Making Beer
For the longest time, I’ve been wanting John and I to start brewing our own beer at home. I contemplated buying a brew kit last year for our anniversary, but he didn’t seem to interested in trying, so I never bought it. Then I though maybe Father’s Day or his birthday, but that didn’t happen either. Finally, he ended up getting me one for Christmas. The kit that John bought was perfect for us just starting on our home brewing adventure. Aside from the stock pot and mesh strainer, everything else from materials to ingredients was included to make a gallon of beer.
Date nights are few and far between for us, so we decided that on the morning we were going to start brewing, the kids would be set up with Disney movies on the other side of the house, and we’d make it a date day for us. Juli managed to sleep through the majority of the process, which was nice.
I was nervous about making our own beer, but it actually wasn’t very difficult at all. Really, it was more time consuming than anything else. I’d say that the hardest part was probably trying to keep the mash (grains + water) at the right temperature on the stove. The directions included in the kit weren’t the greatest, but between the two of us, Johnny and I manged to figure it out. I think. I hope. I guess we’ll find out in a few weeks when we go to taste the beer.
Next weekend is when we’ll bottle and then two weeks after that, we’ll actually get to taste our creation. All I can do is hope that it doesn’t suck. We made a blonde ale, so I’ll pretty much be on my own drinking it since John prefers the darker beers.
For now, I think it’ll be easiest for us to just stick with the ingredient mixes offered by the kit company. Everything is included, and it’s all measured out so you just have to add it together and cook. Eventually, I think it would be fun to try out our own varieties and flavors.