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Tracks: 1. running out of time 2. making good time 3. house of cards 4. Blue Goose Saloon 5. swill 225 6. boatmen 7. Seldom Seen and his macho crew 8. the only tune Liam played 9. funky old town 10. what happened to this world 11. any old man 12. edge of town 13. guy like me |
swill 225 Listen to sample
This song is the result of the prodding of our good friend Pat Fitzgerald. I am a homebrew enthusiast, and Pat is one of my primary consumers, along with a number of other close friends who have taken to calling the stuff "Will's swill". It was Pat who suggested a song with a beer recipe in it. So, this is my take on a how to put together a basic American pale ale; an all-grain recipe, single infusion mash, nothing too elaborate in terms of a hop schedule. There are, of course, a few procedural details that didn't make it into the song, but I wouldn't want to take away too much from the spirit of experimentation and adventure that should accompany the process. The "beer chorus" was supplied by a bunch of people who we arranged to have hanging around Pat and Robin's studio at the beginning of a session - it turned to be a lot of fun, thanks in no small part to everybody's willingness to roll with the chaos.
Will – guitar, mandolin, vocals, harmony vocalsLyrics:
I’m up before the crack of dawn, sneaking ‘round the house
Everybody’s sleeping, quiet as mouse
I go into the crawl space and drag out all my gear
‘Cause today it is the weekend and today I’m making beer
Chorus:
I’m making beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer
I’m making beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer
Twenty pounds of Maris Otter 2-row British malt
And maybe 2 or 3 pounds 60 lovibund crystal
Run it through the rollers, crushed not finely ground
Keeps the mash from getting stuck, at least that’s what I’ve found
Get the cooker on the back porch, set up the brewing pot
Heat 33 quarts of water, but careful, not too hot
Hundred seventy five degrees as high as it should be
‘Cause mixed in with the grain one-fifty’s what you want to see
Let the mash sit there for about an hour or so
If it cools too much or starts too hot well then it just won’t go
Converting all the starches into sugars, nothing more
It's food for all the yeasties, that’s what all of this is for
Chorus
Heat up 8 more gallons for the sparging of the mash
Pump out to the brewpot nice and slow, not in a flash
Heat it up to boiling, watch out don’t overflow
Boil for about 10 minutes, then in the hops they go
Now hopping is a matter of highly personal taste
If bitter is what you want, then boil without much haste
And crank the alpha acid, maybe 12 percent or more
Chinook or Centennial or whatever’s at the store
The amount that you use requires a little math
Then crank it up and boil it for an hour and a half
For flavor hops I’ve come to like lots of Cascade leaf
For a basic Northwest hopped up ale, at least that’s my belief
Two ounces 10 minutes out, and two more at the end
Or maybe more if you feel compelled to be the hophead’s friend
Chorus
Pump the water through the chiller for the cooling of the wort
Down to room temperature, don’t let it come up short
Pump to the fermenter, leave the hops behind
Pitch the yeast, close the lid, 2 weeks later what you find is...
Beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer
I’m making beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer...
