Brewing Update

So after a good deal of deliberation, and a lot of input from you all (thanks!), I’ve come to a decision about how to deal with the brewing recipes on the blog.

As of this week, I’ll be moving the actual recipes over to

www.GameofBrews.com

But fear not! All previous posts will stay up here, and I’ll continue to do a monthly update on this site about what’s going on over in the brewhaus. In that way, those of you who are moderately interested in my brewing exploits (but are predominantly here for the food and don’t want to be overwhelmed by the brews) can follow the links to full articles at your whim.

I have decided to move the brewing for several reasons. While I agree with many of you who feel that food and booze go together, moving the brewing posts to their own blog will give me more room to grow over there. There is such a wealth of information about brewing history, styles, techniques and so on that it seems a shame to try and squelch it into too small a space.

The new site will feature both brewing recipes and food recipes that are directly tied to the brewing process, using spent grain, brewed beer, yeast, etc. Because I’m far from an experienced brewer, I invite you all to come along with me on the adventure-wagon that is my kitchen, and learn as I learn. I hope that this new site can be a community of new and experienced brewers to learn from one another, share ideas and enthusiasm, and explore the extant and possible brews of Westeros.

And hey, with now three blogs to manage and update, I’m bound to be well fed pretty much all the time. :)

Wildling Cider

“Before Mance, Varamyr Sixskins had been a lord of sorts. He lived alone in a hall of moss and mud and hewn logs that had once been Haggon’s, attended by his beasts. A dozen villages did him homage in bread and salt and cider, offering him fruit from their orchards and vegetables from their gardens.” -A Dance with Dragons

Thoughts:

This is an awesome, no hassle cider. Because it naturally ferments, there’s no need to judge what yeast to use, or watch for blow-offs. There is no lingering yeast taste at the outset, which means it’s great to drink immediately after it’s done fermenting, or at any point during the fermenting process if you’d prefer a lower % alcohol with greater fizz. In fact, many of you have probably enjoyed cider that has gone slightly hard: the giveaway is the puffed up plastic jug, and the pfffft! of air when you take off the cap.

The fully fermented cider, when first tried, is dry, but with a nice round feel to it. The apple flavor is there, but not the sweetness. Instead, it has a sour apple element that I found quite pleasant, if a tad rough.

Although the wildlings would probably drink their cider as soon as it was alcoholic, I set a couple bottles aside to see how the flavors changed over time; It’s also a colonial American method of making cider, and I’m curious to see how it ages!

Get the recipe and updates on the brew blog, Game of Brews!

Fictional Brewing!

Brew-mania!

In honor of a successful move to a new apartment, and the unpacking of the kitchen, I’m set to brew again!

In addition to brewing something from Game of Thrones, I’d love to explore more boozy goodness from other fictional worlds. I’m giving this poll a full month, at the end of which I’ll make the top two reader picks, then post the recipes. Have a favorite fictional alcohol that’s not on the list? Add it!