Seasonal Brewer?

Maybe I am a seasonal brewer.

I never set out to be that, but after a flurry of activity that started around this time last year, I really hadn't had much brewing related activity since last July.

That's when I brewed Maggie 2.0, my second sour mash Berliner Weisse, which I racked onto Brett and fresh peaches in late August. As the Brett slowly did its thing, I spent all of the Fall and Winter months thinking about the many things I should do around the house before allowing myself to brew again.

Yet no sooner did milder weather break, than my brain kicked into overdrive thinking about brewing. Same thing that happened last year at this time.  And the year before that.  So while Maggie 2.0 remains in the fermenter, and while Spring household projects join the list of unchecked boxes leftover from Winter, I am brewing.

I currently have five beers in process in addition to Maggie 2.0.

• Motueka Saison (Walter)
• Session Rye Saison (Walt)
• Hoppy Oatmeal Blonde (40) 
• American Brown Ale (Adam)
• Coffee Brown (Chef Adam)

All of these beers existed only on paper until I jumped back into the game on March 22, when I brewed a 6 gallon batch of a 1.066 Saison, generously late hopped with Motueka. After running off what I needed for that beer, I added 1.5# rye malt to the mash tun and did a second infusion, yielding about 3 gallons of 1.032 second runnings. The base beer, fermenting on 3724 (DuPont strain), in a temperature controlled environment starting in the 80s and ramped up to the mid 90s, is taking forever to attenuate.  Knowing 3724 is notorious for stuck fermentations, I added 8 grams of Belle Saison yeast on day 10.  And still after 3 1/2 weeks, it's only down to 1.022.

In contrast, 4 grams of Belle Saison ripped through the second runnings, bringing it to 1.002 within 3 days and finishing at a very dry 1.000 by the end of week one.  I moved this one to room temp after two weeks, and just bottled it tonight.

Since Saison brew-day, I've also brewed ten gallons of Hoppy Oatmeal Blonde (currently in kegs for a four-day dry hop, after which it will be force carbonated), and ten gallons of Brown Ale (half of which will have cold brewed coffee added to it after primary fermentation).

So, I will soon have roughly 33 gallons of beer bottled and ready to drink.

And I'm not done yet.  Next up are updated versions of last year's Wendy Peffercorn (Blonde Ale) and last year's Jobe (Cream Ale).  After that, I'd like to get a Stout going so it's ready for the cooler months, as well as a run of Belgian stuff.  Patersbier, followed by a Pale or Golden Strong (half of which will likely get dosed with Brett), and then a Flanders Red.  I'd also like to brew an Old Ale over the Summer to be ready for Christmas.

I will definitely brew another Berliner or two in the hottest weeks of Summer.

Not sure what's in store after that.

I'd like to think that I will keep brewing, and not stall out again.  I don't want to be a seasonal brewer.  I'd love to keep a steady pipeline flowing all year round.  That takes discipline, especially balanced with the duties of husband and father, and the demands of job.  I on the other hand, seem to brew in quick intense bursts of inspiration.  As for seasonality, it makes sense that these bursts would line up with the weather, especially considering I brew outside.   It's nearly impossible in the hottest weeks of Summer to get wort down to pitching temperature, even with a pre-chiller submerged in ice.  Not to mention uncomfortable standing over 12 gallons of boiling wort in that heat.  Winter presents equal but opposite challenges.  Can't run water outside in freezing temps, and even if I could, I'm not standing out in the bitter cold to brew.