Mar 18, 2009

What beer for a really special occasion?

I still find it hard to believe, but in about three months I am going to be a dad for the first time. It is going to be a girl and it is going to be the most important thing that will happen in my life, bar none. Of everything I've lived so far, I don't think there is anything that can compare.

Of course, such event must be celebrated properly, and being the beer geek that I am, I want to do it with a special brew. For that, i will need your help.

I've recently started homebrewing and I would like to brew something special for my daughter's birth. I'm not interested in copying the recipe of a well known style, I wanto something original, inspired by a baby girl that will be born almost in summer. Got any ideas? You can leave your recipes either in the comments section or at this email address. The author of the chosen recipe (that will be chosen also from those sent by the readers of the Spanish version) will get a bottle, provided the beer is at least drinkable....

... Which brings me to my contingency plan. I'm still not all that confident about my brewing habilities, so the other question I have for you is: What beer should I have in my cellar in case the homebrewed one doesn't turn out well? It can be any beer, from anywhere in the world, I will try to get it. Suggestions can also be made with a comment or by email.

In both cases, please leave a contact to arrange posting, etc.
Thank you all.

Na Zdraví!

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13 comments:

  1. I have already started planning well in advance for having kids - laying down a bottle of Hardy's 2008 for example. With it being a summer child, what could be better than a nice refreshing wheat beer? Perhaps using lemon peel, and lovely lemony hops (I read somewhere that yellow is a colour strongly associated with kids born in June). So there my suggestion - Lemon Saaz Weizen.
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  2. How about some Primator 24, to ease the pain of a screaming baby:)
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  3. Al,
    That doesn't sound at all shabby.... And I just realised that strawberries might be in season then... Jahodové Weizen anyone?
    Ian,
    I think I'll need a lot more than Primátor 24 for that...
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  4. To quote an old Irish pub song: "if you want your child to grow, give her a jar of porter"!
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  5. That will have to wait for at least six months after she's born :)
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  7. that sounds really good... I'll have to find a recipe for Saison somewhere....
    I think we are getting somewhere....
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  8. I'm in agreement with Al on both fronts: a pleasant homebrewed wheat beer would be just the ticket, or something rare and numbered by year ala the Thomas Hardys. Not sure what your selection is like there in Prague, but congratulations and good luck on the homebrew!
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  9. As I mentioned in a previous post, our choices here aren't that good in the area of rare beers. I think I will try to get some Vintage Ale, better two bottles, one for when the baby is born, the other, after a couple of years.
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  10. Congrats! A weizen sounds good, or a blueberry stout, or a nice Belgian Golden Ale secondaried on raspberries or blackberries or a sour mashed belgian wit. I made a delicious pumpkin saison once which is very tasty and I am drinking a golden heather ale right now as well.

    I will send you a bunch of recipes, let me know if you need any help brewing them (I can help from a distance) :-)
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  11. Jake,
    That'll be great! Can you send the recipes to the email in the post?
    Thanks a lot!
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  12. I have yet to be disappointed by Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Bitter, which I first tasted in a small country pub in Hertfordshire some time in the early eighties, when the only appropriate epithet I could find was "a Burgundy of a beer". I suspect that the brewery must keep a close check on its outlets because I have never yet had a bad pint. Most recently it was immediately after my mother's death (at the ripe age of 97). It seemed appropriate somehow, a big-hearted beer, capable of matching profound emotions. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Smith_Brewery#Beers
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  13. Well, I don't know what Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Bitter can taste like, but seems to me the kind of beer I am looking for.
    Anyone knows how I can get it? I don't think I will ever find it here in Prague.
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