Dame Maggie Smith's Dubbel Brewday

A day before celebrating our independence from Europe, our cat Dame Maggie Smith decided to pay her respects to our Euro-friends by brewing up a Belgian-style dubbel ale, just to be contrarian. One of our mentors suggested that Mrs. Quail and I seem to be trying to turn our cats into Lolcats, but really, that's impossible. Our cats are not funny at all (except for Professor Moriarty. He's hilarious. But also quite possibly evil, so it's a bit awkward deciding whether to laugh at him.) We assure you, Maggie is all business as the new brewmistress of Ducksmack Ales. See for yourself!

1. This is a Smack Pack. You smack it to release yeast nutrients into the yeast. I don't think Maggie knows this; she just smacked it as a matter of course. Then she smacked me a little for good measure. Then Professor Moriarty smacked her, then she smacked him, and then we all had a good laugh.

Grist and Grain

Today we have two subjects at hand, and both involve strange manipulations of grain. The first is a product we have come to admire: pasta made from farro by Rustichella d'Abruzzo. Farro is a grain more commonly known as spelt, and one commonly used in Italy. In this case we used their casareccia, which is somewhat like a penne that has been sliced lengthwise and twisted a bit. The second subject today is a tasting of The Bitter Drake, the Belgian-style ale brewed two months ago that (hopefully) is rounding into shape in time for summer. More on that later.

An Everyday IPA Update

Dear friends, we certainly would not want to leave you wanting resolution to the burning question on everyone's lips: how did the IPA turn out?

The Apartment Lab, or Adventures in Fermentation

In Jack London’s great novel The Sea Wolf, the cynical captain Wolf Larsen says, “I believe that life is a mess…it is like yeast, a ferment, a thing that moves…but that in the end will cease to move.” Wolf Larsen was a cheery fellow. But for all his certainty that yeast is something pointless to be dismissed, it really has an element of magic in it, don’t you think?