Well it’s time to brew again. This time for me rather than for the Discovery Center. My wife (not so subtly) suggested I brew a vanilla bourbon porter. It’s a recipe I’ve brewed several times before. As soon as it starts to cool off, this recipe comes out again. The bourbon flavor comes from pouring several ounces of bourbon in when you keg. It has a subtle vanilla flavor from one vanilla bean in the secondary. It’s a great beer for winter and should be ready just in time for the cooler weather.

The other nice thing about this beer is that it is allowing me to test out the new retaining wall I built yesterday. The reason for the wall was to prevent the back fence from blowing over, but it also helps keep the hillside from sliding onto our patio and is the perfect height for resting spoons, bowls of hops and a the beer I’m drinking while I’m brewing. Can’t wait to try this beer.

• Does your taste in beer change with the changing of the seasons?
• If you brew, is there one recipe you come back to again and again?