isn’t an old sock, but that’d do, if clean,) steep for 20 minutes, then bring to a rolling boil and add your malt, stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.  This is called the wort. You bring this again to a rolling boil,, then start throwing in your hops, bittering hops first, then, after 55 minutes’ boil, your finishing, or aroma hops, (Cascade, of course, from the great Northwest.)  Another 5 minutes boil, and you cool the wort to about 70 degrees.  Pour this stuff

The Wort

into your fermenter, through a filter to weed out the mush from the grains, add enough water to make 5 gallons, take a specific gravity reading, throw in your yeast, and cap the fermenter with an airlock, which lets gases out but nothing else in, and wait.  This bubbles and ferments for 5-7 days, and then you add some sugar and bottle.  Carbonation takes place in the bottle, and when that’s done, in about 2 weeks, you drink it!  Couldn’t be easier.  Yes, the pot is warped, but it still works.

Five Gallons Fermenting in the Carboy

Stay tuned.  By the way, it was a gorgeous day here on Skinny Island, after a thick morning fog, high around 82.  Spring is just around the corner.  The garden is proceeding apace.  More on that later.