Beerfest and Barley Harvest

The Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beerfest was last weekend and was a great time as always. We really do live in a great beer state. The selection was amazing. I was big on trying the bourbon barrel beers which Founder's had two stunning examples of. Rye P.A's were a new one to me with several example present (I can't remember who was brewing them...) that I really liked. I think my next batch is going to be an imperial rye P.A. Great job to everyone who was involved with the fest. The next day I harvested my barley. More on that later, including how a scythe just fell into my lap (figuratively of course, otherwise I would still be in the hospital).

Two sheaves of barley.

On the water

No, this isn't the Chicago to Mackinaw, but Sunday was a great day for sailing. It was my first sail since I re-patched the previous owner's sub-par Bondo patch on the bottom of the hull. Working with epoxy and fiberglass is fun! I would go into the details of the repair but this is a homebrew blog not a sailboat repair blog. Sailing and beer, of course, have a long intertwined history. Without the Europeans' desire for curry, we wouldn't have India Pale Ales, and what a shame that would be. In honor of my new (but very used) sunfish, my next batch of brew is going to be an Imperial IPA. More and more Michigan breweries are making this style so I think it should be dubbed GLPA (Great Lakes Pale Ale) So, if anyone has a good all-grain recipe let me know, I've haven't made a high octane all-grain yet. Happy sailing and brewing!