I made my first Hoegaarden clone. So far smells great and took off almost 8 hours after pitching.

Ingredients: 9lbs German Pilsner Malt (no Belgina on hand) 9lbs Wheat malt (Briess, ) 2oz Hallertauer 4.6% AAU 1oz Corriander 1oz Bitter ornage peel

White Labs 400 Yeast

Single infusion mash at 152deg. for 95min. Mash out with 180deg water to raise temps to 168 or so. Stuck sparge! Runnings to make 11gallons. Boiled for 60min with 1 hop addition at the beginning of the boil. Last 15 min I tossed in the spices and forgot to grind the corriander, oh well. Cooled to 80degrees and pitched a big starter. Took off in less than 8 hours. I will keg this in 7 days or so. Looking for a target gravity of 1.010 or less.

OG: 1.056 (a bit high, may cut back on the extra pound of Pilsner or wheat.)

Due to complications with arrangements, my show has been cancelled by the curator.

Nothing really to say here. I am very disappointed in this decision but I use this as an opportunity to move to another location. Watch this space for further updates. In the meantime, if you are interested in seeing some of the work that has been completed; stop by and have a pint.

Today is my birthday and I awoke to a great breakfast in bed. Let me tell you that I have a great wife. She made me breakfast in bed because I cook for her all the time. She really hates to cook, so I take on that responsibility and for my birthday she awoke early just to make me a great morning meal. Later this morning, I had a few phone calls from my stepmother-in-law Edel who sung Happy Birthday to me in German. So sweet. My cousin Lisa called me and we caught up. She listened to me complain about my upcoming show because it was shortened due to some scheduling conflicts. But she is going to make the opening; she lives in Michigan so that was real sweet of her. Anna my step-auntie called me as well wishing me a happy day as well. When I got into work, I had several IM’s and emails wishing me a great day as well. What a great way to start my 34th year on this planet. Thanks to all of you who carved out some time in your day to wish me a happy birthday. It really means a lot to me. Oh, and to Steven who messaged me at 12am this morning to wish me first. Cheers!