A house is not a home.

Unless, of course, that house is a brewhouse, which, for the first time since Martin Luther King Day, my house is. Dana and I brewed a pretty straightforward Banana Hefeweizen last Thursday, to sort of get back in the swing of beer-making, after an extended layoff, for a variety of reasons that would bore you all to death. We didn't create this recipe from scratch or anything - we didn't have time to make a run to the good brew store - so we kept it pretty much by the kit. We did use real bananas, though, in addition to letting the yeast create some of that characteristic banana flavor. It's in the primary now, should be ready to go right as spring takes a hard turn towards summer.

This is what boiling bananas look like.

Other news - Konigsbock, our Maibock, is lagering in the bulkhead after spending some quality time in my bedroom carbonating. Our beleaguered brown ale, Catch Me If You Can, is finally in the fridge, after taking a long long time to reach any semblance of respectable carbonation. That one should be ready to roll by Marathon Monday at the latest, though I feel like such a hearty beer will feel well out of season in the Spring. I'm sure it'll be enjoyable, but it's almost certainly going to be a brew to have with a big meal.

We are also endeavoring to grow our own hops. Dana's family has large... tracts of land and we have ordered a half dozen rhizomes to plant in about a month's time. I can't remember for the life of me what varieties we chose, but it was a pretty good balance of bittering and aromatic hops. Dana, if you could, post the varieties in the comments. Someone out there might care.

Past that, we are generally formulating plans for the summer brewing season. We could definitely use some ideas, so if any of the 4-7 of you who read this have any crazy ideas to throw at us, we're all ears. Lastly, keep your eyes peeled for news about our first ever tasting party. It's a ways out, but it's in the works.