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Monday, June 25, 2012

Home Brew

No secret here that we tend to be beer snobs. Well, actually, we tend to be food, coffee, music, chocolate, and beer snobs. We just have such a hard time drinking beer that tastes like watered down something or other that's not even beer. Aside from the occasional Natty Boh (which is a Baltimore staple, so it's a fair excuse), you'll find us going for the more potent, flavorful, and artfully crafted varieties.

This past Christmas, Andrew's parents gave us a home brew kit. We had tried an English Bitter beer that they had given us a kit for and it turned out fairly well. However, it was a beer that you'd rather drink with food rather than have as a refreshing beverage on a hot Baltimore summer day. As our supply of the first beer dwindled, we decided to brew a second batch-- this time my favorite, an IPA. The process is a long one with a lot of waiting after actually brewing the beer, so at this point we're waiting on the final carbonation process that occurs after the beer has been bottled.

The process starts with a giant pot of very hot water, some grains in a bag, and finally the addition of malt and hops.

It ferments for almost a week after some yeast has been added, and looks something like this when it is ready to be bottled.
Super tasty looking, right? ;)

The next step is to add a priming sugar that starts the carbonation process and then siphon the beer into a new bucket in order to filter out all of that sludge. Finally, it is bottling time!



We've been thinking of a few names for this particular batch and then I'll be designing labels. We'll be waiting about one more week until the beer is ready to drink, so I'll try to update you all then.

Have any of you tried home brewing?

8 comments:

  1. That's so cool! Can't wait to see the design and name.

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  2. We've talked about doing this. I can't wait to see your label design!

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  3. So cool!! My husband has been dying to brew his own beer!

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  4. this looks like so much fun, but i would nooot be able to wait multiple days to drink it! in collage i home brewed my own vodka. not too bad, either :)
    -Rachel w k
    rwkrafts.blogspot.com

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  5. I've had a desire to home brew since I was 19, but never had a safe space to do it in. And then I was diagnosed with a gluten allergy, so I can only live vicariously through dedicated beer snobs like yourself. Thank you for doing what you do. :)

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  6. Fellow beer, music, chocolate, coffee food and wine snob here. :)

    This looks so cool! Personally, I haven't tried to home brew- yet. My daughter works for a high end German restaurant that has how to classes. I think I might sign up for one.

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  7. My husband works for a craft beer company, but surprisingly he's never home brewed (on his own). I love the documentation of the process!

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