Garnet Red Ale is now known as "Fair Maiden Red Ale"

So, the red ale is almost fermented. We have tasted it along the way and voila, it tastes very close to how we remember Garnet Red Ale tasting. Yay! 

And since this is our own recipe (with the help of our friends at Falling Sky Brew Shop and Pub), in which we are attempting to clone a favorite extract brew we have made in the past. We decided that we should give it a new name.    Daniel, idea man that he is, came up with the name "Fair Maiden Red Ale". And of course I loved it.  So Garnet Red is now known as Fair Maiden Red Ale.  It will be available at our tasting on February 24.                                                                                                                                          

Garnet Red Ale - One of Our Favorites - Is In the Fermenters

One of our favorite ales that Daniel and I have brewed together has been one called Garnet Red Ale. We have always found it to be a very tasty brew. It has a richness of flavor, the way a red ale should, but also has a clean refreshing taste.
Garnet Red was an extract recipe. A recipe that involved using malt extract as the base ingredient. We are now brewing 'all grain' brews. A multi-step process in which we start with dry grain, mash it in hot water, and sparge out the sweet liquid that is the base ingredient in the beer.
So, in order to be able to taste our friend, Garnet Red again, we went to see our friends at Falling Sky Brewing, our favorite homebrew shop. They helped us approximate the same recipe in an all grain form.
So, today was brew day for Garnet Red - all grain version. It was lots of fun, as brew days always are, and we think we have recreated one of our favorite brews. Cheers. And may you never thirst.

First entry from the Other Half of Cosmic Tortoise - Next Tasting Feb. 24

Daniel told our story better than I could have said it.

When my son told me in 2009 that he wanted to learn to brew with me, I had, at the time, been brewing a batch of beer every few months, with friends. Since he wanted to join me, and learn the process, we planned a brew day very soon after that. We had a lot of fun, and quickly realized that we had a knack for it. We were making some very tasty brews! And since it was fun, and the end product was something delicious, we have kept the process going. I mean, why wouldn't we? As Daniel said, it has become a way of life for us.

We are currently brewing 10 gallon batches of "all grain" (brewed directly from the grain) beer. We had our first tasting in December 2011, and had very positive feedback for the beers we featured.

So, of course, we are now planning our next tasting. It is scheduled for Feb. 24, 2012. If you're reading this, you're invited. We'll have a couple varieties of Red Ale for tasting, and we'll be interested in which one you like best. We'll also have our Orange Chocolate Stout back again. Actually we'll have some bottles of our first batch of OC Stout, and some from our next batch, which we'll be starting in a couple of weeks here. And again, we'll be curious which one you, our friends who come to the tasting, like better. And, we also plan to have another Cosmic Tortoise original, our Mint Blond Ale. A traditional blond ale, infused with Oregon Mint.

Sharing our brews with friends is another part of the fun. Watch for more about the tasting as the day gets closer.  Cheers. And may you never thirst.