Beer

Have I ever mentioned that I brew my own beer? My most recent brew was a variation of a "palace bitter." The recipe for a palace bitter calls for two different kinds of hops, whereas I used three different kinds. The use of hops has different effects on a beer depending on when you put said hops into the "wort" (this term refers to the liquid that you boil up before you seal it in a vessel to ferment). As soon as the wort starts to boil, you would add hops in order to give the beer a bittering effect. If you like pale ales, then you appreciate this bittering effect. You may have heard a pale ale referred to as an "India Pale Ale." The history of this apparently stems from the shipping routes from England to colonized India. This route went south around the tip of Africa. In order to preserve their beer, the English used hops as a preservative so that their beer would not spoil. Thus the India Pale Ale.

Adding hops into the wort in the last 5 to 10 minutes of the boil is known as "flavoring hops." This is just as it says--the beer takes on the flavor of the hops. There are many different types of hops with varying flavors, so depending on which types of hops you use is the flavor that your beer adopts.

The last addition of hops occurs in the last minute or two of the boil. This is called the "aromatic hops." Again, this is self descriptive as this addition of hops adds a nice aroma to the final product. Of course the end aroma of your beer depends on the type of hops that you use.

I have been drinking my "palace bitter" for a couple weeks now and have enjoyed it thoroughly. There really is nothing like drinking a beer that you brewed yourself. Similarly, there is nothing quite like pissing off of your own porch.

Word.