Lessons

      The life of a home brewer is full of joy and disappointment, regret and jubilation. It would be amiss if I did not state some of the hard lessons learned while framing the perfect beer. Fancy labels and clever alliteration cannot compensate if the beer is sub par. I was reminded of this by a friend who is NOT Talisheek, but knows a thing or two about beer nonetheless. While I must say that I am quite proud of the line up of beers we have presented thus far, there are always areas of improvement.
      For instance, our first attempt at Bayou Moon, while the finished product tasted perfectly fine initially, upon further scrutiny, the back end is a little weak. We decided that next time, we will take necessary steps to draw more flavors from the grains, namely, a step mash.
      Most recently, while we added the 8 pounds of roasted sweet potatoes to the mash for our Sweet Tater' Stout, we did not put them in a boil bag, so needless to say our filters were clogged and our sparge took much longer than expected, and we had to filter out all of those fibers that passed into our boil as we filled our fermenting chambers. It took much too long to transfer to the fermenters. So the next brew we adapt and the operation goes smoother.
      As I sit here typing this, (enjoying a cold Talisheek Coffee Porter in one of my Spiegelau tulip glasses) I cannot help but be satisfied with our accomplishments thus far. I would put this Porter next to any I have ever tried, yep its that good. Soon we will have the Stout on tap and bottle, and a new addition that is currently fermenting Talisheek ESB! In 2 more weeks we will also be brewing our first Imperial IPA- Talisheek Pugilists IPA!

     So as we go forward of course there will be frustration and reward, heck, no one said this would be easy, but the rewards are more than just a quality beer in your hand, it's a touchstone to our history as humanity. Beer has been used as currency, as a way to survive during the seasons when nothing grew. It is a testament to mans ingenuity, that, even when we didn't know anything about sanitation, the Egyptians had a thriving beer industry. An excellent beer in our hands and the ability to grasp where those flavors come from make us all a little more thankful for the tradition and ingenuity that have led us to this point in brewing history. Maybe it's just me, but I can't wait to see where the coming years take Talisheek Brewing. Cue the music: