DIY Friday

Today I declared DIY (Do it Yourself) Friday.  Why?  Because as the M-Dog and I were on our afternoon walk we stumbled upon some fiddlehead ferns, just ready for dinner.  I filled the kangaroo pocket on my hoddie with them and we journeyed home to cook them up.  Forged dinner always tastes better, in my opinion and fiddleheads are a sign that spring is here.  I double boiled the fiddleheads till they were only slightly crisp and then put them in with some garlic butter and lemon pepper, yum!  To go with my ferns I had baked bagel chips with ginger spread and cheddar cheese.  Amazing!

Once I wrapped up dinner I headed to Pittsfield for the Berkshire County Homebrew Association meeting.  I wanted to bring the IPA I made but I think it still needs another week.  So, I went empty handed.

The highlight of tonight’s tastings was Dan’s Altbier at roughly 7%abv.  A little high in alcohol for an Altbier, this beer was smooth, clean and true to style.

Dan reported on the style Altbier using a variety of sources including this description from Wikipedia, “Altbier (often abbreviated to Alt) is the name given to a form of German top-fermenting beer that originated in Westphalia and spread to parts of the Rhineland later. The name Altbier, which literally means old [style] beer, refers to the pre-lager brewing method of using a warm top-fermenting yeast like British pale ales.[1] Over time the Alt yeast adjusted to lower temperatures, and the Alt brewers would store or lager the beer after fermentation, leading to a cleaner, crisper beer than is the norm for an ale.”

What a great day to just do stuff yourself!