Update

Sorry I haven't done much blogging recently...school's been keeping me busy, and I haven't really done any brewing.

Actually, the really isn't necessary. I'm pretty much out of bottles, and instead of buying more, I might hold off brewing anything new until I'm sure I'll have somewhere to put it. As it is, my Nightshade Ale is still sitting in secondary, since I have nowhere for it to go. I still don't have the money for a kegging system, so that's going to have to wait as well.

I did try a bottle of my raspberry-chocolate stout the other day. Right now, the raspberry flavoring is still a little strong and overpowering, but I'm hoping that will mellow out a little bit soon. It's good though - a little bit thin for a stout, but still good.

On another note, it looks like the Chocolate Porter I brewed somehow became infected. I pulled out some of the bottles the other day, and that tell-tale ring seems to be forming around the neck. It's odd, though, because that's been bottled for a month-and-a-half now, and this is the first time I've noticed any problems. It still tastes fine, so I don't know *shrugs*. Hopefully it's a harmless infection. On the upside, I guess, I was a little disappointed with the brew, so it's not a total loss.

I'd still like to brew my English Pale Ale and a Maple Porter soon, but again, my lack of bottles has caused me to rethink my philosophy. A buddy of mine is in a similar boat, and he solved the problem by brewing a Belgian that he knows will take a long time in secondary. I know the Maple Porter would probably take a long time to do, but that got me thinking about a couple of other ideas.

I've been intrigued by the idea of brewing a barleywine for awhile now, and that'd obviously be something that would have to sit for quite some time. However, over the last few months I've fallen in love with Imperial Stouts, and that's another beer I'd really like to brew. There's a chance I'll be out of town all summer, so the tentative plan is to have both of those brews in secondary then, when they'll just sit and ferment for 3 months. However, I might get started on one of those sooner rather than later, since a) I'm not able to brew as much as I thought I would, b) I have limited space, and c) It'll give more time for all of the flavors to come together and mellow out.

So we'll see. Hopefully I'll be updating more often soon.