Home Brew

I carved out some time this weekend to utilize one of my Christmas presents and to keep myself entertained. In our annual gift exchange with my dad's side of the family this year, I received a Beer Making Kit. Home brewing is something I've had on the back-burner of my mind recently, but had no idea where to start. I was beyond excited when this was the gift I ended up with in our Chinese gift exchange and hate that it's taken me so long to whip it out. 

The whole process from brewing to bottling to drinking takes about 4 weeks, so my home brew will be ready just in time to drink & enjoy with the same family members at our March celebration of birthdays & anniversaries (4 birthdays, 1 anniversary, and this year...a retirement & house warming party all rolled into one).

Here's how my kit came and it had just about everything I needed. The only extras that I had to buy were an 8 quart pot & a fine mesh strainer.

"The Mash" - this is what makes the beer. It's a lot like making oatmeal, but you have to watch the temperature closely. This process took about an hour.

"The wort" - this IS the beer! It's the left over liquid for the mash + an additional 4 quarts of water strained through the mash. This has to stay at a low boil for about an hour. It's at this stage that the hops are added.

Almost finished! Once the boil is over, the pot goes into an ice bath (I made mine in the sink) where the liquid chills to a 

nice 70 degrees. The yeast is added and the tube goes in the cap to allow the carbon dioxide gasses to escape. After 2 days, this baby will be sealed with an air lock cap and go into my office closet for fermentation. 

Although the process was a lot more involved than I had originally anticipated, I really did enjoy it and found myself browsing the Brooklyn Brew website for my next creation. I'll keep my fingers crossed in the meantime and hope that my yeast doesn't die and that my wort turns into a delicious IPA that I can enjoy with my family. Stay tuned!