Brewing crunch time

Okay, a little thinking out loud here... As I may have mentioned before, I have three big events to brew for: my church's Oktoberfest (Sept. 27), my homebrew club's Oktoberfest (Oct. 3) and our own Novemberfest (a date in November to be named later). Since I'll need three kegs for our Novemberfest party and one keg for each of the Oktoberfest party, this means I'll have to brew three ten-gallon batches. The problem is, when I'm not brewing I make a living as a lawyer and we're scheduled to go to trial in federal court on August 24th. This means brewing will be next to impossible for the week before and probably three to four weeks after that date. In the meantime, my weekends for the next three or so weeks look pretty terrible too. I've got five million things this weekend. The next weekend I have at least one if not two obligations. The week after that? Great Taste of the Midwest up in Madison. The weekend after that I might already be busy with trial prep. So how am I going to get two batches brewed by the end of September?

Well, I'm not sure. First thing is I'll probably have to scrap my plans to brew a Gose, since I'm thinking it's a little too out there for any of these parties (especially if I pitch lacto, since it's very unpredicable). That means I won't be able to enter it in the Schooner Homebrew Championship as planned. Bummer.

Second, I'm thinking of brewing my Oktoberfest lager on Sunday, August 2. I'm going to bring five gallons to my church party and save the other five for my own.

After that, I'll try and figure out some way to brew my Altbier for the brew club Oktoberfest. Maybe I can squeeze in a brew day during the weekend of the 15th? If not, I might just have to show up to the brew club Oktoberfest empty-handed.

Finally, I'll want to brew some kind of light beer for my own party. I'm not sure if I want to brew a lager or an ale, but options include Kölsch, Pilsner, Helles or Dampfbier. If I go ale, I could brew in mid-October and probably still have it ready for Novemberfest. If I go with a light lager, I could probably still brew as late as mid-October if we go with a late Novemberfest date.

You know, it's funny... For the three-plus years I've been a lawyer, I've bitched about the fact that most civil litigators rarely if ever go to trial. Now I'm finally going to trial and it's just messing everything up. I guess there's some truth to the old saying, "be careful what you wish for." Regardless, here's hoping I'm able to fulfill my brewing needs in the next few months despite a crazy busy schedule.

P.S. If, for some crazy reason, you want to buy the t-shirt pictured above, you can do so here.