Future brew schedule

Ok, I'll admit, this post is really more for me than it is for you. I'm trying to map out my future brewing schedule with all the grains I have from my last big purchase at the end of 2011 and my most recent purchase I received last week. So this is my tentative schedule for the rest of 2012 and into 2013. Maybe it will entice you to come back and see what I've brewed as the year progresses...

November 2012
Brew Mesquite Porter - 2.5 gallons (done)
Brew Belgian Stout - 1 gallon (done)
Bottle Belgian Graff (done)
Bottle Belgian Stout/Sour Black Blend and Sour Black Straight(done)
Bottle Mesquite Porter(done)
(Possibly) Brew/Bottle Pumpkin Dunkel - 1 gallon (done)

December 2012
Brew Coffee Oatmeal Stout - 1 gallon (done)
Brew Lambic Solera Year Three - 3 gallons (done)
Bottle Lambic Solera Year Two (done)
Secondary Lambic Solera Year Two on blackberries (done)


January 2013
Brew American Wheat - 2 gallons
Bottle American Wheat
Brew Mesquite Black IPA - 2.5 gallons
Bottle Mesquite Black IPA

February 2013
Brew ESB - 3 gallons
Bottle ESB

March 2013
Brew Dunkelweizen - 1 gallon (done)
Bottle Dunkelweizen (done)

April 2013
Brew Apricot Blonde - 2 gallons
Bottle Apricot Blonde

May 2013
Brew Chile Blonde - 2.5 gallons
Bottle Chile Blonde

June 2013
Brew Doppelbock - 1 gallon
Lager Doppelbock


July 2013
Brew Smoked Saison - 1 gallon
Bottle Smoked Saison

August 2013
Brew Tropic King clone - 2.5 gallons
Bottle Tropic King clone

September 2013
Possible bottling of Petrus Aged Pale Clone

October 2013
Bottle Doppelbock


December 2013
Brew Lambic Solera Year Four - 3 gallons
Bottle Gueuze from Lambic Solera Year 1-3


I'm looking a little thin on the last half of the year but that's really intentional. My wife and I usually partake in the oktoberfest, pumpkin and holiday beers at the end of the year and tend not to drink a lot of homebrew, so there's no reason to brew a bunch of beer that won't be enjoyed fresh. I'm sure we'll end up with quite a bit of this beer left to push through the early fall. We're still sitting on a little over ten gallons in the bottle plus fifteen in fermentors. So we're not exactly thirsty here. Also, if the Petrus clone is ready for bottling that will be a five gallon injection into our supply.

I'm actually very excited about these beers. Most are on the lighter side, both in terms of color and ABV, which is nice because I can drink more without as big of a caloric hit and less fear of a hangover the next day. It's a good mix of regular beers with a few weird twists, like the smoked saison that will feature some munich malt I home-smoked over some mesquite. Hopefully I will have some hops grow next year on my plants and I'll contemplate a fall brew of either wet hops or freshly dried hops but we'll see whether I end up with locust-consumed bines absent hops or a nice batch of tasty hops.

I may tweak the calendar a bit as time goes on and my non-brewing schedule evolves next year. I'll take the bar at the end of February and then work for a few months on preparing my firm while I await bar results and hopefully I'll be able to open my firm late May and start making some cash to pay down these loans. I expect long, 60-70 hour weeks ahead of me (not too different from my current law school schedule), and lots of stress so I'll have to fit the brewing and bottling in as I can. After three and a half years of law school and neglecting friends, family and generally the world beyond home and school, I'd also like to see people and do things, so that will crowd out some of my brewing as well.