Here we go again. Another attempt at nailing Pliny the Elder. It's been a few months since I've had a nice big IPA on tap, and I've been itching to brew this one since February. It's time. On top of that, my friend Kiernan has been splitting 10 ten gallon batches with me lately, and PTE is one of his favorite beers.

I've been itching to make another California Common for a long time now, as it's a beer style I really love. It has all the malty character of a good amber ale, but with less hop character and a crisper smoother finish. I figured this would be a nice easy beer to end a brewing hiatus with, as it should be fairly point-and-shoot. This was also the first batch where my friend Kiernan actually started brewing with me. We split a 10 gallon batch, and he's starting to learn the process.

I'm back after a short brewing hiatus. After getting 4 batches ready in 2 weeks for an event at my gym, and my birthday party, I was ready to take a few weeks off from brewing. Although, between planning our wedding, looking for a new job, and starting a new job, a few weeks turned into a couple months.

We'll it's been a little while since my last post; sometimes life just gets in the way a little. Nothing serious, but planning a wedding and transitioning between jobs takes it's fair share of time. Anyway, this is the last of the three beers I served at my at my sister's graduation party.

As I mentioned in my Micro Pale Ale post, we've got a big party coming up very soon, and I need to get some beers cranked out fast. All my friends will definitely expect a good IPA on tap, but I need something I can turn out in three weeks flat. After flipping through some past recipes, I realized the Blind Pig clone I brewed awhile back would be a good fit. It's a little lower in alcohol than the typical IPA, and the bright crisp hop notes taste good even when the beer is young.

In keeping with my current trend of brewing a low-gravity session beer every few batches, I'm brewing this to kick off a set of beers with WLP090. I wanted to do something a little different this time, so I'm going to brew a very low gravity American Pale Ale. It'll be something similar to Lagunitas Daytime IPA, or even Firestone's Mission St. Pale ale, only smaller yet.The goal is to keep the OG at or around 1.035, but hop this beer as I would a 1.055 Pale Ale.

I'm a member at a local Crossfit gym. As every Crossfit affiliate is independently owned and operated, there are some awesome ones, and less than awesome ones. I'm really thankful to be part of an awesome one, and an awesome one that loves craft beer. East Valley Crossfit hosts a Crossfit or lifting event a few times per year, and whenever feasible, I try to brew a batch for those events.