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Brewing

Writing a Short Story and/or Brewing Beer:

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Writing and brewing beer are two of my favorite activities. I’d like to share these with you, but I simply do now have time to write two whole how-to guides. Therefore, I’ve decided to condense them into one simple list. Take some time to gather the various components. If you want your final product to … Read more

Magic of Brewing Beer

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Homebrewing is a wonderful hobby. Not only does it tend to yield good results at the entry level, but its complexity scales nicely to fit the hobbyist. A person can go from a simple kit brew all the way up to complex chemical equations, water analysis, and even growing a garden full of hops or hop substitutes. One of the great things I like about brewing beer is that there always seems to be something more to learn. Here I will share some of the secrets that I’ve learned over my many years in the hobby.

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Root Beer: The Eichenlaub Special, Dark

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It’s always best to have a brewing buddy around. Your buddy can keep you from

My brewing helper and the mess we made
My brewing helper and the mess we made

getting bored, think of new ideas to tweak your brew, and help you double check measurements.

Gabe is my new brewing buddy. We ran out of root beer a couple weeks ago and he helped me brew up a new batch. It might be a while before I teach him how to brew a stiff IPA, but for root beer this kid is the best.

We use the kitchen scale for all of our measurements. Once everything is in a big bowl we dump it into hot but not boiling water and stir it until it’s dissolved. Then I put the mixture into the five gallon keg and fill the rest of the way with water. Once carbonated it makes a pretty decent root beer and a seriously excellent root beer float.

Here are the ingredients for the latest brew:

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The Hobby Schedule

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My schedule feels busy.

Gabe just being cool.

Unlike summer, winter has me working five whole days in a row pretty much every week. Insane, right? What’s more, I’ve been training for that half marathon. Running four times a week at three to five miles per run is taking up a pretty solid chunk of my time. It only grows from here until May.

Then there’s the boys’ schedules. Isaac is in tennis, getting better at it and enjoying it. Gabe is in a dance and tumble class, though he admits that the tumble half is really the better part. Twice a week I find myself sitting at the Rochester Athletic Club waiting for a class to finish. Often, I write during this time, but it’s a small piece of writing time and there are plenty of distractions.

Mondays and Wednesdays I write during my lunch break. Soon, Wednesdays will be consumed by the running schedule.

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White House Honey Porter

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It’s ready just in time. The White House Honey Porter has been brewing in the basement for the last month in anticipation for tomorrow’s epic showdown. I kegged it last week and it is now ready to be consumed in celebration or misery. I had a little trouble finding some of the ingredients. I’m using … Read more

The Drama

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There is a tension slowly building. Thirty-nine of my favorite dollars squandered on this fluid which now sits dormant in my basement. This fluid which I so painstakingly infused with the very best sugars and made absolutely perfect for the growth of some random microbe. It does nothing. It does not bubble or froth or … Read more

Brewing in the Great Outdoors (almost)

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We’ve had some great weather lately.  Really, it’s been nice.  I have almost wanted to spend time outside. Almost. But I don’t. I’ve gotten close, lately, though.  I’ve adapted my beer brewing process to move the first phase outside.  I love a house smelling of hops and grains.  Not everyone does. So, recently, I’ve been … Read more