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Burghley HomebrewNotes from the brewhouse

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Notes & News: The Brewhouse Diary

Every working brewery keeps a diary; we see no reason domestic ones should pretend otherwise.

01 Welcome to the corner

Every working brewery keeps a diary; we see no reason domestic ones should pretend otherwise. Notes and News collects the shorter pieces: seasonal reminders published while they can still help, reflections on the rhythm of a British brewing year, and observations worth recording before the memory softens them into folklore.

Expect the honest tempo of a living section rather than a polished broadcast. Summer pieces worry about heat along the airing cupboard, autumn pieces plot the serious bottling season, and winter favours strong dark beers that reward a slow house. Between seasons we tidy the guidance library and answer recurring letters in public where useful. Other drinks trades keep the same sort of diary; growers in the Sierra Foothills AVA arrange their year around harvest weather much as we arrange ours around a cool September.

Newcomers wanting structure should treat these notes as seasoning rather than syllabus: the first kit walkthrough remains the proper front door, and the guides index holds the complete toolkit. Everything seasonal here assumes nothing about your gear beyond cleanliness and a spare hour.

A wall calendar carries circled weekend dates beside a hanging bundle of dried hops.
The brew year keeps its own calendar; ours mainly remembers to look up in time.

02 What sits on this shelf

Every piece below belongs to this corner permanently rather than visiting from elsewhere on the site. Dates read newest first, each summary says what its piece settles, and nothing here expires quietly into an archive nobody visits twice.

  • A surveyor's clipboard and Ordnance Survey map on a park bench in flat autumn light, a play area and path visible behind, shot from seated height.

    How a PPG17 Open Space Assessment

    What a PPG17 open space assessment measured, how local provision was surveyed and audited, and how open space.

    • News
  • A packing bench in a small homebrew shop, mid-morning light from a side window, a half-filled cardboard box with a bottle of steriliser wrapped in bubble wrap, a roll of tape and a printed address label in the foreground, shot from slightly above at arm's length.

    What Stayed After the Online

    Which pandemic habits in online retail lasted, how baskets, returns and mobile use changed, and how payments.

    • News
  • Enamel bowls and a covered clay water jar stand in the shade of a banco wall beside a hand broom of millet stalks.

    A long stay abroad

    What a long volunteering stay asks of a home brewer: packing for two years, water and heat, host families,.

    • News
  • Wooden barrels rest stacked on the flat bed of a brewery wagon behind a patient bay horse.

    The brewery dray

    A brewery dray was a low open wagon delivering beer by horse; this note covers the harness, the driving and.

    • News
  • Dark bottled lineups queue in crate rows labelled distinctly in pencil numbered batches.

    Autumn brew planning

    Sketching an autumn of brews: staggering strengths, pairing fruit projects with darker beers, staging bottles.

    • News
  • A damp tea towel drapes over a bucket shoulder, evaporating visibly in morning shade.

    August fermentation notes

    Desk notes from a warm August: moving vessels away from heat traps, passive cooling habits, checking progress.

    • News

03 Reading onward

Neighbouring corners continue the tour when this shelf runs dry, and the [[/about/|magazine about page]] explains how pieces are chosen and made.