It's about time, S.A.U.C.E and E.S.B.

Yesterday was my first brew day at the new house. I have really been itching for it badly. I put the recipe together on beertools.com about a month ago and finally got around to brewing it yesterday. I used the well water from the farm I was brewing at before, because I have yet to purchase a water treatment system for the house. I have had my eye on a carbon block filter I found on morebeer.com. It's relatively inexpensive and should remove the nasty chlorine-related flavors from my beer. For now, I'm using the farm water or making a trip out to my parents' well for water, since it is hard enough water for most beers and lacks chemicals.

The ESB went really well yesterday until cooling. The immersion chiller I was using sprung a like with the hose clamp loosened itself, and unboiled municipal water leaked into my cooling wort. Unfortunately, that means there is a high risk of bacterial contamination, but we'll see how it turns out. I may have just made a sour ale instead of an ESB. Luckily, the contamination was somewhat limited by the fact that I noticed it was happening and I switched to my backup chiller.

A friend of mine recently started a magazine here in Springfield, Missouri called SAUCE. It stands for Springfield Art Underground Culture Entertainment. I'll be writing a regular beer column, with tasting notes. Online at saucethemag.com, I will also be posting relevant blogs and a few home brew recipes and tips to try. While the column and the blog will be aimed at a more general audience, it will hopefully be filled with some useful information for everyone. Also, it won't hurt that I'll be posting recipes, as well.

Anyway, I'm easily distracted today, so I'm off. I'm playing with the The Brewing Network's registration and forums, etc. If you don't already subscribe to their podcasts and listen to them religiously, you probably should do that. They are filled with great information and are a lot of fun to listen to.