Disaster! Just as I was thinking to myself this may actually work my little pot promptly explodes, leaving fragments of his once curved face scattered on the hearth. Turns out pottery is not one of my strengths... #growingbeer

Moving on from our pot explosion of yesterday, time to check if the barley is ready to brew with yet. With the shoot between 50-75% of the length of the grain, we’re nearly ready - tomorrow we brew! #growingbeer #findingbeer #barley #beer #brewing #ale #podcast

And so, after a year of foraging, growing, malting and making, I finally had my ingredients ready for the brew - the domestic and wild malted barley, meadowsweet, ground ivy, yarrow, nettle, my dried yeast stick (and my broken pot) #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #brewing #beer

It all started with the hand crushing of the green barley in a pestle and mortar for 2 hours (I’m trying it without kilning/drying), followed by the securing of the hollowed out log - my kuurna, ready for the barley, water and hot rocks to heat it all up #growingbeer

As it dried the kuurna had developed a few small cracks, so being a little paranoid I gathered some moss in case any big ones opened up that needed packing. A little liquid seeped though in the end, but only dripped for a few minutes #growingbeer #ale #brewing #selfsufficient

And as I added the barley to the water in the kuurna, a small fire outside was heating up my stones. Conscious it was now 11pm and the stones were starting to crack and pop I put them in before I woke up the neighbours with exploding rocks #growingbeer #ale #selfsufficient

So, with the stones in (sorry, can’t hold hot rocks & camera) next was to keep the wort at 65C - I only just got it there with my hot stones, and with no more left I ended up taking some wort out, heating it up then adding back in #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #brewing #beer

Whilst the primitive, DIY brew is mashing I set up my modern, all-in-one comparison with the same ingredients. Def less work and much quicker, but what difference does the controlled mash, boil and, er, lack of burnt stones make? #growingbeer #ale #beer #brewing #findingbeer

Once the wort was cooled and scooped into my (not DIY) bowl, time for the dried yeast harvested from my last raw ale - the modern version has a fresh packet instead to see if there is any difference in how fast it ferments #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #yeast #beer #brew #kveik

Then the last of the foraged ingredients into the modern boil - I ended up going for a small bouquet of the meadowsweet, ground ivy and yarrow. Once cooled it’ll have the yeast and honey added and left to ferment #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #brewing #beer

Which takes us up to the end of the night (5am) - the raw ale has the flakes, yeast stick & honey in. Within 3 hours it’s off and by 10am I’m amazed how vigorous this kveik is! Modern brew is the same, as expected #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #beer #brewing #selfsufficient

Just one more late night keeping the fire and the kveik fermentation hot - with any luck I can try the (old & new) versions of the braggot in the next day or so. Episode 5 coming very soon...! #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #braggot #beer #brewing

It would be totally reasonable to think that, after looking at the braggot as it finished fermenting that things had gone horribly wrong. However... #growingbeer #findingbeer #ale #braggot #beer #brewing #selfsufficiency #podcast #yeast #kveik

there it is - decanted into a bottle so you can see it after being foraged, grown, dried, malted, soaked, heated with rocks and then fermented in an open bowl. And the taste? I’m going to be cruel and make you wait for the last episode on Monday... #growingbeer #findingbeer

Episode 5, the last one, is finally here. Was it all worth it? Find out how the final prep went, I’ll run you through the brew itself & then on to that all important last step - the tasting! beerwithben.co.uk/podcast-the-br… #growingbeer #findingbeer #podcast #ale #beer #braggot #brewing

That’s very kind TimeAtTheBarPod - glad you’re enjoying it! If you need any tips or have some questions just let me know!

And how does the braggot fare after 3 weeks? I cracked it open on Christmas Day and it’s actually still drinkable - a little more sour than the fresh bottle but you’d have a good couple of weeks to enjoy it after a brew! #growingbeer #braggot #brewing #beer #ale #podcast

Curious as to what would have happened if I had tried to fix and use the homemade pot, I put it out in the rain to get wet. Was it fired well enough to hold together? Would it have held the precious fermentation? No. No it would not. #growingbeer #brewing #pottery

Last glass from 2020 - 6 weeks old & still drinkable! Big thank you again to Martyn Cornell @merryndineley Kilnasaggart Mead for their podcast contributions & to British Beer & Pub Association for their support through BREF. Final episodes later this year - until then look after yourselves, stay safe!

That's the final episode in the can or, more accurately, the memory card. Episode 6 is live, looking to the future and sustainability with Emma McClarkin OBE , @Maltdoctor15 and Small Beer Brew Co. to wrap up the series and project! beerwithben.co.uk #growingbeer