Summer specials

As if my Beer Gibbon drinking on the edge series wasn't enough, I've more special treats lined up for the summer.

Another edition (1889) of "Zeitschrift für das gesammte Brauwesen" should be splintering the floorboards beneath my letter box soon. Then we'll be returning to the wild and wacky world of 19th century German brewing statistics. Should be good for a few dozen posts.

Having told you what I'll be doing on my holidays, it seems only fair to tell what I actually did on my holidays, too. Belgium, Berlin and some others places beginning with the letter B. Betondorp, perhaps. Or Bangladesh.

It's about time I had a proper look at the Truman's brewing logs. Expect lots about Runners and Keepers. If I can read the handwriting. Here's a small aside. Modern Dutch handwriting is similar to old-fashioned English handwriting. When I can't decipher something in the logs, I often ask my son Andrew to take a look.

Warm weather isn't my favourite. It makes me irritable. So expect more rants. The hotter it gets, the more rants there'll be. Check the rantometer (commonly - if mistakenly - called a thermometer) to see the likelihood of a rant in the coming days.

Decoction mashing. I've neglected this topic shamefully. Quoting from old brewing manuals, I'll outline some of the different methods. Einteigen, Dickmeisch. All will be explained. Well, maybe not exactly explained. Described, at least. As traditionally bottom-fermenting beers weren't brewed in the summer, this seems the perfect time to discuss the process.

It's going to be a long, dull summer. Sorry. Long, hot summer.