4 Nárië
Used almost twice as much malt and roasted it to amber, first at the side of a fire, then atop it, a half hour each. Also twice as much oats. Again, boiling water poured (slowly), then all the malt and oats, then all the remaining water (this time in one lengthy pass of adding bits at a time with a ladle). Covered and let sit 30 minutes, stirred, then left to sit half a day. Drained wort with spigot into bucket. Then added a second course of boiling water to the grain and allowed to sit for a half hour before draining into the bucket as well. Added yeast as before, and sealed with lid and air-locker. Left to ferment during a journey to Bree.
9 Nárië
Returned from Bree. (Not expecting to return soon, due to the need to heal. Cesistya agrees with Strangsig that the injury I suffered in Naerost, that nearly killed me, means I will probably never be able to have children, and that I need to rest for at least a few more weeks. Just as well; Bree is less welcoming all the time. Now there are two bandit gangs terrorizing the town, with the Watch still at a loss to find either, if rumors are to be believed. I suggested people might want to move to a less lawless land like the Lone-lands. I probably made no friends in Bree that night.)
The barrel from my first attempt has been almost fully consumed; while everyone agrees it's not that good, they're still drinking it. It seems to have improved slightly in the barrel, but only slightly. We'll finish it tonight, just in time to open the new brew tomorrow.
10 Nárië
Opened new brew and transferred to barrel. Much stronger than the first batch, with a pleasant apple-like taste. Widely agreed to be a vast improvement. Still can't compare with Barliman's best, but the match of common brews in most other places I've tried, and far, far better than Anlaf's (which is really all it has to be; only a handful of the Eglain other than me have even tasted Barliman's brew). I wish I could get samples of this to Steafan, Marnewyn, Clarador, Cesistya, and everyone else who helped me get to this point, but none of them have visited Ost Guruth (except of course Cesistya's visit during the incident last month), and I won't be in a position to transport anything to Bree for a while.
Which also means I won't be able to get some hops. Just as well. I really should keep working on ale a few more tries, until I'm sure I can repeat (if not improve upon) this success.
((OOC note: drawing from Tofi Kerthjalfadsson's notes on recreating medieval English ales))
