New singel

It's been a while... The term is almost over at which point I'll be able to devote more attention to beer and other fun stuff like home repair, gardening (my hops have broken ground), and scholarship. I can't freakin' wait for summer vacation. The allure of a whole day to do with as a please makes me salivate. I'm planning to slowly redo chunks of the house interior (mostly painting, trim-work, and hanging shit), hiring somebody to touch up the roof, and putting a good solid week into finishing off the landscaping work, which I rather enjoy. I'll also get exercise 5-6 days a week, get back to cooking, revise 2 pieces for submission to a journal, and brew . . . In the not-too-distant future I'm seeing another weizen, an altbier, a wit, an IPA, a double IPA, a hoppy brown, another 3787 beer, and a deKoninck-inspired Belgian pale.

Just for the sake of test-driving a new beer, I'm sampling, at about two weeks of age, Sunset Singel, which was based loosely on Westvleteren Blonde. It's pilsner-pale with a decent head. The clarity sucks, which has been an issue for me lately. Hopefully that will fix itself after a few weeks in the basement. The nose is pretty nice. The 3787 phenolic character is restrained, which was a goal. But it does give a little spiciness that melds well with the fairly generous dose of, I think, Hallertau Mittelfruh. The malt character is good. I used 50/50 pils and Belgian pale and that gives just a little more nutty depth than straight pils. I think this will be a dynamite beer in about 6-8 weeks. The Dude continues to learn the virtues of simplicity.