The Brew Log

Our summer table beer, brewed for the June fellowship dinner. Fermented warm to let the saison yeast do its peppery, orchard-fruit work. The orange zest is subtle — more suggestion than statement — and the finish is bone-dry and refreshing. The name comes from the psalm that shaped this whole endeavor.

The current pour at the table — and the subject of this month's poll.

A golden strong ale with a name every Reformed brewer eventually earns the right to use. Deceptively drinkable for its strength — pear and white pepper on the nose, a soft honeyed middle, and a warming finish. Bottle-conditioned three months before we opened the first one at Easter.

Unconditionally elected as the cellar favorite.

Deep garnet in the glass with a toffee-and-biscuit malt backbone and just enough roast at the end to keep it honest. Brewed on a snowy Saturday with four men and eleven children underfoot — which we consider the correct ratio. A session beer built for long conversation.

Simple, warm, and gone too quickly. Will re-brew each winter.

Our first Belgian blonde, and the batch that convinced us this hobby might have a future. Bright gold, rocky white head, gentle clove and honey character from the abbey yeast. We served it at Thanksgiving alongside roast turkey and it disappeared before the pie did.

The benchmark all future blondes will be judged against.

Named for the man who never softened a sentence in his life. Long 90-minute boil for deep kettle caramelization; dark fruit, toffee, and the faintest breath of smoke. Aged two months before serving. Best drunk slowly, near a fire, in the company of someone worth arguing with.

Bold, uncompromising, occasionally too much — as intended.

A catechism in banana and clove. Open fermentation in the garage during a heat wave gave the yeast plenty of expression — perhaps slightly more than we asked for. Hazy, effervescent, and best consumed within weeks, which was not a problem.

Q: What is thy only comfort on a hot July afternoon? A: This, more or less.

The first batch. Modest, honest, slightly under-carbonated, and shared among three families at a backyard supper that ran long past the children's bedtime. Everything Covenant Brewing hopes to be was present at that table — the beer was nearly beside the point.

Imperfect and beloved. The one that started it all.