Caraway Kraut & Melissa Ale v.2

I sliced up the small cabbage, mixed it with a bit of sea salt and a generous toss of caraway seed and allowed it rest together so that they could all take their time to get to know one another. Then I gave them a nice massage.

I pressed the party into a jar and already the juice is rising. By tomorrow I'll be able to weight it under its own juices and set it aside for a couple of weeks. That's all it will likely need in this July heat.

Then I'll have a nice batch of fresh caraway sauerkraut. A small batch, but nice.

The lemon balm needed pruning, so some was dried, some was frozen (more on that later) and the rest went into a second one-gallon batch of Melissa Ale, version two. Version two, because I kept to my first "recipe" except that I added the juice of one lime, rather than lemon which went into the first batch. I hope it will be good. I've never had Melissa ale. But of all my brew-trials, I've not been disappointed--yet!

I love pitching the yeast! This is where I sing and cheer them all on, ever so gently--at first, so that they wake in a good mood and ready to party!

Then, when they're awake I give them stir to make sure they're circulating and mingling before their party begins in the their little carboy. Then we rock!

So yeah. Kraut and Ale. That's what I made today.