Winter wonderland Part 2.
No photos this time, just look at the pictures from the last WW post and add more snow! It was a hell of a walk to the Ale House from Fells Point. A lesson quickly learned was not to bother wearing my glasses, they were covered in snow in seconds, result zero visibility. There were a lot of city trucks out though, so some of the roads weren’t too bad. What I really love about the walk is the silence! With the exception of an occasional passing vehicle or other weary pedestrian and a distant siren, the only noise was the sound of my own labored breath and the snow beneath my boots. The city looks so serene under cover of snow, so calm, it’s hard to believe that this is Baltimore, with its triple digit homicide rate etc. The main difference between today’s journey and that of Saturday was the wind today! As I neared the Ale House strong gusts of wind would blow the freshly fallen snow along the street, almost like a creeping fog, causing a momentary whiteout. It felt as if I was breathing snow!
But here I am. Monday’s Irish Red fermentation is progressing well and needs a little aeration by rousing to keep those yeast cells dividing. Yesterday’s Three Spires Ale was a little on the warm side so I’m chilling it back a little but otherwise fermentation got off to a good start. If you haven’t read the previous post, the Three Spires is going to be a new nitro pour ale available at The Ale House in place of the Blackfriar Stout, which I’m retiring for the time being. It’s a hoppy little Golden Ale @ 5% a.b.v. which should fit nicely into our portfolio. I think it will be a great cask conditioned ale also so I’ll be filling a few firkins before the bulk of the brew goes to conditioning and subsequent nitrogenation. Speaking of firkins, we’ve just bought a few new ones to add to our stockpile to try and keep up the demand for cask conditioned ale, which is showing a healthy upward trend at the moment. That makes me a happy brewer.
The Strongman Pale Ale is on tap now so when the snow stops and the pub can open again come stop by for a pint. I think you’ll like it. We should hopefully be open tomorrow, Thursday.
Stay safe and warm
Steve
Tags: Cask Ale, three spires ale
There are a certain few things they didn’t tell you about when you hired on with this outfit, eh?