30 Days of Creativity - Day 22: Relax, have a homebrew

We are just enjoying one of our latest beer creations. Our "White Tea Steam" beer recipe is based on the "The sun has left us on time" steam beer from "The new complete joy of Home brewing". The change we made was adding 1 gallon of steeped white tea (that looks anything but white) and 1 1/2 lbs. of honey, just to offset the bitterness of the tea.

So here is the recipe:

- 2 oz. White Tea Garden Aria from Teavana boiled in 1 Gallon of water.

- 1 1/2 Lbs. Honey

- 7 1/2 Lbs. Light Malt Extract

- 1/2 Lb. Crystal Malt

- 1 Oz. Northern Brewers Hops (added while boiling)

- 1/2 Oz. Cascade Hops (Finishing)

- Lager Yeast

The beer came out really good, it is a good summer beer, similar in taste to an Steam, but with a rather fruity aftertaste. It's also got a very fruity aroma.

We are thinking of brewing a Heffeweizen as soon as we have time. First we need to bottle our Dunkelweizen. For the Heffy we are thinking of using tea, and maybe some fruit... stay tuned ;)

Project Update: bits & birds

The spring breeze has brought us dozens of project ideas and new directions. We assure you that the promised tutorial will be coming shortly.

In a recent raid of the Anthropologie sale bids we came across these cute door knobs. I immediately thought of Spain and all the beautiful azulejos. It's my goal (with the help of pm & his power tools) to use these knobs for a decorative shelf/towel hanger. I've got the perfect vision of what I want in my head. Now I'll just need to find the right match of wood and trim. My eyes will be peeled for another bargain. Design on a dollar, here I come. (I'd say dime, but goodness knows the deals are never that good at Anthropologie, even in the sale bin.)

Why the birds? We were recently inspired by these origami birds at a coffee shop, and wanted to try our hand at making them. We've got a great entryway leading to our living area where I plan to use these little guys. We've got lots of folding and cutting to do until then. Again, we'll keep you posted on our progress.

So yes, it was a productive weekend. Oh, and we brewed (yes, again!). This time we tried our hand at a white tea steam beer. It's fermenting away as we speak. The brew master, pm, will be posting more on that here soon. (It may just include the secret recipe, so stayed tuned!).