Beer Weather!

One good reason to love the winter: it's beer weather!

And I don't just mean for drinking. Once the seasons change, our building turns on the thermonuclear radiators. This is a plus for we apartment denizens because we don't freeze. I find I can regulate the temperature of my fermentation by how close the fermenter is to the radiator and how wide open the window is nearby. Right now the saison is happily fermenting along at 71ºF. We had unseasonably warm temperatures Halloween night, so I was briefly concerned, but with the temperature in the low 40's out right now, no worries!

And now to coin a phrase to a phenomenon already well-understood by homebrewers: beer diversification. I have now a second primary fermentation vessel (the 6.5 gallon carboy), so that means I can (and will) have two beers in development at a given time. This provides at least the following advantages:

• Variety: the contrasting options abound - light and dark, big and small (but not too small), different flavors.
• Opportunity to experiment - I can do an old standby like the ESB which I know I like and has turned out well in the past, but try something new, knowing either way I will have beer around.
• Less delay between brews - when I am in a brewing mood, sometimes I just want to keep going and brew twice in a day or twice in a week. Can't do that when I have to wait for one to finish fermenting.
• Sharing the fun: I have friends who want to brew their own batch, but don't have the equipment yet. With a second vessel, I can do one, and they can brew their own.

Also, the glass carboy has one definite advantage over the bucket: you can see the fermentation happening from start to finish. No need to rely on the airlock alone. I am really looking forward to that.

I wonder if I have time to brew Monday night....