Sourdough & Beer!

Since graduating, I've been enjoying some time off to learn new skills & settle into my house.  One of the things I'm working on is baking sourdough bread.  I'll post the recipe once I've perfected it, but that might be a while.  I've tried two so far, so the next one will be a combination of them.

The first loaf was pretty & tasty, but too dense (forgot to take an interior shot before it got devoured!).  It rose overnight in the fridge, but it wasn't enough to create airiness or a significant sour flavor.

The second loaf was airy & sour, due to it's 18 hour, room temp. rise, but not as pretty as the first one.  It could have been baked a little longer as well, because I like when they have a crunchy crust.  Maybe next time!

In other yeast-crafting news, my amazing friend Ryan is teaching me to brew beer!  He let me choose which kind to make, so I picked porter---he even had a favorite recipe on hand, which is a Black Butte Porter copycat.  We made it last weekend, so it's got to do its thang for a couple weeks, then we'll bottle it up!  It smelled sooo good as it was brewing.  The weather was nice, so we made it outside with their propane stove.  I had a little helper too...Clementine!  She deserved a "stick break" after all that hard work.  :)

  

Our work station:

Steeping the grains:

Simmering the hops:

I'll make another beer post when it's bottling time!