Compliments....
Compliments of the season to everyone out there that's been keeping an eye on us through this blog and to all of the people who have helped us in one way or the other through the past few months. Without your efforts we would be weeks behind. As it is the first brew (which for some strange reason I want to temporarily name 'Nigel') is fermenting well and we will crop some of the yeast for the next brew tomorrow.
To go back a couple of days, the day of the trial brew was long, exciting, educational, cerebral, physical but above all else, pervaded with a massive feeling of relief that we're brewing again. It felt bloody good even doing the simple things like loading up the grist case and weighing out the hops. It was bliss to climb into the mash tun and empty it out, though I expect this particular 'pleasure' will soon wane. All in all it was a fantastic day with little in the way of a catastrophe though at times the learning curve was a little steep. We won't know if this brew is good enough to keep for at least a couple more days and the chances are that it won't be. That means of course that there is a small possibility that it will be!
To go back a couple more days there was a job that Ray and I had been putting off and that was the placing of the flue from the copper. This had to rise through two levels of the building and then through the roof where it had to be flashed onto the roofing sheets. Now neither of us are that great at heights in fact to be brutally honest we are crap. We asked around Wallops Wood and somebody let slip that the foreman and one of the builders had been born with wings. Enter Ross and Phil! Thanks gentleman for putting one of the final parts of the jigsaw in place. A scant twelve hours after your efforts there was steam gushing from the flue and the scent of fragrant hops drifting down the valley. And now.... Wallops Wood Nature Watch.
The buzzards are back and yesterday their mewling filled the air. It's just the pair now, so it looks as if they have managed to get rid of their clinging offspring. Only another two or three months and they will be nesting again. Having said that, the small flock of feral pigeons that live around the farm have not stopped nesting all year. You don't have to listen very hard to hear the 'peep-peep' of the squabs and the egg shells are dropped all over the site. We haven't been buzzed by the Sparrowhawks for a while but there is a rather splendid Kestrel that hunts down by the Hambledon road. In the early morning I often see him perched on a fence post right by the lane so I can get a really close look at him as I drive past. Very dapper.
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE (OR WHAT OTHER FESTIVAL YOU CELEBRATE AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR) AND HERE'S TO 2007. CHEERS!
To go back a couple of days, the day of the trial brew was long, exciting, educational, cerebral, physical but above all else, pervaded with a massive feeling of relief that we're brewing again. It felt bloody good even doing the simple things like loading up the grist case and weighing out the hops. It was bliss to climb into the mash tun and empty it out, though I expect this particular 'pleasure' will soon wane. All in all it was a fantastic day with little in the way of a catastrophe though at times the learning curve was a little steep. We won't know if this brew is good enough to keep for at least a couple more days and the chances are that it won't be. That means of course that there is a small possibility that it will be!
To go back a couple more days there was a job that Ray and I had been putting off and that was the placing of the flue from the copper. This had to rise through two levels of the building and then through the roof where it had to be flashed onto the roofing sheets. Now neither of us are that great at heights in fact to be brutally honest we are crap. We asked around Wallops Wood and somebody let slip that the foreman and one of the builders had been born with wings. Enter Ross and Phil! Thanks gentleman for putting one of the final parts of the jigsaw in place. A scant twelve hours after your efforts there was steam gushing from the flue and the scent of fragrant hops drifting down the valley. And now.... Wallops Wood Nature Watch.
The buzzards are back and yesterday their mewling filled the air. It's just the pair now, so it looks as if they have managed to get rid of their clinging offspring. Only another two or three months and they will be nesting again. Having said that, the small flock of feral pigeons that live around the farm have not stopped nesting all year. You don't have to listen very hard to hear the 'peep-peep' of the squabs and the egg shells are dropped all over the site. We haven't been buzzed by the Sparrowhawks for a while but there is a rather splendid Kestrel that hunts down by the Hambledon road. In the early morning I often see him perched on a fence post right by the lane so I can get a really close look at him as I drive past. Very dapper.
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE (OR WHAT OTHER FESTIVAL YOU CELEBRATE AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR) AND HERE'S TO 2007. CHEERS!
