I brewed the New Mommy Stout today. All-grain, dry stout, with herbal additions to support lactation, uterine contraction, and post-partum hormonal balance. This was a special request for Kathryn, who selected the herbs.

I used 8 Tbsp Fenugreek Seed, 5 Tbsp Red Raspberry Leaf, and 2 Tbsp Blessed Thistle, all for the last 10 minutes of the boil. I emphasized the Fenugreek some because it has a subtle maple flavor that will complement the roast barley if it comes through.

Brew went fairly well, with some sparging difficulties. I need to rethink my mash/lauter tun. The hose braid trick isn’t cutting it. I also oversparged slightly, ending up with 6.5 gallons of yield at 1.044 instead of 5.5 gallons at 1.051. I could have boiled it another hour to hit my target, but it’s intended to be a session beer for the wife. She’s enough of a lightweight not to care, and the extra gallon is more important to me than the extra gravity for this one. I also chose to underbitter this one some. 27 IBUs from the hops. This was because Kathryn’s not a hophead, and the Blessed Thistle is intensely bitter, so I wanted to leave a little extra “bitterness headroom” to accomodate it.

Recipe follows: Read more »

I bottled the tomato wine today. 3.5 gallons. Mmmmm…

I would have liked to give it another racking and a month or two more in bulk aging, but I had to empty a carboy in preparation for New Mommy Stout, this next week’s brew. It’s a dry stout fortified with an herbal cocktail that supports lactation, uterine contraction and hormonal balance.* It’s Kathryn’s idea, and my first foray into medicinal brewing. It’ll have red raspberry leaf, blessed thistle, and fenugreek. I might go extra on the fenugreek, it’ll give it a maple flavor. I think that would be nice against the roast barley and the dry finish. I’ll post the recipe when I brew it!

* Note: This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and should not be construed as medical advice.

I’m finally back in the brewing swing. I bottled the Brown Ale for the Peach State brewoff. That’s the batch on the right.

On the left is Kathryn steaming a stamp off of an unused envelope. I couldn’t resist snapping a shot of her involved in a forty-three cent federal offense.

Random House College Dictionary: to fit a bed with sheets and blankets.

One person in the Kovarik household:

Another in the Kovarik household:

Can you guess whose definition belongs to whom?

Hint: Neither belongs to the dogs. This is Rahab’s definition:

…so is the sun being high in the sky.

It’s time to do a little autumn maintenance on the bees. I went out last Monday and Friday, but it was late in the afternoon, the sun was behind the trees, and I had no fire. My lighter is empty and I couldn’t find the one Daniel uses, so I went out to remove extra supers and check winter honey supplies without a smoker. Oooh, did I make them mad. Friday one stung me through my glove.

Today I went out to the hives about 11:30 with a book of matches Tom had left in my car (I need to add lighter to my grocery list). Huge difference. I could hear them get upset with me, but not near the swarming as last week.

I think Hive 4 may have a weak queen. Low on honey and a small amount of brood. But as I did find new brood, the queen must be somewhat active, so we won’t worry about requeening until late winter/early spring.

I’ll be harvesting honey at the farm in East Lake next Tuesday, Sept 18, starting around noon. If you are interested in participating and petting my bees, let me know.

I love They Might Be Giants

My nieces’ birthday is Sunday. I have just finished their gift, at 10:30 the night before I jump on an early flight to see them the next day. I came up with this idea at least a month ago. When did I start it? Tuesday.

I’d like to try my hand at kombucha. I’ve been buying it at Rainbow and really really like it. It has been settling my icky stomach. Anyone have an extra mushroom culture you’d like to pass on to me?

There are two kinds of Loc-tite thread sealer, the red kind and the blue kind. The red kind holds better, but the blue kind tastes better.

I went to check on the bees at the farm yesterday. They have been super busy gathering nectar lately and turning it into honey, so Daniel put on some empty supers a week and a half ago and I checked to see how they are doing.

I finished up and started to take off my suit, and then heard buzzing around my head. One would think I would remain calm and collected, but I started running across the field to evade the little bee. By the time the buzzing ceased, I was trailing my suit around my ankles. I went back to my spot to gather my supplies and another started buzzing around my head. I hightailed it the other way down the field, suit in hand. Once safe, I gathered the suit into the hat and put the whole thing on my head. Apparently, my new hair color is just too enticing.