Not the post I'd planned on
Feb. 7th, 2012 12:53 amPatsfan (who, note the name, is not a happy camper today, but I digress) got a beer homebrewing kit for Christmas. He was going to regift it. I pointed out that I've been babbling about wanting to try home brewing for ages, so what was he thinking? And so we have it. Another friend just sampled the first batch from a similar kit and apparently it turned out okay, which is encouraging. I figured the first batch was almost guaranteed to be crap.
Finally opened it and started reading tonight. It's basically a two-gallon jug with a spigot and some pre-mixed stuff to make some kind of an IPA. (I'm not big on IPA's. Oh well.) And some "no-rinse sanitizer" that I'd actually like to know more about before I use it. The company sells other mixes too, several of which sound interesting and are obviously where they really make their money. But I figure it's a good place to start getting a handle on some of the mechanics of the thing, and if I stick with it, then I can work out my own ingredients and invest in some better equipment down the road.
Ironically, one of the pieces of equipment I'd have thought was indispensable isn't included, probably because the pre-made mix is so metered that they feel you don't need one: a hydrometer. So I shall have to obtain one of those at some point. Probably not necessary until/unless I'm making things from scratch, but better to learn how to use it and interpret it earlier than later.
Not starting a batch tonight. We need to empty (and save) some more bottles first. Much hardship there. ;-) Though I think he wrecked the Mississippi Mud we split tonight, because it tasted much dryer than I remembered. But anyway, this post serves as fair warning that there may be random brewery babbling coming up.
In other news, the two fics I'm working on are killing me.One of them actually vanished. I either failed to save it at all or else saved it to some ridiculous folder under a ridiculous name. Shoot. Me. Now. Never mind. Yes, I saved it to some ridiculous folder, but writing that last bit helped me figure it out. Which is good, because it's due in a week. The other's due three days later. Meep!
Finally opened it and started reading tonight. It's basically a two-gallon jug with a spigot and some pre-mixed stuff to make some kind of an IPA. (I'm not big on IPA's. Oh well.) And some "no-rinse sanitizer" that I'd actually like to know more about before I use it. The company sells other mixes too, several of which sound interesting and are obviously where they really make their money. But I figure it's a good place to start getting a handle on some of the mechanics of the thing, and if I stick with it, then I can work out my own ingredients and invest in some better equipment down the road.
Ironically, one of the pieces of equipment I'd have thought was indispensable isn't included, probably because the pre-made mix is so metered that they feel you don't need one: a hydrometer. So I shall have to obtain one of those at some point. Probably not necessary until/unless I'm making things from scratch, but better to learn how to use it and interpret it earlier than later.
Not starting a batch tonight. We need to empty (and save) some more bottles first. Much hardship there. ;-) Though I think he wrecked the Mississippi Mud we split tonight, because it tasted much dryer than I remembered. But anyway, this post serves as fair warning that there may be random brewery babbling coming up.
In other news, the two fics I'm working on are killing me.
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