Homebrew!

We started brewing our own beer at the end of last year.  We figure we like to drink it and we like to cook and can things so it seemed like a natural progression for us.  Besides, beer is expensive if you have a preference for microbrews as we do.  This way we see just exactly what is in our beer and can reuse the very same bottles over and over and over again which saves us a trip to the recycling drop-off and reusing is even more eco-friendly then just plain recycling them.  Plus, brewing is fun!   And makes the whole house smell of warm grainy, beery goodness.

Our first glass of homebrew.

Our first batch (a pilsner because they are my favorite) had some serious operator error so it turned out a little wonky, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.  It just wasn't as carbonated as it should have been.  Oh well, it was the first try after all and it still tasted like beer in the end...just a little flat.

Our second batch (an amber) went much smoother, but is still conditioning in the bottles and we haven't yet got to sample it.  We have high hopes about it. 

Checking out the aroma.

We just cooked up our third batch (a nut brown) two nights ago.  It is bubbling away in the closet transforming itself from wort into beer.

It is a really satisfying process.  It takes a while, but no one step is very long.  You cook it up and wait and let it do its thing.  You transfer it and wait for it to do its thing.  You bottle it and wait for it to do its thing.  You drink it!  (Of course that is quite the simplified version of the process, but you get my point.)

I really like capping the bottles.  Its fun.  All the books seem to imply its the worst part of the whole process, but I like it.  Maybe on batch 75 I will be singing a different tune....

We got a gift certificate to the local brew store for Christmas....I wonder what we'll try next!