Wow, it's been a while since I've checked in with everyone. Hopefully you didn't miss me too much ;->. I wanted to start a topic on here about brewing. I've been really lucky to have some time to brew a few batches of beer at home. I'm also really lucky to have a wife that is cool with the process. I have some new equipment that I am going to put to the test tomorrow with a batch of pilsner. Right after that I am going to do a redux on the British pub ale that was my second beer and so far my favorite.

It started three years ago when I got a Mr. Beer homebrew kit for Christmas. It was an awesome intro into what has become a labor of love. My pale ale from that kit turned out to be kind of cidery at first but then actually matured into something quite drinkable. I put the kit on the shelf for some reason and have never touched it since. A couple friends of mine started brewing beer with a real homebrew kit and that got me interested in trying it for myself. I tried Tom's stout and was instantly hooked. What a beer, complex flavors and aromas, and it was made at home. Then I tried Ben's IPA (possibly my favorite style) and I had to get my own.

So I bought the kit from my local shop. Always support local business but especially when it comes to brewing supplies. You are 99% of the time getting much fresher ingredients than you would online. My first recipe was an IPA and it turned out really well. As a young beer it was really mellow but at the same time full of flavor and utterly drinkable. As it got older (3+ weeks in the bottle) it got more hoppy and bitter. Exactly how I like my women... I mean...

Now I'm really hooked. I can make beer that tastes like a good micro brewery produced it at a fraction of the cost. Granted, the wait is sometimes really hard, but my goal is to just have a constant stream of it, like right now I've got a case of California Common (Anchor Steam clone) aging in the closet and with a Pilsner tomorrow and hopefully my English pub ale right after the new year, we should be good to go and have a variety to choose from.

Of the five batches I have brewed, only one has turned out bad. It was an oversight on my part, I didn't sanitize the bottles well enough, and therefore the batch was just dirty. Ironically it's the only recipe I didn't get from my local shop. I think the best thing to do with recipes is tweak and play with ones from the shop. I hope to have notes on all these brews soon