My Bleerg (or Brog)!

Well, I guess I should start with a little backstory. I have been homebrewing since January 2010. I started with a kit, a pot, and the electric stove in my apartment a stone's throw from Hop River Road (hence the title of the blog). My Father-In-Law, always completely supportive, let me ferment in his basement, because we didn't even have a closet to put the bucket it in. 

My first brewday was kind of a successful tragedy. Long story short: boxed ingredient kit (California Common), boilover all over stove, wife freaked about the smell, screaming kids, huge mess in kitchen, OK beer! It was so stressful, but rewarding and it got better every time after.

In the past year, I have accumulated equipment and refined my technique. I now brew All Grain, built a kegerator (the best investment I have made, bottling sucks), and have brewed roughly 15 batches. My most recent brew, a Belgian IPA inspired by Flying Dog's Raging Bitch, has been in the fermenter for a week. Also, even though it is March, I have an Autumn style cider fermenting. That is one of the best parts about making your own beer, you can make whatever you want, whenever you want.

I plan on covering my brewdays, self reviewing finished brews, and documenting brewing related projects. My next brew will either be another quick Witbier or playing around with an IPA recipe that uses 100% pilsner malt. Recently I decided that it would be a great idea to start brewing 10 gallon batches, twice the beer with the same amount of work! My next projects will be building a bigger mash tun and modifying an old 15 gallon commercial keg into a brewpot. So, I guess that's what you can look forward to... Cheers!