It's been awhile

So this is obviously my first update in awhile...law school has kept me busy. But, now that finals are over, I finally have some free time.

My Nightshade Ale (blackberry-blueberry wheat) didn't turn out half bad. It's a very fruity beer, and tastes almost more like a soda than a beer. It's definitely something I'd have to be in the mood to drink, and not just something I'd reach for when I have a beer. Interestingly, the ten pounds of fruit I used in this batch lended a much stronger flavor than did the ten pounds of fruit I used in my sour cherry beer from awhile back (Charlie Papazian's "Cherries in the Snow" recipe). In this batch, I used frozen fruit, whereas in the cherry beer I used canned cherries. I'm guessing there's some kind of difference there?

My imperial stout seems to be coming along nicely, too. It's been sitting in secondary about a month and a half now (I think), and has been aging over vanilla beans the entire time. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. My original plan was to let it sit in secondary all summer, but since I won't be around I'm a little hesitant to leave it fermenting in the high temperatures without any way to check on it. So I think I'm going to bottle it in a week or two, and then let some sit here to age and take a few bottles home with me.

I won't be brewing anything else until the fall, so my posts over the next few months will probably be few and far between. For my next batch, I'm planning on doing a pale ale/IPA, with an emphasis on citrusy hops. I wanted something I could just go to whenever I was in the mood for a beer, and that flavor profile seems to fit the bill.