Sunday, February 24, 2008

Beer on the brain


I've started brewing my own beer with my Mr. Beer kit. Thanks Mom and Dad for the money for my birthday which allowed me to buy this kit. Probably not what they had in mind.




I have beer in my closet. No seriously, I do. And not that crappy Bud Light or Guinness crap. Okay, so it's not crap. And I did just drink a few Guinness so I can't complain. But I did start my own brew of beer tonight. Well, actually it's Mr. Beer's brew, but I put it together.

Stephen mentioned beer brewing a few weeks ago and I started thinking that sounded like a great idea. So on my day off I did the only possible thing I could think of. I impulsively ran to the Tanger Outlet Mall where I had seen a brew kit.

Turns out it can be quite simple. Right now I have 2 gallons of Pale Ale fermenting in my closet. (To keep direct sunlight away.) If I stick with this I'll update you on recipes I use and new techniques I'll try.

The key to a good beer is sanitization from what everyone says. I'm a little worried abut that because I didn't sanitize the boiling pot, but I figure hell, I'm boiling it, should be good enough. Plus the basic instructions weren't entirely explicit about that. The indepth instructions were though.

I'm proud of myself. I actually read the entire instruction before doing it though. I never do that. I typically read as I go. Just wish I would have read the book before going.

The fermentation process takes between 7-10 days and then there's the carbonation period. I need to get some bottles before bottling day though.

I'll keep you up-to-date on how things go though.

1 comment:

Shawn R. said...

How dare you bash Guinness!! What are you thinking. BUt since you said you were drinking a little of it, I will let you slide. Good luck, let me know how it comes out because I have been thinking about the doing the same thing.