joyful fermentation

it all started with a Mr. Beer kit. initially, i got one for my brother for christmas, as he is very into the whole small batch handcrafted beer scene. and, apparently, i was right on track, as he has already gotten a kit from another company. but, 'more beer to be brewed' was his response to having an additional kit.

a few months after that, i noticed a Mr. Beer kit showed up cheap on Woot.com, so i thought, 'what the heck, i like making things, maybe i'll like making beer! i mean, i like beer...' and it seems that was just the beginning.

kenny approves of mr. beer

i opted to get fancy with the ingredients, adding a generous amount of fresh ginger to the pale ale mix. i followed the instructions, poured it all in the fermenter and waited. it took 2 weeks to brew, then i bottled with sugar to carbonate and waited another 2 weeks. i was amazed: i had made beer! and the more time i allowed it to condition, the better it got. amazing! fizzy and wheaty and delicious.

frogged, indeed.

however, never one to simply let it go and do what a kit says, i decided i needed to figure out how to brew from scratch. the forums i visited were intimidating, with all sorts of unfamiliar ingredients and percentages. so i decided to start simple, and make some hard cider. after all, cider will go hard on it's own, so how hard could it be to manipulate the process myself? to the internet! i easily found sources for airlocks and bungs, the most basic thing you need to brew. basically, the airlock allows the CO2 to escape the bottle during fermentation while keeping things nice and sanitary. i found a great deal on champagne yeast and yeast nutrient. and that's about all you need for cider, aside from the cider itself.

i started with a 1 gallon bottle of unfiltered apple juice from Whole Foods, which provided not only the base, but also a carboy to do the fermenting in. and while the yield would be slightly less than a gallon, since i needed to pour some off for headspace, i figured it was a good start. i pitched about 1/4 tsp of yeast and 1/2 tsp of nutrient, put in the airlock and let it brew for 3 weeks, until the fermentation slowed down. then i syphoned into a secondary bottle (which i ultimately found at a wine supply shop near my mom's house that i had somehow never noticed before. now, i know.), and finally bottled with 1 tbs of corn sugar per bottle (known as 'dextrose', available in some health food stores and well as brewing shops). after 2 weeks of conditioning in the fridge, i opened a bottle. it was clear and bubbly and very dry. it was hard cider!

call me Perry

i was inspired. more beverages followed: a hard ginger ale, strawberry wine, mead, and, currently, a ginger infused perry (pear cider). in the meantime, i reconnected to some friends who had just moved back to the neighborhood, the husband half od which has been homebrewing since he was a teenager (shhh...don't tell!). he has a pretty impressive beer brewing setup, including a 2 tap kegerator, and often brews 10 gallons at a time. he has become my mentor in all of this, which has been pretty great. oh, and his wife doesn't lose out, as she is of the crafty variety so when i visit, there is much talk of yarn and spinning and stitching and baking. she once jokingly said during a vist where he and i were engrossed in a conversation about grains and malting, 'erik? it's MY turn to play with liz!' golly, i'm glad they moved back!

just wait until Christmas!

so the adventure continues. i'm looking to try an all grain batch of beer, and have sniffed out more homebrewing supply sources in the city as well as online. the funny thing is, i'm not really a huge drinker. as a result, my fridge is filling up with libations that my friends are happy to take off my hands at parties. it's no different than baking, as i see it. i mean, i won't eat a whole cake by myself, so it's natural for it to be made to share. i see brewing the same way, it's just something else that i can offer as housewarming or holiday or engagement gifts. so raise a homemade glass to giving! i think even the simplest acts of generosity makes our world a happier and kinder place.