Graduation Day

Graduation day was upon us. Four grueling years of our lives gone by, and we have two degrees in chemical engineering to prove it. Actually, our diploma sleeve was empty, with a nice letter saying we will receiver our diploma after our final grades are submitted. Nobody slips through that easily...

Two chemical engineers make the perfect brewing team

Both of our families would be coming into Golden for graduation, so Sam and I decided to brew a special batch of beer for the occasion. It was Sam's choice of recipe, so she decided on a raspberry porter. After the porter had fermented for about a week, we added the raspberries, 3 pounds of them! It was interesting to see them turn from a dark red to a white-brown color as they soaked in the fermenting beer.

It only took three days for these to lose all of their color!

The fruit flavor was strong, but still tasted like a porter. This was the first beer that anyone in our family got the chance to taste, so we were very happy with the result. I like to describe it as a dessert beer, similar to a port wine. You can drink one after a meal, and that's about as much as you will want. 

Because of this, the porter lasted a few months. It was very surprising how the flavor profile changed over time. After a few months, the raspberry flavor mellowed out tremendously, giving the beer less of a dessert flavor. This was the first time Sam and I tried to create a flavored beer. We unanimously agreed to use less raspberries next time, or perhaps add them earlier in the fermentation.

Two degrees in chemical engineering gave us more than just brewing experience, it also gave both of us jobs in Baton Rouge, LA. That is where our journey will take us next, from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains down to the heat, humidity, and Cajun culture of south Louisiana.