But in the end, everything always works out, right? In this case, yes.
Date: May 7, 2011
Event: Big Brew
Important Because: Our first home brew was born!
As I've said before, Chad and I are (sort of) members of West Sound Brewers, which is a local group of people who dedicate an occasional weekend to the art of home brewing. These people are AMAZING! Everyone specializes in something, Meades, Cordials, beers, etc. and all they want to do is show off their efforts, teach others their techniques and hang out with their friends.
Big Brew was just such an occasion. Chad and I decided that that would be the day we start our first home brew. We borrowed most of the equipment from a good friend of ours (also in the group), we got the recipe from my dad (who used to brew) and we got the help from EVERYONE in attendance! I have to say though... it wasn't an easy start... It was a cold, crummy day, and we were brewing outside. Some of the equipment malfunctioned a bit, so our recipe was altered. We didn't realize we needed certain things, so we had to borrow and beg... but the outcome was something that looked remarkably like it should of! We had ourselves almost five gallons of pitched, cooled wort! Woot!
Date: May 11, 2011
Event: Watching our air blurps
Important Because: They were right on track
We kept our "beer" in our guest bedroom closet. The room was kept at around 70 degrees and the closet doors were kept closed. Everyday Chad or I would go up and count the number of air blurps escaping our airlock. They were coming out exactly as people had perdicted they would... started off slow, around a minute, then 45 seconds... then every 2-3 seconds, and so on. And after a while, I came to the realization that "oh my goodness, this just might work!"
Date: May 18, 2011
Event: Racking off
Important Because: we had green beer and started the secondary fermentation process
Vic and Mary came over, had some pizza and helped us "rack off" our beer! Basically, we moved the beer from one carboy to another, trying our hardest not to add any air. The process went flawlessly, even Vic was impressed. Our green beer was clear, and tasted remarkably like honey!
Date: June 11, 2011
Event: Bottling
Important Because: Its actually Beer now!!
I wasn't here for this event (I was visiting San Diego) but Chad and Vic bottled all the beer! They added the necessary corn sugar for carbonation. They filled bottle after bottle of our beautiful golden elixir. Then they carried it all back upstairs to the closet... where the bottles would sit.... and age.... until we could finally drink it!
Date: June 18, 2011
Event: Our first (slightly premature) taste!
Important Because: A Twist of Home totally turned out!!
Finally!! After a full month of waiting and babying, our beer was finally a BEER!! We popped the cap, there was a slight hiss. Slowly poured it into glasses, there was a bit of head. It was clear, tasted distinctly like honey. It was AMAZING! And since then, its only been getting better!
So, a beer was born. This is one we are going to try to replicate in the future. Think of a sweet, pale ale, with distinct notes of honey but balanced with a bit of bitter hops. Literally, amazing!
My only piece of advice for those new homebrewers: find yourself a group of homebrewers! They WANT to show you everything, help you through every step and pass on their knowledge! I couldn't have imagined this experience to be any better!!
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