The Ale Project

[goodcompanion]

I have a new notion for my farm. Anyone in the area is invited to spread the word and participate.

I want to crop about 1/8 acre of two-row barley and malt and kiln it and brew beer in a big wooden barrel. I am seeking community participation in all phases. Participants may buy shares of the crop in its unfermented state and then later partake of a share of the barrel (tap into growlers or kegs or whatever) for your own use. I believe this would be legal.

In old England, major labor events on the farm could never take place without a barrel of ale on hand. I understand the custom of serving up ale still persists in some areas of England. I think that we americans with our puritanical tendencies have missed out.

At any rate I think having frothing mugs of ale associated with the farm might counterbalance the perceived austerity, in the eyes of the public, that goes with straw hats, pitchforks, and amish-like labor of human and horse in the hot sun.

[Kristin]

Count us in! Should we plant hops at our place?
-Kristin

[goodcompanion]

I do need hops! But you won’t get many the first year, you probably know that. We tried to plant hops upon moving here but they got overgrown. I love hops–such a neat plant.

[longshot38]

the pratice of haveing a few beers after the work is done is a long standing tradition here in Newfoundland, but then we are as close to England as anyone can get in north america. both geographicly and culturally. so haveing a keg or cast on hand and for “trade” or “shares” would be a long standing link with tradition.

dean

[J-L]

If it weren’t a hell of a drive from Wyoming you could count me in. Sounds like a lot of fun. I’ll bet people will go for it.

[goodcompanion]

I think I need to get some homebrewers in on the project. There is a cool book, the homebrewer’s garden, that’s pretty helpful. With the brick bake oven for kilning the malt we are way ahead of the game, too.

The anglo-saxon in me really goes for the frothing mug of ale. I remember reading this book on nutrition in France (French author) that described a host of “scientific” reasons why wine is good for the body six ways to sunday, and should be consumed in copious quantities by everyone over the age of two, and by those under through absorbtion into breast milk, whereas beer, saints preserve us, will bloat the gut, twist the spine, addle the brain and cause shingles, leprosy, grand mal seizures, halitosis, loss of appetite, greatly increased appetite, and uneven tire wear. Oh well. Beer did get the pyramids built, so it can’t be all bad.

I particularly want to brew in a barrel. I have this 500 gallon stainless steel bulk tank that would probably be a lot handier, but the barrel matters for aesthetic reasons.

I was talking to our local homebrew supplier about my reasoning for this. A farm should have beer on hand in a barrel, not in bottles. Just because. He was really offended, actually. Why, he argued, given all the advances available in sterilization and materials, would anyone choose to brew with medieval methods? Why not go all the way then and just leave the grain in a mud puddle to rot into a stinking soupy mess and then take your chances drinking it? I’m not deterred. A barrel it will be, or sam adams.

[danb]

You might want to reconsider using a wooden barrel. New ones are terribly expensive and used ones are former whiskey barrels that could contaminate the brew and give it an off flavor. Of course I’m no brewmaster so maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the old whiskey keg will put a special zing into it.

[Author]

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