So instead of brewing the Oktoberfest I'm going to brew a Kolsch instead. I've been building up a good starter since late last week to get a good healthy batch of yeast. I'm going to brew this batch according to the practices proposed by Jamil Zainasheff on both the Jamil Show (on the BN) and from Brewing Classic Styles. I decided to change to the Kolsch because it will be more susceptible to potential problems. The beer is lite enough that off-flavors won't have anything to hide behind and with the issues I've been having I should be able to dial in all my issues.

My plan is to really dial in my processes and recipes by choosing a couple of styles and brewing them until I'm pleased with the results. In addition, I'm going to enter my beer into as many competitions as I can. I want to get as much feed back on the beer I'm brewing as possible. Furthermore, I want to make the best beer possible. My theory on this is similar to chef training. Chefs are taught to make the classics and understand how those classic sauces and meals are prepared. My theory is to learn the classic styles and then branch out from there. While many might choose a different path, my engineering background and need for the utilization of the Scientific Method is sucking me back to learn the basics and classics. I by no means mean to criticize the methods of others, this is the way that I have to learn about beer and brewing.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been growing fonder and fonder of the German beer styles and I think that is where I'm going to start. From my reading thus far these beers leave little room for error and the Germans tend to have a knack for beer, not to mention they're fantastic beers.

In addition, to this I'm planning on getting more involved with my local homebrew club. I've put this off for the past year, since I've been brewing, but no longer. I'm really looking forward to getting to know these folk and can't wait to draw from their vast knowledge and experience.

By the way, if this post is a bit random and spacey I just want you to know that I’ve been drinking will blogging.

So I picked up a couple of kegs this weekend. Both have the tops cut out and one has been drilled and has a valve on it. I'm pretty stoked about this but just don't know how I'm going to set things up. Along with the kegs I got a double burner set up. So I'm doing some looking at how I should set my new system up.

I thought I would use one keg as a boil kettle, one as a MLT, and my ten gallon aluminum pot as a HLT. I will certainly want to continue to upgrade this system by adding pumps and possibly some automation/temperature control, but that will be a while. For the time being, I'm really excited about this.

I'm planning a Oktoberfest in the next couple of weeks for the first batch in this system, by then I should have everything worked out.