Pupkin Stout

Long ago in an earlier blog, I was discussing my venture to find the perfect Australian beer for me. I will say this straight out, Australian beer as a whole is better than the beer in the US. Sadly though, I am not a huge fan of the typical tan, light lagers that are the most popular beer style in the world. I love my beer to have character, body, and most importantly, hops. This may be a Broken Hill thing, but specialty ales and other beers are hard to find. They only have the typical mass produced no-character beers that are also very popular in the states. Now, the mass produced beer in Australia have a billion times more character than any Budweiser. People have told me that specialty beers here are looked upon as, simply put, gay. Astonishingly enough, not only do gay men here drink beer, but they have good tastes in beer. And it is actually stigmatized to like a beer with taste. Weird.

I decided to take matters into my own hands. Given all the free time I seem to waste away, I've figured it would be no great loss to start brewing my own beer. I get to drink good beer in the privacy of my home without being labeled a poof, and I get a hobby at the same time. My first batch was drinkable. There was nothing too special about it, just a simple light, characterless lager. My second batch I've not tried yet, it is European style lager, still simple, but with a little more hop flavor. The third batch however is a hoppy summer ale that from my preliminary tasting is going to be delicious. Today, I am make beer 4. This is the moment of no return. This is a beer of my own crafting. I writing my own recipe for beer. It will be a dark pumpkin stout. Should come out like a lighter Guinness, with a piece of pumpkin pie dropped into it. I hope it turns out well. In a month I shall tell you all. To my Aussie readers, stop by and try one, I'm making the beer faster than I can drink it!