Race against time, summer is coming

March is supposed to be "In like a lion, and out like a lamb". In Massachusetts in 2017 March weather was miserable from beginning to end. Snow was still on the ground on Red Sox Opening Day. Now we are in April, summer drinking season will be here before we know it. Summer is my favorite season and I probably enjoy summer beers more than any other season. I have to brew summer beers!

Not only is time against me in terms of having beer ready by Memorial Day, the weather is turning against me. It appears we will be measuring spring in terms of days instead of weeks or months. Tomorrow temperatures are going to be in the high 70s. In my third floor apartment it will be even warmer. When the weather is consistently that warm, I have trouble keeping my fermentation temperatures down.

To beat the calendar and Mother Nature I had a double brew day on Sunday, and am planning another double brew day next Sunday. On top of that I had to bottle a batch yesterday, and need to bottle Pasteinator and The Anti-Chris next week. In the meantime I am running out pf places for all of my fermenters. The only way I could fit all of my fermenters in a picutre was to take a panoramic photo. Even that didn't include two carboys in the kitchen.

All seven of these vessels are full. The Ant-Chris and my cider are not pictured, they are in carboys in the corner of my kitchen.

I'll be sure to fill you my loyal readers in with what I have been brewing and bottling. After these two double brew days I am going to pump the brakes for the summer. Boiling gallons of wort inside when it's hot and humid is never pleasant. Running a stove for several hours and two air conditioners tests the limits of my apartment's electrical system. The ground water is so warm, cooling wort is also a challenge.

I do look forward to having plenty of beet to last me through the summer. During the summer I'll probably do a batch a month just to keep the carboys full and brew some Belgian styles.

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