Home Brewing...

07/27/2010

I have heard horror stories about people brewing their own beer at home.  Apparently it is not uncommon to have “mishaps,” “miscues” and even some small explosions (mostly after bottling).  Inasmuch as my experience as a “brewer” is limited to none at all, and recognizing I am more the “brewee,” testing the various offerings of others is my level of expertise.  The mechanical side of the art is to be learned via the School of Hard Knocks.

Cooking is a hobby of mine, an avocation: I enjoy every aspect of being in the kitchen.  Following a recipe is relatively easy if you can read, and I can read a little, so I thought what the hell, I’ll make some beer.  I bought a kit with a recipe that calls for the final product to be about five gallons, or, in terms of those of us who really enjoy it, fifty-three 12-ounce bottles, give or take three-tenths of a bottle.

I steeped the grains and made the wort.  I added the malt and started the boil.  I added the bittering hops for fifty-five minutes, and then the flavoring hops for five more.  I shocked the wort mixture to 70 degrees, and pitched the yeast.  I checked the O.G (1.050) – what ever the hell that is?  The mixture is now in my carboy fermenting away (I hope).  In 4 to 6 days I have to move the mixture to a secondary carboy, hopefully leaving behind any residue of grain and hop parts in the bottom of the fermentation bucket.  Ten days in that doohickey and then it’s time to bottle, and that I am told when the fireworks can begin.

If all goes well, in two weeks or so I will get to enjoy some of this initial offering of the Berkeley Springs Brew Works.  I will keep you posted.

And that is all I have to say about that…