Morning! It’s Tom here. Many of you may know that I have a background in biology, but you might not be aware of how my scientific interests and my love of brewing beers and other beverages have, for many years, reinforced each other. I have been brewing for much of my life: from my first…
Read MoreA recent search among Tom’s brewing supplies discovered a bottle whose contents suggested mystery. We opened it, and it turned out that the bottle did not contain questionable mead at all, but was rather a Landlord clone, of at least two years vintage. It was clear as a bell and tasted delicious – evidently one…
Read MoreA White Christmas! And time, once again, to ascend mead mountain. Does doing this more than once make it a ritual or tradition? Whatever it is, the excitement of uncovering a bottle of home-brewed mead, buried at the top of a mountain, really never goes away. This bottle had a full twelve months to mature…
Read MoreThere has been much brewing activity here this weekend — and I am very excited to report that the latest breakfast-themed dark ale involves the last minute addition of. . . a cup of yorkshire tea! (milk free, of course). Anyway, here by request, is the recipe for last week’s brew — the tried and…
Read More. . with yeast . . . . . . malt . . . . . . water . . . . . . hops . . . and, um . . . one of my old stockings. The stocking is good for dry-hopping. This particular recipe of Tom’s is one of my all-time favourites…
Read MoreLast summer, when we were walking on Jura, we buried some home-brewed mead above the gulf of corryvreckan. Yesterday we retraced our steps, and returned to find it. I heart Jura. Seven miles and a very enjoyable walk later, we climbed up a cliffside on the remote and empty north-west of the island and wondered…
Read More(Felix in Duttons). I am busy. I do not find long working days particularly good for either body or soul. During periods of insane activity, one must always find a little time to spend in the restorative presence of friends, and it was great to meet up with Felix the other day. We spent a…
Read More(dawn on mead mountain) To say this was the most exciting Christmas morning I’ve had since I was around six years old is no exaggeration. We arose at first light and walked all the way across Edinburgh — to ascend Mead Mountain. The streets were quiet, the air was still, and the whole city felt…
Read MoreWell, it turns out I am really rather ill. So ill that I am unable to do much of anything at all, and certainly not travel down to The Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate which I’ve been looking forward to for months. This is incredibly galling. But I am focusing on getting well. And…
Read MoreToday, a small batch of strawberry and elderflower mead and a rather larger one of Belgian tripel beer were ready for bottling. Usually, my involvement with the brewing process is marginal, and limited to two activities: 1) sticking caps on bottles and 2) happily imbibing the end result. But as the resident brewmaster general can’t…
Read MoreA few weeks ago, Mr B made mead. Now, I am suspicious of mead. My only experience of it is a riotous new year some years ago at Belle’s. Having run out of booze in the early hours, we raided the prop supplies of Mr B’s younger brother, who at that time liked to spend…
Read MoreMonday evening brewing for a messy Tuesday. Mr B has devised a beer that should (if it works!) taste like one of my favourite ales, Cairngorm Brewery’s Trade Winds. Calculations . . . . . . mash temperature . . . . . . blending the hop tea (with secret ingredient) . . . .…
Read MoreHere is some miscellaneous Good Stuff from the past few days. First, some delayed stuff for a messy tuesday. We finally bottled the winter lager, which has been cold-stored for the past few months. There was some satisfying mess-making: . . . an even more satisfactory tasting. . . . . . and finally, the…
Read MoreFor several months now, I’ve been going into the bathroom and discovering sights like this: And strange things like this have been appearing in the kitchen: These objects are signs that our flat has now fully realised its second function as a brewery. At first this transformation caused me some concern. For example, when Tom…
Read More
KDD & Co 