When I say my husband LOVES beer, I might not have covered it accurately. The man has a passion for beer, and not just any beer but craft beer. He smells it, tastes it, pairs it with foods and sweets. He reads about beer, watches television shows about it (props to brew masters and dogfish head, you are well loved), the time and money invested are nothing by comparison to the energy, the love, and the passion. Naturally this love and appreciation melded with a creative desire. For his birthday I bought him the beginnings of his home brew set up, and as I was told it would, the compulsion has set in. Our first batch of home brew is not yet bottle conditioned and he's already got two more batches going.
Our first adventure started with a kit from our local home brewing store, Great Lakes Home Brew Supply in Riverview MI. (Review on beer advocate: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22949) I was lucky to have been referred here, the man who owns the shop was very kind and very knowledgeable. Talk about a passion for brewing - for those of you who have not ventured very far into the world of craft beer you need to understand that this is more of an artwork than a means to an end. You don't really make or consume craft beer to get drunk. That can be part of the experience but you really do it to experiment, to express, and to enrich. At any rate, back to our first project... I bought my husband a kit claiming to be a robust porter. He set to work following the instructions to a tee. And then he couldn't help himself :-D We went to another home brew shop that's semi local and picked up some vanilla beans, some oak chips, and a few tools. I'd love to tell the whole story of flukes and victories but I don't have the time. I can tell you that he's learned what happens when you get the gasket for your airlock too hot (from sanitizing it) when you are putting it onto your lid (it slips right through the hole and DISAPPEARS INTO YOUR BEER!!!). Apparently a robust porter is not so much "robust" when you brew your hops inside of a bag (they don't get enough circulation - thanks to the man at Great Lakes he's straightened out a good solution for that though). AND my husband is kind of a genius, but then again I already knew that. The beer has been bottled for eleven days now and the last taste I had was getting pretty yummy.
So we've got an oatmeal stout in the works (with coa coa and cold brewed espresso) that we bottled last night, the "robust porter", and something that's supposed to be related to both cider and mead with lots of apple juice, cinnamon, and other such deliciousness. My basement is turning into a chemistry set and my husband is becoming a little brew master (don't let him know I said that though, because I'm pretty sure that's somehow not the politically correct title : P), he's sneaking in new ale pales every day.
It's funny, I'm not really a beer person so I can be kind of picky. Conversely he really IS a beer person so he's really picky too but in an entirely different way. This kind of quirky coupling brings us to a lot of different places both literally and figuratively. I love my life and so I am about to share it with you.
Welcome. You are about to join me in my journey of love, life, and beer. It's about to get interesting.
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