Beer Escapades - Adventure II

I brewed some beer!!!

 

I started with nothing. The interwebz suggested if I didn’t have a good home brew supply store in the neighborhood in which to buy stuff (I’m not sure yet about mine), a joint called Midwest would be a good mail order alternative. I ordered a kit containing almost all the equipment I needed to brew and ferment happy beer. I also ordered two recipe kits containing all the goodies needed to brew two batches of beer, about 10 gallons or 100 bottles of beer. I also cashed in a gift certificate at my local restaurant supply for a 5 gallon stainless steel pot to brew the beer in. Add the empty bottles from adventure 1 and I was ready to rock.

 

I should note making beer takes time.   I figure about 3 hours to steep/brew/mix, it sits in a plastic bucket for a week, it sits in a glass jug for at least a week, it takes a couple more hours to bottle, it takes a couple of weeks to carbonate in the bottles, then it needs to be chilled, then poured into a glass. I’d estimate one batch of beer brewed from extract requires 6-8 hours of labor and at least 4 weeks of waiting time.    The waiting is excruciating.

 

Batch #1 was called Liberty Cream Ale. It was a light ale that was advertised as a standard brew for many of Midwest’s regular customers. I had no idea what it was supposed to taste like. I was very happy to find it tasted like beer. It was a darker colored than I expected, but was mild and easy to drink. I deemed it a successful first effort.

 

Batch #2 was billed as an Irish red. I could tell from the start this beer’s character would tickle my fancies. It smelled awesome cooking on the stove. It smelled even better when I bottled it. I was a giddy school girl by the time I poured my first glass. It not only tasted like beer, it actually tasted like tasty beer. I’ve been giddy ever since.

 

I’ve gotten quite an education so far. In all the years beer has been making me happy, I’ve known virtually nothing about how beer is made. Now I have a clue. A little knowledge is fostering a great deal of enthusiasm that is becoming increasingly difficult to temper. Both my successful brewing attempts and my quest for more knowledge are extending my adventures. Batch #3 is currently fermenting. Ingredients for batches #4 and #5 are in my cupboard. Random people are giving me beers to try. It’s all very fun.

 

Some pics, mostly from batch #1:

 

It’s first home in the “primary fermenter”, aka, the plastic bucket on the right:

 

 

 

One week old in the “secondary fermenter”, aka carboy, aka glass jug:

 

 

Yeast settling

 

 

 

 

Two weeks old and ready to bottle:

 

 

 

 

Four weeks old, and IT’S BEER!!!!:

 

 

 

 

Batch #2, Irish Red:

 

 

 

 

Batches #3 thru #5: