Brewing

September has been a brewing month. I have made ginger beer for Melbourne Cup day, followed by two brews of beer for the summer. It all promises to be a lot of fun.

Coming together

We were busy on the weekend; cleaning, mowing and putting the path to the tank back together after the big slump in November. The mesh fence is now in place around the tank with tomatoes, purple king beans and native clematis attached. Hopefully it will be a green leafy fence soon. The beans below the tank were waving around looking for direction and have already started producing so I will need to walk down there each day from now on. Fortunately the grass is now growing down there after all the construction traffic from recent months. The compost bins are also busy with the third one now full of weeds, so I have emptied the first one into the other two with some compost going to the potatoes.
This activity was all prompted by lunch on Sunday to celebrate Dick's last day before turning 60. The forecast hot weather and rain did not eventuate and we had a very pleasant afternoon with friends.

Our combined culinary efforts with Jim produced an antipasto tray, crudites with basil and pistachio pesto dip, macadamias in sour cream/garlic, asparagus/veg tarte, pizzas, smoked chicken breast and salad, cheesecake with mango and fruit cake. Allan brought a sample of his first home brew which was followed by some of mine, then wine.
We were lucky to find George, our resident dragon, in the front garden as our guests were leaving.

photos taken by Allan

the Walrus said

Yes the time has come for an update. The Anzac thing got a bit depressing as we watched three very good TV programs on the Gallipoli submarine, a Turkish one based on letters, and one on soldiers missing in action on the Somme in WW1.
We went to a pumpkin harvest party at PalmTree that weekend and enjoyed the moon rising as we drove home later that night.
Brew 26 has been made with a mix of Tom's New Zealand malt and my dry malt. It will be interesting to see how malty it is.
We have had a series of short weeks, with Easter coming early in March, followed by Toowoomba Show holiday, Anzac day and then the May Day long weekend. It is good to get back to normal life.

Anzac Day

Today I remember those who did not return - Dick's uncle Sergeant John Hart Steel of 2/2 Pioneer Battalion who died of malnutrition and neglect on the Burma Railway in 1944, and my grandfather's brother Private Walter Charles Patterson of 52nd Battalion AIF who was killed by a shell near the front line at Mouquet Farm on the Somme in September 1916.
And those who returned damaged - my grandmother's brother Sapper Duncan McRae of 2nd Field Co. Engineers, who was shot in the spine at Gallipoli, and Dick's great uncle Lieut-Colonel T H Steel OBE of Steele's [sic] Post at Gallipoli and later in France [14th Btn].
There were many other family members affected by wars, including our own fathers and I hope that the retelling of their stories will help us avoid further military conflicts.
I made Anzac biscuits today - I have actually been meaning to for a couple of weeks so I just used the day to get it done. I also made a wartime chocolate cake and another brew of beer.

Happy new beer

I started brewing beer in 1981 and today's brew will be number 224. I have nearly always used my own recipe but with the rising price of malt in recent years, it is no cheaper than buying kits from Woolies, so the ikey side of me prevailed in spring and I made four brews of Coopers [Real Ale, Lager and Dark Ale] and Home Brand. I then realised that I much preferred my own brew and that of the four, my preference was for the Home Brand Lager.
Yesterday I chanced to find malt among the honeys in Woolies, and at a dollar less than the brew shops so we are back in business today. Ah the smell of hops permeating the house!
Next brew will be a special one made from New Zealand Black Rock malt given to me, on his recent visit, by Tom.
There is more tasting to be done.