Beer Brewing

So we did it. We bought a brew kit, the brewer’s best brew kit to be exact. It has almost everything you need to start brewing. In addition we got a 3.5 gallon pot along with a grain bag and a couple of smaller bags. Oooh….ahhhh. It is very exciting. We brewed our first batching using a friends smaller kit and its easy as pie. First you basically take the grains (and extract if using) and steep them in hot water to draw out the sugars at a specific temperature. Then you bring to a boil and depending on what you are making add hops and flavorings at the prescribed time. When everything is boiled, you cool it, try to keep everything sterile, and throw in the yeast once cooled. Dump everything in a bucket and wait for the yeast to percolate. Mmmm…it makes you house smell a little like syrup and bread. So yummy. This has definitely become one of my favorite hobbies. It takes a night to do and a few weeks of waiting time. The timing between each step is just enough to enjoy dinner with friends, watch a movie, and relax at home. Last night we started on our second batch, a deep rich dark belgium ale, and ate some finger linkin’ good ribs from Smoke Shack. We drank beer from a local microbrewery, Two Brothers Brewery. We bought a nice little sampler pack featuring their Domaine DuPage French Country Ale, Prairie Path Golden Ale, and the Cane and Ebel Red Rye Ale. All were pretty tasty and well done. The bitter tartness of the ales went perfect with the sweet spicy ribs. Makes my mouth water just thinking of it. More to come on our brewing adventures.