It is after midnight so why am I still up? It is because I have been struggling to find time to get on with my latest homebrew project which, if all goes to plan, should come out as a decent brown ale.

At the moment I am waiting for the alarm to signal the final hop addition and also enjoying the scent of the earlier hops over the sweetness of the wort, brewed up by steeping various grains in hot water….

And there they go. Just a few minutes left and then I will put my hopped wort into a heavy-duty container to cool overnight. Tomorrow (well,technically today!) I will measure the gravity, adjust if necessary and pitch the yeast to kick off fermentation.