Ain't it pretty!!!

 I was going to finish a post about Yeastie Boys, but I got an awesome email today with these images attached
 

HLT, mash tun and kettle :D

Yes, Chris Banks (the man behind Bank's Brewing Hardware) has been a busy man indeed. Aside from helping ParrotDog out with their brewery, he's also been putting together my three-tier gravity system. I would explain how good his work is, but I'll let the pictures do the talking...

The same, but from the other side

Sweet steel goodness

Sexy false bottom on the mash tun

Inside of the HLT

The poser shot

He said things should be ready in a few weeks. This means two things - a trip to Wellington, and a need to decide what I'm going to brew first. I'm thinking a pilsner will be an easy place to start, but the weather here in The Swamp is telling me a brown ale would be a winner.

I never really got into brown ale until I had 8 Wired Brewing's Rewired brown ale. Imagine getting a can of Double Brown, throwing it in the bin and getting a rich, light chocolate beer with some great fruity hop characters. So delicious! Went down a treat with this deboned chicken stuffed with curried rice (omnomnom for sure).

I also got my hands on a bottle of Søren's latest offering - the C4 Double Coffee Brown Ale. This tasted less like beer and more like coffee, as you would expect when it's brewed with some delicious coffee from C4 coffee roasters in Christchurch. I swear if you gave me this and a carbonated coffee side-by-side, I would not be able to tell the difference. The man really is a brewing wizard and I really hope I get to tell him so to his face during Beervana.


Speaking of which, I'm volunteering at the festival this year! So make sure you pay me a visit during Session One on Friday. I'll also be floating around at Session Two, and probably Session Three. It should be a great, beery weekend and I hope to meet heaps of great beery people.