We had a great brew last weekend—our holiday porter is bubbling away, and it smells fantastic.  I’m really excited to see how it turns out (although I can’t think of any brew I haven’t been excited to taste).  We had a few helping hands—Helene, Ant, Katie, and Cederic (somenames have been changed to protect their top secret identities).  Helene is quite a beer connoisseur, but had never brewed before.  Ant’s always up for a few beers, and Katie was taking Cederic on a tour of Philly before he has to head home to redacted.

Other than the hop bag coming undone and spilling hops into the boiling wort, the whole brew went according to plan.  Temperatures were held, the cooling was quick, and Garrett Oliver’s extra yeast suggestion worked… too well.  The next morning, I came down to find a stream of wort leading away from the carboy.  The escaping gases foamed up, causing wort to clog the holes on the airlock.  After building up some pressure, the cap of the airlock went flying (I still can’t find it) and a geyser of beer shot up (scrubbing the ceiling is not fun).  Next time, I’ll leave the cap off of the airlock…

Becky and I finally made it over to Hawthornes Cafe for dinner, and it was great.  I thought the food prices were a little high at first, but then I saw the portions.  We talked to the owners, Chris and Heather, about a homebrew brunch some time in the next few months.  Anybody else up for swapping a few beers on a cold Saturday morning?

And another thing—I’ve really been enjoying the newest local beer mag to hit, Philly Beer Scene.  Anybody else reading it?  I liked the beer tasting they had a Raw Dawgs Saloon in South Philly—might have to hit that place up soon.